 Starr 's wife had a strong aversion to insects and McCartney recalled she was once " trapped in her room because there was a fly over the door . " Spiders , mosquitoes and flies were present at the ashram and when Starr complained to the Maharishi he was told : " For people travelling in the realm of pure consciousness , flies no longer matter very much . " Starr found the food " impossible " because he was " allergic to so many different things " and he and his wife left India on 1 March saying " I wouldn 't want anyone to think we didn 't like it there ; " they returned home " because we missed the children . " Their departure was per schedule by one account , but premature by others . McCartney and Asher departed in mid to late March as he needed to get back to London to supervise Apple Corps and she had a theatrical commitment . When he left he told another student , " I 'm a new man " . Alex Mardas arrived after McCartney left , either at Lennon 's invitation or on his own initiative . 
