“…64 'They thread beads, plait coloured threads, sleep, quarrel, make pastry, and chew betel, in the same daily round; it is only at a death, a birth or a marriage, that the monotony of their lives is ever interrupted'. 65 Despite gender, class and religious differences, the unchanging, cyclical routine of the women of the harem evokes the same purposelessness that Graham attributes to the Peshwa's pilgrimages and the palankeen bearers' mobility. The 'monotonous song' of the latter suggests that their movement is aimless and purposeless, whilst the Peshwa's 'squandering' of 'immense sums' on 'some devout procession' denies meaning to his mobility.…”