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Jemubhai marries Nimi
Jemubhai's family cannot afford to send him to England. Therefore, they find a wife to gain a dowry. The wealthy man, Bomanbhai Patel, is interested in Jemubhai, because he is about to attend the Indian Civil Service. Patel offers his fourteen-year-old daughter Nimi, and they get married right away. -
Jemubhai is attending Cambridge University
Only a month after his wedding, Jemubhai leaves for England. He spends most of his time studying. This is mainly because he is treated as an outcast and has trouble making friends. Long periods of time go by, without him speaking to anyone. Slowly, he begins to find his own culture and skin colour odd. -
Jemubhai is accepted at Cambridge
Jemumbhai's father is of the peasant caste. However, he manages to collect enough money to send Jemumbhai to mission school. Therefore, he is particularly proud of his son, when Jemumbhai is at the top of his class. The principal summons Jemumbhai's father to suggest that Jemumbhai should take the local pleader's examination. Then he gets to attend Bishop's College, and is finally accepted at Cambridge to study for the Indian Civil Service. -
Jemubhai returns from England
When Jemubhai returns, Nimi takes his powder puff, which he uses to whiten his skin. When he finds out she took it, he gets furious and rapes her. After studying in England, he hates the Indian customs. Therefore, he forces Nimi to follow the English customs as he does faithfully. When she refuses, he pushes her face into the toilet. Then he leaves for a three-month long tour. -
Nimi joins the Nehru welcoming comitte for the Indian National Congress Party
While Jemubhai is on his tour, Nimi joins the Nehru welcoming committee for the Indian National Congress Party. When Jemubhai returned, he is confronted by the district commissioner. He is humiliated and decides to beat up Nimi. Finally, he leaves for good. He settles high in the Himalayas, in his house, Cho Oyu. Six months later, Nimi gives birth to their child. Two months later, Nimi dies. -
Sai arrives at Cho Oyu
Jemubhai and Nimi's daughter moves to Moscow with her husband. He is picked by the Indian Airforce as a possible candidate for the Intercoms Program. Meanwhile, their daughter, Sai, is sent to the convent school St. Augustine. When she turns eight, her parents are hit by a bus. The nuns at the convent school find her grandfather's address. She moves into Cho Oyu. Here she lives with her grandfather Jemubhai, Mutt the dog, and the cook. -
Say meets her tutor Noni
The morning after the arrival, she is taken to her new tutor Noni. It takes an hour to walk to Noni's house, but the cook brings her every day. Noni is a wealthy and educated woman, who lives with her sister Lola. On the way she is introduced to Uncle Potty, Father Booty, and the Afghan Princesses. They are all upper class and educated people. These adults become her good friends. -
Biju is fired from another restaurant
Biju is the cook's son. They are both born servants. However, the cook managed to send Biju to America to work and make money. He was sent with a tourism visa and is an illegal immigrant. Therefore, he often loses his jobs at restaurants. Sometimes he even loses his jobs due to his ethnicity. This helps him to grow hatred against other ethnicities. -
Biju meets Saeed at the Queens of Tarts Bakery
Biju gets a job at the Queens of Tarts bakery. He becomes friends with Saeed Saeed - a Muslim from Zanzibar, Kavafya from Kazakstan, and Omar from Malaysia. Biju has learned all his life to be careful of black people, Pakistanis, Mexicans, Chinese people etc., in the same way that Saeed had been warned about Indians. Nevertheless, Saeed welcomes Biju. This helps Biju to start questioning his prejudice against the other ethnicities. -
Biju slips on rotten spinach
After a group of health inspectors shot down the Bakery, Biju gets a job at Ghandi Café. Biju slips on rotten spinach and asks the boss to pay for a doctor. The boss had taken care of Biju and was very kind to him. However, he refuses to pay, because of the high medical expenses. They get into an argument and the boss suggest that Biju should return to India for medical care. -
Say meets Gyan
In 1968, Sai turns sixteen. Noni realizes that she can no longer teach her math and science. Jemubhai asks the principal of the local college if he could recommend a new tutor. He replies that he could recommend the twenty-year-old boy, Gyan, who is from Nepal. He is a promising student, who had just finished his bachelor's degree. -
Sai kisses Gyan
Sai and Gyan quickly discovers that they are attracted to each other. One day, when he is over at Cho Oyu to teach Sai, the weather develops into a powerful storm. They flirt with each other, and suddenly Gyan asks Sai to kiss him. She does as he pleases and kisses him. He tells her about how his family was taking advantage of when they were serving the British army. Suddenly, they are in love with each other. -
Gyan sees a GNLF procession
When Gyan is in the market, he sees boys from the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) having a procession. The Ghorkas are the soldiers who were recruited from Nepal to serve the British Army. The GNFL demands a Ghorkland state within India. As a Nepali boy who were taken advantage of by the British Army, he relates to their complains. He is quickly caught up in the procession. -
Gyan informes the GNFL about Jemubhai's rifles
Sai speaks English and is raised with English customs. This makes her a part of a higher rank in the Indian society. When Gyan speaks with Sai after the procession, he claims that she believes in elitism and is inconsiderate of the minority groups. He gives his friends in the GNFL a description to Cho Oyu and tells them about Jemubhai's hunting rifles. -
GNFL boys arrive at Cho Oyu
A group of Ghorka boys arrives at Cho Oyu. They demand Jemubhai to get his guns. He tells them to leave his property, or he will call the police. The Ghorka boys know that there is no telephone, because Gyan had informed them. So, they threaten them with their own guns, until Sai gives them the hunting rifles. Before they leave, they demand the cook to make them dinner, and steal everything with value. -
Gyan beats Sai
Sai is unaware that it was Gyan who encouraged the GNFL boys to steal from them. She walks to his home to meet him, and she sees how very poor he is. She tries to talk to him and show her pity. This provokes Gyan and he begins to argue with her. Lastly, he throws her in the bushes and beats her. -
Biju returns home
The strikes escalate into acts of horror. There are several more robberies, murders and arsons. Biju decides to book a flight home, despite the warnings. When he finally arrives in Calcutta, he is told that there are no busses to Kalimpong, because of the rebellion. He catches a ride with some Ghorka boys, who stops before they reach Kalimpong to rob him. He must walk the rest of the way. -
The cook is blamed fro the disappearance of Mutt
A woman who was treated with unjust by the police, steals Mutt in order to sell her for money. Jemubhai, Sai and the cook is all set out to search for her. Jemubhai tries to inform the police, but they only mock him. Suddenly, he blames the cook for the disappearance of Mutt. Jemubhai threatens to kill him and beats him in front of Sai. -
The cook and Biju are finally reunited
The cook is exhausted by being beaten up by Jemubhai. Eventually, the cook and Sai hear the gate rattle outside. The cook decides to see who it is. Luckily, it is Biju. The cook, who were just beaten by his boss, and the son, who just were robbed by Ghorka boys, is finally reunited.
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