I found this first story to be very interesting, mostly because the amount of non-english words was rather high. Where as most of the time with the hinglish literature, I can work out a word based on the context of the words around it, there were sections that were so heavy I was unable to, to the point that the story was falling apart for me. For example: he felt it a pity that he had not become a real sepoy; for there was more pay in the paltan and there were better uniforms, also free mufti and free rations. I guessed that mufti was something that you consume, like a drink, given the context, but in that part of a sentence, the amount of hindi words was too high for me to be able to guess that mufti is clothes.
List of vocab
Kikar Tree - Kikar is the small thorny tree.
Sepoy - a native of India, a soldier allied to a European power, usually the United Kingdom
pice - a former monetary unit of India, equal to of a rupee
palanquin - A covered litter carried on poles on the shoulders of four or more bearers, formerly used in eastern Asia
Paltan - a Thana (precinct) of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh
Mufti - slang for "civilian attire"
Munshi - the Urdu name of a writer or secretary, used in British India of the native language teachers or secretaries employed by Europeans
babu - South Asian term of respect (meaning 'boss' or 'father')
Octroi - a local tax collected on various articles brought into a district for consumption, used in only one state of India, (Maharashtra)
nazar - ?
Tehsildar - revenue administrative officer in Pakistan and India in-charge of obtaining taxation from a tehsil
sarkar - An historic administrative unit, used mostly in the Muslim states of the Indian subcontinent
izzat - word used by South Asian individuals to denote their social standing in a community, it is translated to mean respect
alamgir - ?
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