India, Dec. 12 -- On 20 September, when the children begin eating, there is no indication of anything untoward in the offing. They sit at a small table, wearing large bibs, while their respective ayahs hand-feed them mouthfuls of roti soaked in bright yellow panchmel dal. Varsha's caregiver is bringing one last morsel towards the child's lips when, instead of obligingly opening her mouth, Varsha slaps her hand away, splattering the floor with marigold-hued lumps of food.

Then, in a loud, clear voice she declares, in Hindi, 'I want rice and fish. Give me some fish.' A moment later, as if to underline the urgency of her demand, she says, in Bengali, 'Ami machh-bhat khabo. Machh dao.'

This is greeted as a joke by the ayahs, who titter mild...