Burnt Shadows

Two years later (1947), Sajjad Ali Ashraf bicycles to work at Bungle Oh!, the Burton estate in Delhi, India. Sajjad notes that in the British sections of Delhi, the local plants are contained to flowerpots. Sajjad compares himself to a pigeon as he “[breaks] free of the rest of my flock to investigate the air of Delhi” (34). Sajjad arrives at Bungle Oh! to bring James Burton files from James’s office, as he is recovering from an injury. James has promised Sajjad that he will help him become a lawyer, but the men primarily talk and play chess at their daily meetings.

Konrad’s sister Ilse, who uses the anglicized name Elizabeth Burton, watches Sajjad as he checks his reflection in the Burtons’ Bentley. Sajjad is admiring his cashmere jacket, a gift from James, but Elizabeth interprets his actions as vanity. James and Elizabeth’s marriage is revealed to be strained, and Elizabeth fantasizes about shocking the other British wives by declaring her preference for the local flowers over England’s flowers. James admires the cashmere jacket on Sajjad and recalls how Konrad introduced Sajjad to the Burtons after meeting him by chance.