WORKS BY JULIAN SAMUEL BOOKS Passage to Lahore Lone Ranger in Pakistan The Raft of the Medusa (with Jocelyne Doray) DOCUMENTARIES City of the Dead and the World Exhibitions (1995) Into the European Mirror (1994) The Raft of the Medusa: Five Voices on Colonies, Nations, and Histories (1993) Red Star Over the Western Press: Archive; Algeria, 1954 62 (1987) Resisting the Pharoahs (1984) Black Skin; White Masks (1973 79) PASSAGE TO LAHORE A NOVEL BY Julian Samuel THE MERCURY PRESS Copyright © 1995 by Julian Samuel ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, with the exception of brief passages in reviews. Any request for photocopying or other reprographic copying of any part of this book must be directed in writing to the Canadian Reprography Collective (CANCOPY), 214 King Street West, Suite 312, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5H 3S6. Any resemblance to people living or dead is purely accidental. This is a work of fiction. The publisher gratefully acknowledges the financial assistance of the Canada Council and the Ontario Arts Council, as well as that of the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Publishing Centre. Edited by Stuart Ross Cover painting, “Four Pakistani Painters Boarding a Train for Paris,” 1977, and author photo by Julian Samuel Composition and page design by TASK Printed and bound in Canada by Metropole Litho Printed on acid free paper First Edition 1 2 3 4 5 99 98 97 96 95 Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Samuel, Julian Passage to Lahore ISBN 1 55128 024 8 I. Title PS8587.A716P37 1995 C813'.54 C95 932326 0 PR9199.3S37P37 1995 Represented in Canada by the Literary Press Group Distributed by General Distribution Services The Mercury Press 137 Birmingham Street Stratford, Ontario Canada N5A 2T1 CONTENTS 1. Indonesian Restaurant: Montréal, 1985: 7 2. Plague Years in England: Surrey, 1966: 10 3. Grandfather at Noon: Lahore, 1957: 16 4. Montréal, 1985: 29 5. Frantz Fanon Conference: Algeria, 1987: 44 6. Rushdie on the Hooghly River: Calcutta, 1988: 67 7. Lipstick on Your Collar: Toronto, 1968: 78 8. Of Milk, Mice and Men: Montréal, 1983: 81 9. Progressive Sexual Intercourse: Algeria, 1987: 105 10. Indonesian Restaurant: Montréal, 1985: 110 11. Man of Empire: Toronto, 1989: 119 12. Québec and the Communal Question: Montréal, 1985: 133 13. Deep Relationships: Montréal, 1989: 145 14. The Cannibals of Maarra: Montréal, 1985: 148 15. Report of an Officer Who Was Educated in the West: 159 16. The Starry Night I Met Begum Akhtar: Lahore, 1984: 160 17. Hong Kong and the Boat People PART ONE: Hong Kong, 1989: 185 18. Indonesian Restaurant: Montréal, 1985: 200 19. Hong Kong and the Boat People PART TWO: Hong Kong, 1989: 207 GLOSSARY 227 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 229 BIBLIOGRAPHY 231