Sutanuti Homecoming

What Happened

• The road in. Pratap and Adrien escorted Elizabeth Ashby up Chitpur Road until the cobbles gave way to mud and the plaster fronts of the British town became the thatched wooden houses of Sutanuti. Pratap hired a group of local youths under Bennie to clear the lanes. English stopped at the district’s edge.
• The doorway. Elizabeth led them to her family’s house near the riverbank, where the fishing boats were hauled up on the mud. Her mother came out with stony, conflicted anger. Elizabeth went to her knees in the mud and spoke in Hindi of her long journey and of the vengeance she had taken on the man who broke the family. Pratap translated for Adrien and left out the killing.
• The meal. Her mother relented and served the guests lentils and spiced vegetables.
• The others. Malati and Nikhil Dasi arrived afterwards. Years of hard labour on the river had left both with little sympathy for tales of vengeance.
• Leaving. Pratap pressed a pouch of coins into the family’s hands on Elizabeth’s behalf. She acknowledged it quietly on the walk back.

Why It Matters

• Elizabeth’s family is now known to the party by face and by house: her mother, her sister and her uncle, who heads the family’s boats on the Hooghly.
• The reunion mended one tie of three. Her sister and uncle remain cold.

Related

• People: Elizabeth Ashby, Sarala Dasi, Malati, Nikhil Dasi — the family. Bennie Hanna — hired guide. Adrien de Montferrand — escort. Havildar Pratap Singh — escort and translator; left money for the family.
• Places: Sutanuti — the district. Chitpur Road — the way in.