Slings and Arrows

By Devinder Singh Kapur

The year - 1958. The setting post-colonial India, still not wholly liberated from the influence of the Empire. The players - Ravinder Singh, successful anglophile engineer and David Massey, humble carpenter.
As their worlds collide and their lives intersect at crucial junctures, the narrative weaves seamlessly across generations between their seemingly disconnected lives, loves, families, and fortunes, as the book hurtles towards its ironic dnouement where a stunning reversal of fortune plays itself out.
Underscoring the vagaries of destiny, the whims and caprices of Lady Luck, and the outrageous reversals of fate that turn our lives upside down, Slings And Arrows is a page-turner that fans of Jeffrey Archer and Sidney Sheldon will enjoy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing India
• Release date: May 22, 2014
• ISBN: 9781482823394

Book preview

Copyright © 2014 by Devinder Singh Kapur.

ISBN:       Softcover       978-1-4828-2338-7

                 eBook             978-1-4828-2339-4

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Contents

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

SUMMARY

DEDICATION

This book is for my wife for making every moment of my life worth living… and for showing me what truly unconditional love means…

"To be, or not to be: that is the question:

Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,

Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,

And by opposing end them?"

Hamlet, William Shakespeare

CHAPTER 1

T he year was 1958 in May, and it was a hot Saturday. The temperature was soaring to over thirty-eight degrees Celsius in Delhi, and Ravinder Singh, a senior executive with an oil company, was preparing to go to the club for a game of tennis. The game was fixed at 4:00 p.m. His only son, seventeen-year-old Harvinder Singh, fondly known as Harry, was also getting ready to go for horse riding at the local club. In the evening, the family was to meet together as they had Vice President John Ross of the British parent oil company, Mughal Inc., visiting Delhi and was coming for dinner.

The five-bedroom farmhouse, with an acre of land and a swimming pool, was a hub of activity with six servants, cook, bearer, sweeper, nanny, gardener, and watchman all scurrying back and forth under the directions of the memsahib, Mrs. Shanta Singh, in preparations for the evening entertainment.

In another part of Delhi, David Massey was busy in his workshop. It was a hot day at the Woodworks Pvt. Ltd., a local company where he worked as a carpenter. As he was good with figures, he was very often called by his boss to do estimates for the larger jobs. However, he was frustrated as he was not earning very much and was just managing to eke out a basic living. To feed and clothe and educate two sons and a daughter was proving to be difficult, but he had a sense of humor and therefore could always laugh at the adversity he faced.

He had very basic two-room living accommodation with a kitchen and a bathroom. His wife, Mary, was preparing the evening meal. It was hot, and with the electricity supply being temperamental, the kitchen was like a sauna bath. However, she carried on complaining to herself as she went along. Her eldest son, Peter, who was sixteen, was playing outside on the street with the neighbors’ children. Her daughter, Jean, who was fourteen, was studying; and her youngest son, Tony, twelve, was also playing with his friends, at the local park.

It was 8:30 p.m. when Sir Ross arrived, and Ravinder and his wife were at the door to receive him.

"Hello, old boy Ravinder! It’s rather hot in Delhi. How