In the boondocks...

The phone rang loudly at 12, Roxham Close, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It was a Sunday morning and the Banerjis were still fast asleep. And it was nine am. Mrs Annie Banerjee managed to get up from bed and pick up the receiver. It was a call from Oil Dooars, West Bengal, India. Mr Jim Banerjee had come to Halifax from Oil Dooars looking for a job. He was fortunate to find the Sens who had migrated to Canada some thirty years before. He lived as a paying guest with the Sen family for a good five years. During this time he worked in a well-known hospital. Jim Banerjee was a doctor who had got his medical training at North Bengal Medical College. The day Jim became deputy RMO at his hospital he asked Annie Sen to marry him. And she said yes. Mr and Mrs Sen were completely against the match. Jim was after all from an obscure village in India and Annie had grown up in a modern city like Halifax. But Annie was adamant. She actually ran away from home to marry Jim in court. As per law he became a Canadian citizen thereafter. People expected him to become tyrannical but he changed very little.
The call had been made by Jim's father Roger Banerjee. Jim's mother Alice was very ill and he wished that his only son be by her side. After Jim finished speaking to his father he looked very concerned indeed. Annie was in the living room watching television. He sat next to her on the sofa and said, "We are going to India, Annie. Annie knew what Jim's father had said to him on the phone. Still, they had to think of their three year old son. "What about Tomato? Annie said. "Well, what about him? Jim said in return. "We can't take him to India. The water is dirty, the air is unclean and there are germs everywhere. He will die in two days. Annie said firmly. "He is my son, Jim retorted, his temper rising. "If I did not die in the twenty years I lived there¦. Annie knew there was no point arguing. After all Jim was a doctor and he knew what he was talking about.
The journey from Halifax to Oil Dooars was long and tortuous. First the Banerjis flew to London. From there they boarded a plane to Calcutta and from there they flew to Tiger Grove. There is only one way to get to Oil Dooars from Tiger Grove. There is just one bus that makes this trip daily and the Banerjis were lucky to get seats. The trip took an hour but it was enough to make Jim's son Tomato sick all over his clothes. When the bus finally reached Oil Dooars they decided to walk to Jim's house. Annie was disappointed when she saw Jim's house. She had married into a very ordinary family indeed. It turned out that Jim's mother was not sick at all. Roger Banerjee merely wanted to see his son's face. There were problems for Jim and Annie right away. Jim's sister had been beaten black and blue by her husband recently. She had complained to Roger and he was screaming revenge. When the brother-in-law came next morning for his wife, Roger Banerjee shot him dead at point blank range. Since there were no witnesses no arrests were made.
The family that had lost the son and whose daughter-in-law had turned rebel issued a public warning to all who cared to listen. Roger Banerjee was going to lose his greatest treasure very soon. The next day Jim decided to show his wife and son what his village was all about. Wherever they went they were greeted with great warmth. Naturally, because Roger Banerjee was both feared and respected in Oil Dooars. As they were passing a small wooded area Jim, Annie and Tomato were attacked by men wielding thick, oiled sticks. Even as the whole village watched, the visitors from Canada were beaten to death, mercilessly.