New Delhi, Sept. 13 -- In September 1925, C.W.E. Cotton, British representative at the court of Travancore, wrote to an acquaintance: "I am greatly excited over the prospect of getting married". The "excitement" was probably feigned, for the 51-year-old's sudden appetite for matrimony had more to do with reasons of the head than the heart.

After all, damaging gossip trailed him, especially with regard to his taste for (married) local women. There was a naughty Malayalam line going around-"methayil cotton undo?, is (Mr) Cotton in (or on) your mattress?" His bosses were scandalised, because no imperial agent could be permitted such a reputation. So, Cotton was told to settle down.

Another factor, besides, was that Travancore was ruled by ...