A Fine Family: A Novel by Gurcharan Das Read Free Book Online Page A

nephew. And the boy had proved equal to his uncle’s hopes. The nephew had slowly become very dear to Bauji.
    Karan was a success. And Bauji admired success. Karan had stood first in school and had an outstanding academic record in college; he had captained his college cricket team; and women wilted when he played the sitar. In comparison to his own son, Karan stood out like a dancing star. Bauji had resigned himself to Big Uncle’s mediocrity, and concentrated whole-heartedly on his nephew’s future. He had seen to it that Karan went to the best school and college in Lahore and did not suffer financially. After completing college, Karan was now preparing for the competitive examination to join the prestigious Indian Civil Service (ICS) which now admitted more and more Indians. No one doubted that Karan would get in. Recently, however, Bauji had become worried about a change in Karan’s life. He had heard rumours. Instead of playing cricket, or enchanting females with his sitar, Karan had been attending political meetings. At first Bauji dismissed it as healthy nationalist sentiment, but now he was concerned by the seriousness of his pursuit. He was also shocked by some of Karan’s views which he thought to be dangerously close to the Communists’. He had the boy followed for a few days, but he was relieved to learn that Karan had only gone to a meeting of the socialist wing of the Congress. Nevertheless, a nagging fear persisted because Bauji distrusted all political activity.
    After Karan’s departure the family dispersed quickly, including the barber. Bauji was left alone with uneasy feelings. They were a strange mixture of hurt because of Karan’s abrupt departure, but also of envy for Karan’s youth and threatening sensuality, and distress at having been a witness to Tara’s blatant infatuation. He felt a fatherly urge to protect his daughter from inevitable pain, but he also felt remorse at succumbing to the voluptuous sensuality of the moment with unbecoming thoughts, which in the end had left him feeling disagreeable. He attributed the sensuality to the humid torpor in the air, magnified by the laziness of the morning. He was troubled by Karan’s restless nature. Karan was at an age when he was bored by the mundane and needed a cause. If his affectionate irony attracted him, his political activities offended. He was afraid that the ‘Quit India’ call given by Gandhi might pull his nephew into deeper waters, from which he could not be rescued.
    Bauji did not look forward to the DC’s party. He was always embarrassed at the gatherings of the English and the Indians. The Indian guests invariably arrived too early because they did not want to be late, and thus put their hosts in an awkward position. Then they kept together in a group without speaking, and there were long uncomfortable silences. They tried to copy English dress, but no matter how hard they tried they never looked right but because they were uncomfortable. Even the lowliest Englishman at these gatherings put on superior airs while talking to the most distinguished Indian. Deep down, the educated Indian was a threat to the Englishman, not only because the latter was often less educated, but also because the Indian was filled with liberal and seditious ideas of equality and freedom.
    Bauji blamed Englishwomen for having created these rigid barriers between the men of the two races because they were narrow-minded by and large. Also because they could not easily mix with Indian women, who were often in purdah and did not speak English, they prevented their men from socializing with Indian men. They made constant demands on their men to have social teas, to walk the dogs, to play mixed doubles at the club, and so on. He really found this influence on the men by the women very odd.
    Nevertheless, he admired the English. Even though they did not mix with the Indians, they were honest and they were just. They worked hard to keep law and order and they