"You are not pretending," Shukla Master said sternly. "You are Remembering." He tapped his chest. "This culture... this Sanskriti... it is not something you learn from a book. It is in your cells. It is in your DNA. India lives in your mitochondria. For years, you covered it with the dust of the West—individualism, transaction, ego. Now, the dust is clearing. You are not a cat pretending to be a pilgrim. You are a pilgrim who finally realized he was never a cat." "But the mockery..." Aarav whispered. "Let them mock," Shukla Master said. "The cat goes to Hajj not to impress the rats, but to save its soul. Let the rats squeak."