Kushwant Singh Short Story

The story is set in India and it's a short story. It reflects upon the segregation in India throughout the 19th and 20th century. It's written by Kushwant Singh in 1950. There's definitely a clear karma theme in the short story, hence the title. There's also egoism, pride and segregation because the main character, Sir Mohan Lal, feels superior to his wife, Lachmi Lal.
Sir Mohan Lal is our main character. He's originally Indian, but he wants to be English as we can see in the text “He was fond of conversation, and like a cultured Englishman he could talk on almost any subject – books, politics, people. How frequently had he heard English people say that he spoke like an Englishman!”1 He also likes to show of his copy of 'The Times', a newspaper that is popularly read in England. 2
He's married to a woman called Lachmi. Lachmi is the exact opposite of Sir Mohan Lal. She

In the train we have Lachmi in the almost empty zenana compartment. She's happy and content. 6 She spews out something called betel. Apparently it's a leaf that you can chew or smoke, and it gets a very characteristic red

At first when Sir Mohan Lal is looking in the mirror and he sees something on the mirror. “The mirror was obviously made in India. The red oxide at its back had come off at several places, and long lines of translucent glass cut long lines across it's surface”8 The way Mohan Lal says it, he makes it seem as if it's a bad thing that it comes from India, which defines him as a person. The red oxide might even represent the India he hates, and he would rather have it covered up with glass, so that he can only see his own reflection. Later on we meet the red colour again when the train drives away from him, from the tail end light.9 This could be interpreted as him trying so hard not to be Indian, that he couldn't be neither. Indian nor