BooksBarbecue
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

Two more of our people have arrived today. Can you believe, almost thirty of us are here. We talk a great deal about why we have enlisted. I am sorry to fight the Germans when they wanted to help Ghadar, but they have to be stopped. As Sikhs we cannot allow them to kill civilians and take over Europe. Why Ghadar was so misguided in falling for their lies, I do not know. There is constant talk that the United States government will make citizens of us. Whether true or not, the training they give us is good, and it is not at all like fighting for the British king. I know that was your worry. Here we are free of humiliating restrictions and official race prejudice. You cannot say the same of the English system. You will point out that for the Negroes, it is the same here as it is for us with the English. You are right, Chacha-ji. In that, you are right. But I cannot keep myself from taking advantage of the opportunity that I have found here.

I am in the Ninety-First Division, and we have been given a nickname of the Wild West Division, and for that we all feel a lot of pride. Not only because there are so many cowboys among us (we hail from Washington, Nevada, California, Oregon, Utah, Montana, Wyoming), but also because we are unlike boys from other parts of the country. We have tamed a wilderness and most of us think nothing of desert heat. Who else can say that?

Yours,

Jeetu

Camp Merritt, New Jersey

25 April 1918

Esteemed Jivan Chacha-ji,

Have you heard the news about Pandit RamChandra? On the last day of the Hindu-German trial, he was shot dead. And it was by none other than a fellow trusted Ghadarite! It does not seem possible that he was the same man who spoke at our farm that afternoon, who slept in the same bed that Karak Chacha sleeps in. I am thankful you did not allow me to go with him. I can freely admit that now, my pride is no longer preventing me from admitting it. Around the camp, I can see the effect of this news. People again are looking at me with distrust. I hope it will pass. It must pass; there is no other way.

Yours,

Jeetu

Camp Merritt, New Jersey

22 June 1918

Dear esteemed Jivan Chacha-ji,

We will “ship out” in a few days. From Camp Merritt we will march eight miles to the Hudson River, then take a ferry to the docks at Hoboken, New Jersey, and then board a steamer to the coast of Ireland, finally to arrive in Liverpool, England. It is only now, when I am on the verge of leaving, that I understand all that you were worried about.