Setting

The short story “English Babu” by Vijay Medtia is set in Manchester in England around 2005. Ramesh, the narrator, mentions that he moved to England in 1965 and has lived there for 40 years (ll. 8-10). As some of the action is a flashback story, some of the past action is also set in “the north of India” (l. 21) where the narrator’s parents lived.

The main events happen over one evening, but the story tracks the background of the main character over 40 years.

Physical setting

The physical setting describes several places where Ramesh lived in England. The most detailed description focuses on where Ramesh lived in his early years in England: “The rooms were barely furnished and the walls covered with old patterned paper. Most rooms had no carpets. It was cold, damp and miserable…” (ll. 16-18).

This description is character-building as it reflects the character’s mood when he first moved to England and had to adapt to a new culture and deal with rejection. It also shows that Ramesh was forced to live in poor-quality accommodation when he first moved to Britain, even though his family in India were well-off.

The description of the general English setting is meant to convey a typical British atmosphere which Ramesh and his wife could not relate to at first: “A row of houses facing other similar houses across the cobblestones, their red bricks darkened with age and soot. Short stubby chimneys rising out of slated roofs, throwing out dark smoke into grey skies.” (ll. 14-16).

In time, Ramesh manages to move to a “bigger house” (l. 40) and buy a “terrace” (l. 65), which suggest that the houses are used as a symbol of the narrator’s upward mobility in England, gradually managing to gain financial security and to adapt to the English lifestyle.

Additionally, the story includes references to the village where Ramesh comes from in the north of India and the general Indian climate: “ ‘How polluted everything seems? No cleanliness and why is there no road traffic sense? And by God it’s so hot here.’ Father had laughed and looked out across the wide green fields…” (ll. 47-50). This description is meant to convey that Ramesh could no longer relate and adapt to living in India after having become accustomed to life in England.

Social setting

The social setting explores various aspects related to British and Indian culture: family, interracial relations, traditions and religion, discrimination and immigration.

Firstly, the story follows a narrator who immigrated to England...