As a Hindu marriage season drew to a close,* bearded astrologers worked overtime last week plotting the days and hours at which wedding ceremonies should take place. Their intricate calculations, based on the bride's birth date, were not interrupted by the worst floods of the century which were sweeping through beautiful Kashmir.
In the town of Jammu the electricity and water system was wrecked, and 700 houses collapsed. Nevertheless, Dwarka Nath, a young shopkeeper, set off gaily, with his cousin Madan Mohan, for a wedding date with the lovely Uma Vanti in a village 50 miles away. After they had...