Who is Hari Kumar from The Jewel in the Crown and what is their importance?

Hari Kumar, whose father spells his name Harry Coomer, is a young Indian man who is raised comfortably in England. After the suicide of his father, he is left with no money and returns to India to live in Mayapore with his Aunt Shalini. Hari is lost in India, having never learned the language. He is also resented by some of the British population in Mayapore for his upper-class English accent and manners.