Radhika has her own band of sakhis, Chandravali has hers, and between the two camps runs an old rivalry. Yet the leaders themselves, when they meet, are flawlessly gracious — kind, humble, courteous, for to quarrel is beneath a leader's dignity. So the maidservants fight it out for them. Two rivals walk side by side, straining to keep up appearances — honeyed words on the outside, seething within. Lalita meets Padma, Chandravali's maid: "Ah, Padma, I haven't seen you in ages! Where are you coming from?" Padma, proudly: "From Sri Krishna himself." "Really? And where is Krishna now?" — "At the edge of the Malati grove, playing with Madhumangal." Then Lalita leans in very close and asks, ever so sweetly: "And are all your desires fulfilled?.." And here is the subtlety: the sakhi wants Krishna not for herself at all — she wants one thing only, that her mistress may meet him. This whole sweet duel is pure love for her leader.