India House - Chapter 6

The Secret Society

Days melted seamlessly into nights on the ship. Tatya had just finished supper with Harnam, Bapat and some other Indians on the ship, but the sun still hadn’t set.

“The day changes as we travel farther west,” Harnam helpfully said, “By the time we get to England, night and day will be flipped.”

“I can’t fall asleep if it continues being this bright,” Bapat said, “Let’s go indoors.”

Bapat’s small cabin creaked with the rhythm of the ship slicing through the choppy waters of the Indian Ocean. Tatya, Bapat, and Harnam sat around a small wooden table, the dim evening sun from the porthole casting long shadows, while the sound of waves crashing on to the hull added to the ambience.

“It makes sense why a boy from Punjab goes to study agriculture, but why is someone from Pune studying engineering?” Tatya said.

“You get to work with explosives while building roads, you know,” Bapat said.

“I imagine it’s going to take a lot of explosives to build roads in the Sahyadris,” Harnam said.

“That’s one use …