The Glass Palace

Every year, Rajkumar spends a few days on the giant rafts made from bound tree trunks that float down the rivers. Occasionally, he watches the laborers of Yenangyaung at work as they drag up petroleum from the ground. Each year, he sees more and more white men near the oil fields. Rajkumar wants to buy his own timber yard but lacks the capital. To raise the funds, he borrows money from Saya John and begins to bring workers from India to work the Burmese oil fields with a man named Baburao. In a few years, he believes, he will have enough to buy his own timber yard.

Baburao travels from village to village, offering people the chance to work. They sign up dozens of men and ship them to Burma, taking a cut of each man’s wages. After watching Baburao in action, Rajkumar sets up his own operation. After his first trip, he indentures fifty-eight people and earns enough to pay off Saya John’s loan.

After three years and eight trips, Rajkumar borrows again from Saya John and, along with Doh Say, purchases his own timber yard in Rangoon. Every day, the semi-retired Saya John visits with a caged bird under his arm.