Page 45 of The Secrets of the Tea Garden

‘Not in any detail,’ said Libby. ‘I want to hear it from you.’

‘I was intent on making a scene at the Fair – in front of all those champagne-swigging Britishers and their rajah friends – but Sam saw me and barged me out of the way. Later, he helped hide me in the hills and got me safely away. If either of us had been caught he would have been in very grave trouble.’ Ghulam looked reflective. ‘He also intervened to save a Gaddi girl – one of the nomadic shepherds – from an abusive uncle. Sam is the bravest and most principled man I know.’

‘High praise for one of the despised sahibs,’ Libby said dryly.

‘There are exceptions to every rule,’ he said with the flash of a smile.

‘So, thanks to Sam’s intervention, you were able to carry on your campaigning?’

Ghulam nodded. With Libby’s encouragement he spoke about his hand-to-mouth existence all over northern India, speaking at rallies,evading the police and eventually coming to an uneasy truce with his persecutors during the War.

‘Unlike many of my comrades,’ said Ghulam, ‘I thought the greater evil was Hitler and his fascists, not the Britishers. Neither did I relish the prospect of a Japanese dictatorship taking over India.’

‘So you supported the Allies against Japan?’ asked Libby.

Ghulam nodded, a wry smile playing on his lips. ‘I believed that the quickest way to get rid of the Britishers for good would be to support the war effort – I wasn’t going to see the Japanese march in and impose a new Raj.’

‘So what do you think of the Indians who supported the Japanese in Burma?’ Libby pressed. ‘The ones who joined the Indian National Army – they’re treated as heroes now, aren’t they?’

She saw the sudden tension in his jaw and a flash of anger in his eyes.

‘I lost friends for good over my stance,’ he admitted, ‘but I don’t regret choosing to speak out against fascism.’

‘What did you do?’

‘Became a volunteer fireman here in Calcutta.’ He told her of how he had grown disenchanted with politics for a while, of his futile attempts to help the dying on the streets of Calcutta and of Fatima saving him. ‘She nursed me back to health – not just my body but my spirit – and helped me find my passion again for the things that matter.’

Libby was moved by his words and in awe of how much he had been prepared to give up for his beliefs. It was easy to spout forth political opinions but quite another to act on them. ‘Deeds not words’ had been Miss MacGregor’s mantra and the slogan of the women suffrage campaigners Libby had so admired. Ghulam had lived his whole life putting his ideals into practice too. She wondered if he had lost anyone special to him along the way.

‘So you’ve never got married or had a family?’ she asked.

His eyes widened, startled by her blunt question. ‘No,’ he spluttered. She saw his jaw darken with embarrassment. ‘Besides,’ he said, recovering, ‘marriage is a bourgeois institution, don’t you think?’

‘Well,’ said Libby, ‘it’s nice to be dining with a man who isn’t married. I’m not very good at choosing men.’ She stopped, realising she’d been thinking out loud. He was giving her a curious look. ‘Not that there’s anything implied in our meeting for lunch. I don’t want you to think that’s why I came – that I expect anything more than – er – lunch ...’

Libby felt her cheeks burning. She put her hands to her face. ‘Oh dear, sorry. I don’t know why I said that.’

Ghulam started to chuckle. ‘Well, now we’ve both been embarrassed, so we’re even on that score.’

Libby laughed out loud.

‘Do I take it,’ he said, ‘that you’ve had a bad experience with a married man?’

‘Well, it wasn’t bad at the time,’ said Libby candidly, ‘just disappointing to discover he was married. He was an Italian POW.’

‘You are a startling young woman,’ Ghulam said, his face creasing in amusement. ‘I can’t say I’ve ever had such a frank conversation with someone I’ve only known for a couple of hours – especially a woman.’

‘Not what you expected of a memsahib?’ Libby teased.

He laughed. ‘Not in the least. But I can’t deny I find it most refreshing.’

She eyed him. ‘You only invited me out to lunch to keep your sister happy, didn’t you?’

He hesitated and then nodded. Libby felt a flicker of disappointment but tried not to let it show.

‘Well, I only accepted because I was curious about seeing bits of Calcutta I’ve never been taken to before.’

‘Good,’ he said. ‘Then neither of us have any expectations apart from a good lunch.’