For this she blames, in part, the Olan Mills portrait. Perhaps it was foolish
of her to set so much store by a photograph, especially one taken years ago.
But it was such a charming scene -- Mrinalini in a ruffled white dress with her
arm around her brother, Pradeep chubby and dimpled in a suit and bow tie, a
glorious autumn forest blazing red and yellow behind them. (Later Mrs. Dutta
was saddened to learn that the forest was merely a backdrop in a studio in
California, where real trees did not turn such colors.)