Summary
Mr. Singh and his wife come over to Lenny’s house. They sit on the veranda with Mother and talk about all of the families that have left Lahore. There are no Hindu families left on Warris Road, and only two Sikh families. Father comes home and joins the group and Mr. Singh seems relieved. He seemed both excited and shy when Mother shook his hand, but was uncomfortable alone with the women afterward. Mr. Singh tells them that his family will be leaving too. They have received orders to leave Lahore forever as part of a complete Sikh evacuation. He asks Lenny’s father if they will store things like furniture for him. Empty houses are being looted. Thinking of leaving, both Mr. Singh’s and Lenny’s father’s eyes “glisten in the dusk” with tears. Mrs. Singh also gets emotional and the children are sent away to play.
“Things have become topsy-turvy,” Lenny says. They don't go to the Queen’s Garden or to the wrestler’s restaurant. And Ayah’s admirers are tenser with each other. Some have even stopped coming around altogether. One night Ayah, Lenny, Masseur, Hari, Sher Singh, and the Government House gardener are listening to the radio together. They learn that the Punjabi city of Gurdaspur has been given to India. Then there are reports of “trouble” in Gurdaspur, which the group assumes means “uncontrollable butchering.” The Masseur tells Sher Singh he can always go there or to Amritsar if he needs to, but he refuses obstinately.
Then they hear a bicycle coming up the driveway at lightning speed. It’s Ice-candy-man, breathless and sweating. He has just seen a train come in from Gurdaspur. It was filled with Muslims leaving the city. Yet they were all murdered and the women had their breasts cut off and thrown in sacks. Ice-candy-man had been there at the station for three days waiting for his relatives only to see that they were all slaughtered. Lenny is horrified to think of the severed breasts. She thinks of her own mother’s breasts being detached. Everyone instinctively looks over at the Sikh zoo attendant. One afternoon, there is a crowd in one of the city’s alleys. Sharbat Khan is back and is making good business sharpening knives, swords, daggers, axes, and so on. The men all appear nervous. Sher Singh is there and has a “touchy, defensive look.” Ayah cannot even tease him flirtatiously without him getting offended.
That evening Sharbat Khan visits the house bringing gifts of almonds and dried apricots. Ayah appears more comfortable with him than she has been in the past. Later the Masseur joins. He and Sharbat Khan size each other up. They compete over Ayah’s attention. The chapter ends with Lenny wondering what has happened to Ice-candy-man. There has been no sign of him for days. Also, the gardener, wrestler, butcher, and zoo attendant have been missing too.
Analysis
The example of the Singh family shows the grief and worry that came with families deciding or being forced to leave Pakistan for India (or vice versa). They are sad to leave their friends and concerned about the journey. They also have hopes of returning later to pick up the larger items they were not able to carry with them. Even the men in both families are clearly emotional about this separation.
In Ayah’s social circle there are also changes. Some of her admirers are missing. Others act strangely with each other. Sher Singh in particular is acting nervous. Lenny writes that Ayah “handles him with the caution her Singh lavishes on the nervous little lion cubs in the zoo. He has taken us to see the cubs. It’s all very well to see them romp and mew, but within a year they will roar their way into my nightmares and sink their fangs in me.” The lion in the zoo is the consistent object of Lenny’s nightmares. To compare Sher Singh to a lion cub shows that he may appear harmless and nervous now but is potentially dangerous. Similarly, though Sharbat Khan is a kind figure, there is something frightening now about his profession as a knife-sharpener. Observing all the men sharpening their blades, Lenny remarks wryly that they must have “a lot of meat to cut.” Of course, she knows that they will really be using these blades for self-defense or even to attack others.
