Part Two, Samad, 1984, 1857, Chapter 10, The Root Canals of Mangal Pande, Summary

Archie and Samad spend New Year's Eve 1989 at O'Connell's because it seems their families do not want them at home. Samad spends much of the evening attempting to convince Mickey to hang a photo of his famous great-grandfather, Mangal Pande. However, Pande is an unattractive man and Mickey is hesitant to hang the picture. Mickey eventually agrees, but not before a debate breaks out over Pande's heroism. Samad's opinion on what happened in the last days of Pande's life and history's version are very dissimilar. Archie has done research on Pande and learned that he was most likely drunk when he attempted to shoot his English commander for forcing Muslim men to bite on bullets lubricated with grease made from pigs, the act that caused...