Summary

The first-person narrator of “English Babu” by Vijay Medtia is Ramesh. He is an Indian man who has been living in England for 40 years and is now expecting his son Prakash and his son's girlfriend Rebecca for dinner. Ramesh is worried because the family needs to either accept their son’s English girlfriend or lose him.

Ramesh recalls how he first came to England in 1965, planning to stay only five years. At first, he struggled with finding a job, with the cold weather, and with his poor housing situation. He also recalls important Western culture events such as the moon landing, the Beatles, and black and white TVs. Ramesh recalls how people back in India did not believe the moon landing happened and called him a liar.

His wife Anita joined him in England a year later, but she disliked the English weather and the loneliness. But Ramesh was changing, influenced by English culture. When they visited India again, Ramesh complained about traffic, the hot weather, and pollution, prompting his fa...