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Back Passage West
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

I hope this letter finds you in good health. Probably Padma is reading it to you, and I am picturing the scene in my mind. Perhaps Uncle has informed you, the money I sent has paid for the land that he and Ishwar bought in our Shahpur village. I am telling you so that you should not feel obliged to him. He should express to you clearly his gladness. But he has asked that I send more money for repair of the barn, and also for constructing a home on the new lands. I do not understand why so much money is needed. What sort of grand structures will these be? But I will do as Uncle says. It is my duty. My heart is sore with the thought of staying away from you and my wife and my son, who is still a stranger to me. I hope Padma is looking after you well.

Your son,

Ram

30 March 1917

My dear son, my world,

You cannot know how happy I was to get your letter. Now I am holding my head up high. At first, your uncle did not tell me about the money at all. But when I indicated that I knew that, with it, he had bought lands in Shahpur, he could no longer hide it from me. Now he has admitted that the money you are sending has made so much possible, also the rebuilding of the barn here and the new home in Shahpur.

I am proud of you, son, and you have given me more izzat in this household. For that, I am grateful. Your aunt has become quite arrogant after the wedding of her daughter with Gopal Singh’s son. To have our family in relation to that one is beyond what she thought possible. But she is kinder to me than before, because it is through your hand that such wishes are granted. Oh, you are my treasure, you are a fragment of my own heart.

I am writing this letter through the son of the tailor in the neighboring village, who has been making a good business of this letter-writing. He is a good boy and from what I can tell, he holds his secrets well.

Your Ma

1 April 1917

My dear esteemed husband,

Will you not come back to me? Today I have already written a letter to you, but I must write more. You have abandoned me, and left me without your protection. How can I go on living? Have you not earned enough to keep this family fed for years to come? Must the responsibility be only yours? You are not even a son of this family, yet you are bearing all the burden.

Forgive me for writing like this.

Theri,

Padma

Part Three

I am a rielera and I’ve got my man

I have a pair of stallions

for the Revolution

one is called Canary

the other is Sparrow.

Farewell to the boys of Lerdo,