The Calcutta Chromosome

The setting is a Thai restaurant, some time before August 1995. Antar asks Murugan if he has any ideas about who Lutchman is. Murugan replies by suggesting that Lutchman is “the point-man for whoever was the real brains behind the scheme” (87). Murugan points to a diary by one J. W. D. Grigson, a linguistic surveyor who stayed for a few days at the guest house that Ross is staying at.

What Murugan surmises from the diary is that Grigson gets the sense that something is off about Lutchman. Grigson tries a little experiment by addressing him as Lutchman, instead of “boy” or “bearer.” He immediately notices a slight delay in Lutchman’s response—the type of delay that occurs when a person responds to a name that is not really their own. Grigson also believes that his name is not really Lutchman, but Laakhan, Lokhkhon, or Lakshman, depending on what part of the country he’s from. Although Grigson notes that Ross knows little about Lutchman, Grigson believes Lutchman hails from much farther north, given the way he speaks. Grigson also notices that Lutchman’s left hand has no thumb.