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Back Passage West

Passage West

Rishi Reddi
Chapters (59)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Epigraph
  4. Cast of Characters
  5. Part One
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. Letters
  14. Part Two
  15. 8
  16. 9
  17. 10
  18. 11
  19. 12
  20. 13
  21. 14
  22. 15
  23. 16
  24. 17
  25. Letters
  26. Part Three
  27. 18
  28. 19
  29. 20
  30. 21
  31. 22
  32. 23
  33. Letters
  34. Part Four
  35. 24
  36. 25
  37. 26
  38. 27
  39. 28
  40. Letters
  41. Part Five
  42. 29
  43. 30
  44. 31
  45. 32
  46. 33
  47. 34
  48. 35
  49. 36
  50. 37
  51. 38
  52. 39
  53. 40
  54. 41
  55. Epilogue
  56. Acknowledgments
  57. About the Author
  58. Also by Rishi Reddi
  59. About the Publisher

Cover

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Dedication

To Nikku,

for whom all this might have mattered,

and

to Maya, and Jay, and Anji,

for whom perhaps it someday will.

Epigraph

It is now no more that toleration is spoken of as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights. For happily the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens in giving it on all occasions their effectual support.

—George Washington, letter to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island, 1790

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PRINTED IN SAN FRANCISCO CALL NEWSPAPER AUGUST 13, 1910

Cast of Characters

Ram Singh—native of Shahpur village, Jullundur District, Punjab, living in Chenab Canal Colony, Lyallpur; arrives in Fredonia in 1914 at age twenty-one

Padma—Ram’s wife, native of Jullundur District, Punjab, living in Chenab Canal Colony, Lyallpur

Santosh—Ram’s young son, living with Padma in Punjab

Ishwar Lal—Ram’s first cousin, living in Chenab Canal Colony, Lyallpur, Punjab

Karak Singh Gill—native of Tarkpur village, Ludhiana District, Punjab; former British Indian Army soldier; arrives in Fredonia in 1913 at age thirty

Jivan Singh Gill—native of Tarkpur village, Ludhiana District, Punjab; former British Indian Army soldier; arrives in Imperial Valley in 1905 at age forty-three

Amarjeet Singh Gill—Jivan’s nephew, native of Tarkpur village, Ludhiana District, Punjab; arrives in Imperial Valley in 1910 at age fourteen

Kishen Kaur—Jivan’s wife, native of Ludhiana District, Punjab; arrives in Imperial Valley in 1910 at age thirty-eight

Leela Kaur—Jivan and Kishen’s daughter, native of Fredonia, born 1911

Rosa María Fernandez Delgado—native of Saucillo, Chihuahua, Mexico; field worker; arrives in Imperial Valley in 1914 at age sixteen

Esperanza Fernandez Delgado de Felix—Rosa’s older sister, native of Saucillo, Chihuahua, Mexico; seamstress; arrives in Fredonia in 1910 at age twenty-seven

Alejandro Felix Moreno—Esperanza’s husband, native of Saucillo, Chihuahua, Mexico; foreman; arrives in Fredonia in 1910 at age thirty-five

Adela Rey Vasquez—first cousin of Rosa and Esperanza, native of Saucillo, Chihuahua, Mexico; arrives in Fredonia in 1918 at age thirty

Haruo (Harry) Moriyama—Amarjeet’s high school friend and neighbor, native of Fredonia

Tomoya (Tom) Moriyama—Haruo’s father, native of Satsuma, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan

Hatsu Moriyama—Haruo’s mother, native of Satsuma, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan

Masa and Yuki—Haruo’s sisters, natives of Satsuma, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan

Clive Edgar—native of Kansas; land agent for hire; arrives in Imperial Valley in 1910 at age twenty-one

Stephen Eggenberger—Singhs’ absentee landlord, native of Lucerne, Switzerland; living in Los Angeles

Harnam Singh, Gugar Singh, Hukam Singh, Inder Singh—Sikh natives of Punjab, farmers in Imperial Valley

Malik Khan, Sikander Khan, Ahmed Khan—Muslim natives of Punjab, farmers in Imperial Valley

Sheriff Frank Fielding—native of Arizona; Imperial County sheriff

Deputy Elijah Hollins—native of Alabama; Imperial County sheriff’s deputy

Maurice Roubillard—native of Louisiana; cotton sharecropper of portion of Eggenberger’s land