MUMBAI, INDIA — L. is 21 years old, a Mumbai media professional who wears his hair gelled and his shirts buttoned down. We met at a book reading a few weeks ago, and soon he was telling me about the night two years ago when a friend of his tried to kill herself.

Four friends were at a bar, drunk, L. recalled, when S. said she would never get over the man she was in love with. She went to the toilet and came back wrists bleeding. “The owner freaked and called the police,” L. said. “We cut out quickly and got away before they showed up.”

L. took S. to a hospital, but “the doctors refused to treat her because she was a suicide case.” The police arrived before S. could be brought home and shown to her family doctor. “The policemen said that she was a criminal now and she should be taken to the police station.” And “they said that we were abetting the crime so we should also go to the police station.”

At that point L. did what the young and privileged all over the world do in such situations: He called his father, a well-to-do travel agent. “Dad came to the hospital and slapped me across the face two or three times in front of the police. I think that was to show the cops that he was serious. I think he slapped me so he wouldn’t have to pay too much. We got off with Rs 12,000 (about $190), but there was solid bargaining.”