Ice Candy Man

The entire Sethi family attends a speech by Master Tara Singh at Queen’s Park. He incites the Sikh crowd to violence against the Muslims and Hindus. That night, appalling violence erupts in Lahore, along with many fires. From the rooftop of Ice-candy-man’s tenement, Lenny witnesses a man being pulled in half between two jeeps and a little girl spitted on a pike being waved in the air like a flag. Masseur arrives and comforts Lenny that he will make sure they get home safely. Ice-candy-man is exhilarated and jubilant at the violence. He and the explosive fires, violence, and blood terrify both Ayah and Lenny.

When she gets home, Lenny tears her doll apart to see what happens; she then cries hysterically.

Fires, mobs, and explosions now occur on a nightly basis. The Shankars, who live in the back part of the Sethi’s house, flee in the night to India. Lenny imagines that Lahore has burned for months, but as the adult narrator, she also knows upon reflection that it could not have burned for as long as she remembers.