A Cobra in the Plantation

Alford Khan

Description

It is about a young Indian nobleman thrown into exile, Nobile Hispahani found himself on a sugar plantation. A world dominated by Europeans. Through unimaginable circumstances he found himself propelled through the ranks to become the administrator.
Some of his friends thought it was possible because he married the daughter of one of the shareholders. others who knew him well knew that it was his grit and determination to succeed and above all never to be subservient to any man. All the workers on the plantation were from India. His main task was to elevate them from the stygian conditions given to them. This was a thankless task. The extra money they earned was spent on buying offerings for the many gods they worshipped. This made him question the existence of God and a relentless debate ensued. In the end. The debate drew no conclusion. His life on the plantation was filled with strikes and rioting from the disenchanted worker.
Nobile always was the winner. This story ends with him undecided if he should return to India for a holiday or not.

Sujets

• Biographical
• Story
• Human
• Life
• Fiction

Informations

• Publié par: AuthorHouse UK
• Date de parution: 28 octobre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781728375229
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

A COBRA IN THE PLANTATION



ALFORD KHAN












© 2022 Alford Khan. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

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ISBN: 978-1-7283-7523-6 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-7283-7522-9 (e)



Published by AuthorHouse 09/15/2022



















A COBRA IN THE PLANTATION
By
ALFORD KHAN
A COBRA IN PASSIVE MOOD



Introduction
It was a new experience for me when I was sent to spend the summer holidays with my maternal grandparents. They lived in a village on the outskirts of a sugar plantation. They were extremely happy to see me. But not half as happy as I was to see them.
This new experience made me realise the enormous different lifestyles of people in the countryside and those living in the towns.
Escaping from the confines of life in the town and finding freedom to roam the back waters and finding new friends who spoke an alien English was an inspiring experience. Nevertheless. Their camaraderie was overwhelming. This made me ignore their lack of grammar. And a mutual bond was born.
I was fascinated by their exaggerated stories of encounters with jaguars and snakes so large they can easily swallow a young boy. It was not long before I got tired of it and became interested in the stories their parents told me of life long ago.
Many years later. Their stories began teasing my memory. It was impossible to verify everything they said as the people involved in this tale are all gone. We all know stories of long ago can be exaggerated.
I thought if I could blend some of the fictious bits with the important parts. I may be able to write an interesting tale. It should be noted that some ideas portrayed in this book was based on knowledge at the time
It took me several years delving through plantation archives before I realised it was not all fiction.
And a great part of the horrors of life in the plantations turned out to be true. I felt it needed to be told.
My final decision came when my grandmother told me of the hardships her father suffered trying to feed a family of eight. And to pay for his eldest son’s training to be a veterinary surgeon.
As my research got deeper. I began to realise that there were indeed unbearable human sufferings. I wanted to write about it. And at the same time. I had to be careful not to dilute or exaggerate any of my findings in my research.
The story you are about to read reveal the truth of human sufferings and the efforts of one man and his loyal friends to bring about a change for the better. The challenges are as recorded in personal memoirs.
Names of the plantations have been changed to protect their descendants still alive and working there
In today’s present atmosphere of racial tension and discriminations. I found it difficult to believe the non-existence of racial tension between the Indian Administrator and his European staff. Was it because he was of noble birth and had the support of Matthew Longhorn? The indomitable legendary iconic retired English Commissioner of the hinterlands? Or the compromising and kind nature of the wealthy Scot plantation owner. Sir Adrian. Others say it was because he married sir Adrian’s niece. I personally believed it was because he had the ability to control the semi-illiterate work force and enhance the profits of the plantation? His honesty and sense of fairness became legendary.
Today as I took note of human sufferings and racial discriminations. I realised it was there from time memorial. Unfortunately. These inhuman activities will remain with us forever. Mankind will never evolve to relinquish their bigotry. It was. Is. And forever be the norm. It is what gave some of us that sense of superiority. I still remember the words if my maternal grandfather “You don’t have to born a noble man to behave nobly to others.”
I hope you find this story revealing in all its human aspects.



Contents
Introduction
Acknowlegement
Chapter 1 The Long March
Chapter 2 A New Life
Chapter 3 A Double Wedding
Chapter 4 The New Generation
Chapter 5 An Explosion
Chapter 6 Cobra Is Not Happy
Chapter 7 A Planned Seduction
Chapter 8 An Accident
Chapter 9 Revenge
Chapter 10 A Frustrated Inspector
Chapter 11 Celebrations
Chapter 12 Boysie Moment Of Glory
Chapter 13 Changes
Chapter 14 An Armed Robbery
Chapter 15 A Cheerful Captain
Chapter 16 An Emergency Meeting
Chapter 17 The Orphans
Chapter 18 Bombs And Weddings
Chapter 19 The Investigation
Chapter 20 The Capture
Chapter 21 A Journey In The Bush
Chapter 22 The Letter
Chapter 23 Local Politics
Chapter 24 An Uneasy Truce
Chapter 25 The Debate
Chapter 26 The Debate Continues
Chapter 27 A War With The Miners
Chapter 28 The New Project
Chapter 29 News From Europe
Chapter 30 An Historic Visit
Chapter 31 The End Of Hostilities
Chapter 32 The Promise
Chapter 33 Uncertainties
Chapter 34 Disappointments
Chapter 35 The New Town
Chapter 36 A Mystery Solved
Chapter 37 The Cobra Is Happy
Chapter 38 Matthew’s Dilema



Acknowlegement
My grateful Thanks to my sister Rose-Marie for the photographs and Reg Sandhu for his help with my problematic computer.





Alford Khan was born 10 th July 1033. As the eldest of twelve children he acquiered a great sense of responsibility. Age 15 he strarted workng in his father’s dental business. He also learnt to make his own clothes and that of his siblings from the tailor next door.
Several years later he was recognised as a registrerd dentist. This gave him freedom to practice dentistry. However. It did not provide the lucrative lifestyle imagined. Frustrated he left for London.
He was disappointed to discover that Registered dentist can only practice in the colonies. Again disaaponred but not disheartened. He got a job as a civilian technician with the Royal Army Dental Corps in Aldershot. He was the only non white and suffered humilating racial abuses. It must be said in all fairness that some of the civilian staff were kind and friendly to him. This encouraged him until he felt it was time to move.
He went to London and started his own dental busines which prospered with the support of the Jewish and Indian dentists.
It was not long after he met a young lady from Finland and soon they were married. They had four children. The prosperity of the business enabled him and his family to live a luxurious life style.
In 1985. He realised the poverty his homeland suffered. Lack of medicine for the sick and the poor education made the situation worse. It was time for action. He ecoureged a few friends to help. A charity was created dedicated for this sole purpose and became known as the Guyana Berbice Association. That very year he was elected President. A position he held for six years.
Togerher with the sister chapters in North America and the Rotary Club of Greenford. Medicines, clothes books and other educational accessories began pouring in the country. The President of Guyana was so impressed, he awarded the charity The Medal of Service
With the leadership in other capable hands. He wrote two jungle adventure stories. “U ptheDemerara River” and “Demerara Adventures”
Aftern 69 years in the dental business. Age 84 He retired



CHAPTER 1
THE LONG MARCH
Colonel Kershaw looked tired as he scanned the horizon for any movements in the valley below. All he could see was a lone goat herder marshalling his flock down to the valley where the vegetation had resurfaced after the snow had melted. He trained his field glass past the snow line in the hope of seeing a lone rider. His spirit sank momentarily.
He was one of the few soldiers who knew these mountains. Unfortunately, this part of the mountain range was new to him. this was what forced him to engage the services of two Gurkhas. This intrepid soldier was determined to capture Ahmed Mirza Hispahani known as “The lion of Gilgit” a man who plagued the British army for years.
The thought of hundreds of lives lost on both sides was causing great concern. The British wanted to secure the Subcontinent by gaining control of India’s border with Afghanistan. Gilgit stood right in between. This was vital to the army’s vision of total control of India. The generals were getting frustrated. And the army could ill afford the loss. It was out of this frustration that a reward of £2,000 was offered for the capture of this ‘brigand’.
Several days had passed since he received instructions of where to go. This was draining the patience of his men. The two Gurkhas he hired to take him there, felt they had done their work and departed. The colonel was happy with their departure he wanted this to be a purely British success. He was also a man of enormous patience. His men were getting restless. To worsen the situation. The ground had its own enemies, biting insects and scorpions. He endured the hard