Cracking India

Lenny considers the polio she suffered as an infant to be a stroke of good fortune that allows her to now sleep in her mother’s bed.

One morning, Ayah wakes her mother urgently because their housekeeper, Muccho, has once again badly beaten her young daughter, Papoo, though Muccho claims that the girl fell off her bed. Lenny’s parents decide that Papoo, who is three years older than Lenny, needs to go to the hospital. Papoo stays in the hospital for two weeks and returns her bright, mischievous self.

Later, Lenny is at the hospital again with her parents. They wait as Colonel Bharucha treats a starving infant from a Muslim family, disdainful that the parents had waited so long to bring him in, exclaiming, “And you all want Pakistan! How will you govern a country when you don’t know what goes on in your own house?” (26).

When it is Lenny’s turn to be treated, she is shocked and upset to learn that they are there to remove her cast. Her parents take her reaction for fear and comfort her, but Lenny loves the cast and doesn’t want her foot to heal. Lenny is pleased when she sees that her foot has improved but is still not entirely normal, and she will still have to wear a brace. Bharucha promises that with exercise and therapy, Lenny will be completely abled by the time she is an adult. Her father asks about school, and Bharucha dismisses the idea—school is stressful and unnecessary for having a husband and children. Lenny’s mother feels guilty about Lenny’s affliction, but Bharucha reassures her that some children are just more susceptible to polio. Bharucha blames the English for bringing Polio to India at all. Lenny considers this declaration to be her “first personal involvement with Indian politics” (31), foreshadowing the imminent partitioning of India and the removal of the Raj, the British monarchy’s rule of India.

Ayah and Lenny watch a British military parade, and Lenny refuses to leave until it finishes. Lenny is now able to make the short walk to Godmother’s home, but still rides in the stroller for longer walks. In the park, under a large statue of Queen Victoria, Ayah spends time with many different men. Lenny exploits this, demanding that the men give her attention too and receiving, for instance, a massage from a masseur and sweets from the ice-candy-man. By keeping Ayah’s secrets, Lenny learns about human needs as well as the power that comes with being attractive.

Lenny’s cousin introduces her to sexuality and to physical sensations that Lenny has never experienced, allowing her to touch his genitals, holding a pillow over her head to muffle her screams, and getting her electrocuted. Lenny considers this to teach her “about gullibility and shock” (37). When Lenny sleeps over at her aunt’s, an energetic widow that Lenny calls Electric-aunt, Lenny has “the first nightmare that connects [her] to the pain of others” (37)—a dream in which a Nazi soldier takes her away. 

Lenny “pick[s] up a brother” (38), a four-year-old boy whose existence Lenny can’t remember before this moment. Adi is a year younger than Lenny and beautiful—much more so than she believes herself to be. Lenny tries to tease Adi, but he fights back. The two siblings often spend time apart, sometimes because Adi moves too quickly to stay with Lenny for long and sometimes because, unlike Lenny, Adi goes to school. One day while Adi is sleeping, Lenny and her cousin marvel at his beauty, kissing him all over and certain that he must be wearing lipstick. Lenny’s cousin comments that he ought to have been a girl. Adi is light-skinned, and when Ayah takes the children to the park, he is allowed to play with English children.

In the winter, the ice-candy-man starts selling birds. He scams English women by pretending that he plans to break the birds’ necks. Upset, the women buy the birds and release them. Ayah, Adi, and Lenny sometimes help by loudly encouraging the man to kill the birds. One afternoon, the ice-candy-man uses his earnings to take Ayah and the children to a restaurant. During the meal, Lenny notices that Ayah is pleasuring the ice-candy-man under the table. Afterward, Ayah attempts to get the man to leave so she can work, but he begs her to let him stay and talk. Ayah reluctantly agrees and the ice-candy-man talks about current events.

Ice-candy-man claims that the Germans have a new bomb that will defeat the English and that the Japanese will help free India from the British. He insists, “If we want India back we must take pride in our customs, our clothes, our languages” (45). He asks Ayah why, if she is Punjabi, she dresses like a Goan. Ayah explains that she makes twice as much money as she would if she dressed like a Punjabi. Ice-candy-man tries to touch Ayah, but she rebuffs him. He grabs Adi and holds him high in the air, threatening to drop him if Ayah won’t promise to go to the movies with him later. Lenny knows that he won’t hurt Adi, but Adi screams and cries in terror. Finally, Ayah agrees, smacking Ice-candy-man with her sandal until he leaves. 

It’s 1944, and Lenny and her family are on vacation in the Himalayas when they learn that the war has ended. Everyone rejoices, and Lenny discovers that she is unexpectedly immensely relieved. World War II has been a part of her consciousness for her entire life. The Sethi family ends their trip early to return to Lahore to take part in a Parsee prayer to celebrate that the British won the war.

The day of the ceremony is extremely hot. The family goes to the temple for a ritual around a bonfire. Lenny sees Godmother, who ignores the fact that her sister, whom Lenny calls Slavesister, falls asleep. Colonel Bharucha sees Lenny limping and exuberantly gives her strict instructions on how to walk properly and how her mother must massage her leg, expressing pride in her progress. Lenny’s cousin tries to give her a pressed butterfly and is surprised when Lenny refuses.

After the ceremony, they go into the inner room of the temple. Colonel Bharucha addresses the crowd, repeating Gandhi’s declaration that the Indian people must stop buying British salt, which comes with an exorbitant tax. Gandhi has sworn to march a hundred miles to get salt from the Indian Ocean. Bharucha insists that the Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs will fight for power; since the Parsees will not be the leaders of the new India, they must avoid controversy and stay neutral. Many people in the crowd shout and disagree, including Dr. Manek Mody, Godmother’s brother-in-law.

Bharucha tells the story of the Parsees fleeing Persia centuries before. The prince of India had sent a full glass of milk to their ships to state, “My land is full and prosperous and we don’t want outsiders with a different religion and alien ways to disturb the harmony” (59). But the Parsees stirred sugar into the milk to show that they would only blend in and “sweeten the lives of his subjects” (59), so the prince welcomed them. Lenny hears this and feels slighted by her lack of education, feeling entitled to have learned this story before now as part of her cultural history. Bharucha asserts again that the Parsees must do what they have always done: serve whoever ends up ruling Lahore. With more audience retorts, the meeting dissolves into disorder. 

Ayah bathes Lenny and Lenny’s mother. Afterward, her mother massages Lenny’s leg, as she has done religiously since Colonel Bharucha instructed her to do so. Lenny’s mother is beautiful, but her attention to Lenny and Adi is inconsistent.

A newlywed couple, Gita and Shankar, rent part of the Sethi house. They had an arranged marriage but are now very much in love. Lenny likes to visit Gita while she cooks and tells her stories. Ayah also tells Lenny stories, and Lenny begs her to tell the tale of Sohni and Mahiwal, two doomed lovers.

Afterward, there is a ruckus as servants chase the gardener Hari and playfully try to take his loincloth. Papoo joins in the commotion until her mother Muccho catches her and beats her until she is unconscious. Ayah criticizes Muccho’s unkindness toward Papoo. Muccho defends herself until she realizes that she might have seriously injured the girl. She tends to her daughter until Papoo wakes and spits water at her mother. This enrages Muccho again and she chases Papoo, throwing rocks at her. As Papoo escapes, she affects a limp, mimicking Lenny as a sign of affection, not as mockery, because the limp irritates Papoo’s mother.

Imam Din, the Sethi family’s cook, likes to sit in the kitchen and pull women, children, and animals onto his lap. Because he is older (65) and highly respected in his home village, Imam Din is allowed “a certain latitude” (71) when others might be disciplined for such behavior. Imam Din travels 20 miles to his home village by bike once a month to visit his fourth wife. Lenny has accompanied him twice but was very young, so she only remembers that she enjoyed herself. She pleads with Imam Din to take her on his next trip, but he protests that he will be visiting his grandson 40 miles away, too far to bicycle with Lenny’s extra weight. But Ayah persuades him until Imam Din agrees.

Imam Din and Lenny set out early the next morning. Lenny notes that this is the first time she has seen Lahore at dawn, which seems to be the time that the people wake up to go to the bathroom in the streets.

On the outskirts of town, they travel through the area where the Pathans live—“fierce tribesmen from the northern frontiers” (75) who leave their families to find jobs. One Pathan catches Lenny and Imam Din staring and glares angrily at them. Imam Din shouts, “Welcome to Lahore, brother!” (75). After a while, as Imam Din tires, they stop for breakfast, and then catch a ride on a cart that leaves them near the village of Pir Pindo.

Ranna, Imam Din’s young great-grandson, who is about the same age as Lenny, greets them. Lenny and Ranna are fascinated with each other and become friends. Ranna’s two older sisters, Khatija and Parveen, are also interested in Lenny, but they are timid. The family is Muslim, and the two girls must be modest and appropriate. Though only eight or nine years old, they act like adults and will likely have arranged marriages soon.

In the afternoon, several Sikh men visit from a nearby village, and Lenny listens as they talk about recent murders of Hindus and Muslims in other Indian towns with no intervention from the English. Imam Din reveals that the reason for his visit is to warn them about the direness of the situation in other villages. There are riots, protests, “sly killings” (79), and police brutality, because “Once aroused, the English are savages” (79). Additionally, there are conflicts between Hindus and Muslims as well as between Sikhs and Muslims. The villagers, who are a mix of Sikh and Muslim, insist that they are brothers who will defend each other.

The next morning, Parveen shyly asks Lenny if she has short hair because she had lice. Lenny, offended, explains that short hair is fashionable in Lahore. Parveen is scolded by her mother and Lenny leaves Pir Pindo “with a heavy heart and a guilty conscience” (81). 

At home, Lenny watches Imam Din try to win Ayah’s favor. She calls Ayah “the greatest involuntary teacher ever” (82) as Imam Din gives Ayah the best food in hopes of attention.

When Lenny’s parents throw a dinner party, Lenny and Adi fight over the one chicken giblet, but soon hide under the table to eavesdrop. The Sethis invite two couples: the Singhs and the Rogerses. Mr. Singh is a Sikh whom Lenny’s mother finds rough and unrefined, and Mrs. Singh is an American woman. Lenny and Adi often play with their two children, Rosy and Peter. Mr. Rogers is the Inspector General of Police, and he and Mrs. Rogers are British. Lenny’s father tells the group his “emergency-measures joke” (85), in which the punch line makes fun of the English. Mr. Rogers is offended as the others roar with laughter.

This begins a heated argument about how India will be ruled when the English withdraw, and whether the Hindus and the Muslims will ever manage to work together. Mr. Rogers asserts that India will be partitioned so that part of it becomes Pakistan. The fight peaks when Mr. Singh lunges across the table and threatens to stab Mr. Rogers with a fork. The women plead with the two men to apologize each other, forcing pleasantries and redirecting the conversation to more jokes. After dessert, Lenny and Adi give themselves away by pinching Mrs. Singh and Mrs. Rogers. Their parents haul them out of the dining room and punish them.

The family acquires a car—a used Morris Minor that makes a cranking sound an ever-present part of life. Lenny remembers a playful moment between her parents when, one afternoon, Mother chases Father around the house to take money from him for household expenses while Father feigns anger.  

Lenny and Adi meet up with Rosy and Peter Singh. Rosy tells Lenny smugly that she knows how babies are made, although Lenny is skeptical. Rosy insists that Adi isn’t old enough to understand. Adi, still angry from being told the same thing by their cousin that morning, attacks her. They fight until they are pulled apart. Lenny follows Rosy back to her house, comforting her although she is tired of Rosy acting like a know-it-all. Rosy owns a set of crystal jars that captivate Lenny. She contemplates stealing them and decides to hide them in the fireplace until Rosy forgets about them. But when Rosy decides to play with the jars, knowing Lenny’s affinity for them, Lenny laments the lost opportunity.

Two new men are lavishing time and gifts on Ayah. Lenny calls them the Chinaman and the Pathan. The Chinaman visits twice a week, ostensibly to sell silk and other goods, but when Ayah insists that she has no money, the Chinaman implies that another arrangement would be acceptable, and the house begins to fill with silk.

The Pathan earns Ayah’s attention by sharpening all of the blades in the house. At first, Lenny never sees his face since he covers it while he sharpens knives to avoid inhaling metal particles. Later, Lenny realizes that the man is Sharbat Khan, the same Pathan whom she and Imam Din saw on their ride out of town. Sharbat Khan tells Ayah about strange murders and fires in town, the result of the tension between Hindus and Muslims. Sharbat Khan is clearly in love with Ayah, and the way he looks at her makes Lenny feel something strange. Lenny begs Sharbat to take her for a ride on his motorbike and he does. Sharbat Khan is leaving town to go to his village; he promises to bring pistachios back for Ayah. When Lenny’s father comes home, she and her mother lavish him with attention. While he eats dinner, conversation flags, so Lenny’s mother entertains him by inventing “brilliant, saccharinely sweet and fetchingly naïve remarks” (107) that Lenny supposedly made and Lenny plays along, wondering, “Is that when I learn to tell tales?” (108)

Since Lenny isn’t enrolled in school like her brother, she goes to Godmother’s British neighbor, Mrs. Pen, for tutoring. During the lessons, Lenny compares Mrs. Pen to Ayah: Mrs. Pen reminds Lenny of the past and the British Raj, while “Ayah carries the dark purity of creation” (109).

After her lessons, Lenny goes next door to Godmother’s house. Slavesister, Lenny’s name for Godmother’s caretaker sister, brings them tea. Secretly, Lenny has finally stolen Rosy’s crystal jars. Finding no good hiding place at home, Lenny had brought them to Godmother’s house. Lenny hides the jars when Slavesister leaves the room, but Slavesister finds them. Lenny lies that Rosy gave them to her, but Godmother isn’t fooled. To Lenny’s chagrin, Godmother tells Lenny what Lenny has been told her entire life—she cannot get away with lying or swearing because “it doesn’t suit [her]” (114).

On another day, Gandhi himself comes to Lahore and Mother takes Lenny to meet him. Lenny is unimpressed with his appearance. There are young women around him who are much thinner than the Indian women Lenny is used to seeing. When Lenny and her mother approach Gandhi, he surprises Lenny by talking about digestion. Even more surprisingly, Lenny’s mother responds by detailing her bowel movements. Gandhi suggests daily enemas, grabs Lenny’s arm, pronounces her “sickly-looking” (117) without looking at her, and suggests daily enemas for her as well. Lenny is angry until Gandhi looks at her with an expression that causes her anger to dissipate. Gandhi touches Lenny’s face and she looks down, thinking, “This is the first time I have lowered my eyes before a man” (118). The weight of this moment would only become apparent in several years, when Lenny would understand Gandhi’s activism and what was at stake in India.