CHAPTER 17

Summary

• In 1935 Madras, the characters Owen and Jennifer Tuttleberry are introduced as Anglo-Indian friends of Honorine and Digby. Owen is a locomotive driver and Jennifer is a switchboard operator.
• Digby needs a more affordable form of transport and Owen proposes selling him a second-hand motorcycle, Esmeralda, which is a hybrid of various components but mostly a Triumph.
• Digby and Honorine visit the Tuttleberrys in the Perambur Railway Colony, a walled enclave of Anglo-Indians on the edge of the city with modest identical houses.
• Owen guarantees that the motorcycle is reliable and offers to be Digby's mechanic for the vehicle. Digby chooses to buy the motorcycle after taking it for a test drive.
• They all share a family dinner, during which Jennifer introduces her muscular brother, Jeb, a ticket collector and aspiring Olympian.
• They consume a homemade meal and dig into a dish called “pish-pash", served by Jennifer.
• Owen expresses his admiration and love for his wife Jennifer, expressing disbelief that she married him due to his darker complexion.
• As they depart, Digby reflects on the contrasting social stratification between the Anglo-Indian enclave and the local society, which mirrors his own experience of both oppression in Glasgow and his role as an oppressor in India.