by Amrit Chima
My father Harjindar Singh Chima for being my muse.
My husband Daniel Horvath who readily accepted that I would always follow my own path, and that perhaps this might sometimes mean he would be the sole provider of our little family unit.
Maria Sicola for the rare and invaluable gift of time.
Diane DeCorso and Pat Mandel for their unrelenting and zealous support of this book.
Rob Rogers and Josie Garcia for their insights, critiques, and numerous questions.
Ann Lam and Titanilla Fiáth for their positivity and encouragement during the last draft.
Table of Contents
Contents
Family Tree
Prologue
Hotel Toor: 1910
Dr. Bansal’s Ladoos: 1911
A Coconut & a Sword: 1911–1914
The Mighty Champion Splash Maker: 1915–1919
Colonial Police Batons & Pistols: 1920–1922
Avani’s Wooden Elephant: 1930
Heaven Bound in Brown Leather: 1932
A Two-Story House: 1935–1937
Plastic Toy Tools: 1947–1948
LPs on the Gramophone & a Cabinet Radio: 1949–1952
Pasteurized & Homogenized: 1957
Malady & Mutiny: 1959
Ankylosing Spondylitis: 1960
Secrets in the Rafters: 1962
Psalm of Peace: 1965
A Shack in the Jungle: 1966
Ford Falcon Futura: 1969
Still Swallowed Whole: 1970–1972
The Hindu Pundit of Amritsar: 1974–1975
A Baptism & a Kirtan: 1976–1978
Sacramento’s Greyhound Bus Depot: 1985
Manmohan’s Garden: 1993–1994
The Return of the Moneylender: 2000
The Apartments on Howard Street: 2004–2005
Epilogue
Acknowledgements