Where is the story set? (You can get clues from the names of the persons and places mentioned in it.) Which language or languages are spoken in these places? Do you think the characters in the story spoke to each other in English?

Question

Where is the story set? (You can get clues from the names of the persons and places mentioned in it.) Which language or languages are spoken in these places? Do you think the characters in the story spoke to each other in English?

Philoid · Accepted Answer

It seems that the story is set in Uttar Pradesh, an Indian state.

We can get precise clues from the names of the persons and places mentioned in it. For example, the name of the train – the Lucknow Express and the Jamuna Sweet Shop.

The Jamuna Sweet Shop further shows that this place might be in a rural area. Both these clues are very important to find out the place.

If the story is set in U.P. the language must be Hindi. The characters in the story, evidently, did not speak to each other in English. As the basic language of the place is Hindi and Hari Singh didn’t even know how to read and write there is no possibility of them talking to each other in English.