Must I tell him—this first man that I meet in this strange country—that my father was Sikh but that he is no more, that I was raised by my Hindu mother and her brother . . . must I tell a stranger these things? Would he know the meaning, anyway? For they call us all Hindu, Karak-ji, whether we are Hindu, Sikh, or Mussulman. I do not take offense, for we are all sons of Hindustan. What is the use of feeling insulted when our motherland is so distant? We are as familiar to each other as brothers are, and we should stay united against these local people. From what I have seen, they have little affection, their skin is too white, their women are too forward, their clothes are too fitted, their food is like a punishment. How I will survive here for two years, I do not know. But the children—they are so beautiful! Like fairies! How can that be?

This place that I have arrived in is not at all like busy Seattle with its markets. What my humble Shahpur village is to worldly Delhi, that is this place as compared to Seattle. Still, I am comfortable here due to the influence of Pala Singh. Like you, he speaks English because of his British army service and so he is leader of our work gang; sometimes he is even asked to enter the company offices to speak about some labor matter. The bosses trust him.

Through Pala Singh my uncle will know of all the work I do for the good of our family. I must earn enough so that Chacha-ji can buy the acres he wants in our ancestral Shahpur. It is his great dream to leave the canal colony and return to our home, to shift the entire family back, before he grows too old. Now I am contributing American dollars to the family earnings. Mother tells me that they are depending only on me. You know I am a fatherless man who was raised on my uncle’s generosity. How much my standing in the family will be improved if I can send enough money to buy that land! That is my wish now. This is the lot of a man such as myself, bhai, I must always work for my good name! I am joking, but in every joke there is a kernel of truth. I have heard you say the same.