A bright, intelligent and talented young girl brought up as an untouchable in India succeeds in overcoming the social discrimination of the class system while working for a British oil fiirm, only to find the impossiibility of rising above the status she was born with despite her extraordinary talent as a classical musician.
Excerpt:
He was born with the name, Michael Cox. His parents were articulate, cultured and socially active in the island community of Pointe‐a Pierre, in San Fernando, Trinidad. Michael for some unknown reason insisted that they call him Mickey. He was hardly a Mickey type and the name always brought recall to either Mickey Mouse, Mickey Rooney the comic actor or Mickey Cohen, the gangster. For his serious demeanor and his adult, conservative attitude, the name simply did not fit. But, as befits his request, Michael shall be called Mickey.
Mickey’s father was formerly an employee of the Texaco (pronounced Tex-SOCK-Co) oil company and had its refinery at the Pointe-a Pierre location. Mickey’s father, Gerald was in charge of the Estates and Grounds department which kept he plant’s grounds in immaculate condition. His mother, actually his step‐mother was from close-by Venezuela. Both his step-mother and father loved orchids and kept a huge collection of orchids growing in their residence.
The family also loved sailing and spending time at the less popular beach of Maracas instead of the island favorites of Ancon or Maria Aguilar beaches. Maracas was less populated and less polished and felt natural with its uprooted coconut trees and other debris that the sea sometime brought in. It was also a place where they could indulge in another favorite pastime of bird watching.
Often, waging small amounts of money to see who could spot the most varieties. This was more enjoyable during the bird migration periods because there were always stray birds blown off their normal migratory routes by wind. At other times, for the sheer adventure, they would sail out with a minimum of supplies and relying on fishing for food while exploring some of the many uninhabited islands.
So, with his father’s work for the oil company, the family’s hobby of orchid raising, the birding, visiting the untamed beaches and adventuring on the sea, Mickey’s upbringing prepared his path for him.
Mickey also had two the passions, one was his Austin‐Healey 3000 MK3 BJ8 Phase 2, 1965 roadster. Often this normally conservative boy would take a young girl for a drive and speed along the roads at speeds way in excess of the limits. The more he could frighten the young lady with him, the more aggressive he felt. He felt that if he could not impress a young lad with his quiet personality then he would do so by his dare devil driving.
His other passion was his fantasy for the Indian women who lived in the large Indian communities in Trinidad.
Perhaps it was not simply the fantasies for the darkish women but the combining of the Indian dress used by the Indian girl and her exotic skin tones that so enthused him. To Mickey, there was nothing more exotic than a thin, young woman in a Sari. Mickey was able to know only a few Indian girls since both the white Island residents and the Indian residents rarely intermixed. Thus, the inaccessibility and the mysterious appearing Indian girl gave rise to an even stronger fantasy on his part. India was indeed a strong call for his future.