''Two Leaves and a Bud'' is a

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

Mulk Raj Anand Mulk Raj Anand (12 December 1905 – 28 September 2004) was an Indian writer in English, recognised for his depiction of the lives of the poorer castes in traditional Indian society. One of the pioneers of Indo-Anglian fiction, he, togethe ...

first published in 1937. Like his other novels, this one also deals with the topic of oppression of the poor, and is about a peasant who tries to protect his daughter from a British soldier. The story is based in the tea plantations of

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

. The book was subsequently adapted to a Hindi film, '' Rahi'', by Dev Anand and simultaneously released in English as ''The Wayfarer''. The book depicts in detail the concept of ''haves and have-nots'' and the exploitation of one at the hand of the other, in pre-independence India. This is a dramatic novel that ends with a "tragic clash of interests and destinies".

Plot

Gangu is a middle aged peasant living in

Hoshiarpur Hoshiarpur () is a city and a Municipal corporations in India, municipal corporation in Hoshiarpur district in the Doaba region of the Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab. It was founded, according to tradition, during the early part of the ...

with his wife Sajani, daughter Leila and his son Budhu. Because of his outstanding debts he ends up losing his lands and as such, readily agrees to travel to

to take on a plantation job that would pay well and allow Gangu to own his own land. However upon his arrival Gangu finds that this was all a trick and that the job is essentially slave labor. Their pay is not even enough to buy food and many of the merchants offer loans with interest rates so high that repayment is impossible. Gangu and his family are forced to live their lives in squalor and to endure all sorts of abuse and degradation. On top of this Sajani and Leila are subjected to rape and other sexual degradation. The general poor treatment and living conditions provoke concern in the plantation's doctor, John De La Harve, especially as the threat of

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...

looms over the plantation. He tries to persuade the plantation's boss, Croft-Cooke, into improving conditions of the workers (called

coolies A coolie (also spelled koelie, kuli, khuli, khulie, cooli, cooly, or quli) is a term for a low-wage labourer, typically of South Asian or East Asian descent. The word ''coolie'' was first popularized in the 16th century by European traders acros ...

) but to no avail, as Croft-Cook believes that coolies are sub-human and are not deserving of even the smallest human consideration. As a result the plantation is struck by cholera and Sajani ends up contracting and then dying of the disease. Since he is too poor to perform the necessary last rites, Gangu tries to borrow money from Croft-Cooke but is turned away because he is believed to be carrying cholera. Things take a turn for the worse when Reggie Hunt, a British officer, takes notice of Leila and chases her with the intent to rape her. Gangu tries to stop him but is instead shot and killed by Hunt. The officer is charged with Gangu's murder, but a trial comprised predominantly of Englishmen finds him not guilty.

References

Novels by Mulk Raj Anand 1937 novels Novels set in Assam {{1930s-novel-stub