A Summary of “A Grain of Mustard Seed” by Edith Pargeter

“A Grain of Mustard Seed” is a touching story of friendship between two people

belonging to two different cultures and religions. Their friendship transcends all borders and
barriers and triumphs in the face of severe trouble and animosity.
Mahdar Iqbal, the protagonist, was the best friend of the narrator’s father. But when the
Indian partition came in 1947, the Hindus were asked to leave Pakistan but were not allowed
to take any of their possessions. When the surviving Hindus came out of their hiding places
the day a train was arranged for the purpose of deportation, the streets were full of Muslims
braying for their blood.
As the Hindus jostled and desperately elbowed their way to the compartments, Mahdar was
seen among the maddening mob trying to break through the barriers. He came running after
the narrator’s father and acted wild and rude with him, shaking him by the shoulders, spitting
and stomping on the ground, shouting  curses and abusive words on the man, his best friend
not so long ago. He pulled the contents of her father’s pocket out and put them back. And to
add further insults, as if what he had done was not enough, Mahdar eventually pushed ‘the
dog of a Hindu’ into the compartment. The last that was seen of Mahdar was standing with a
broad grin on his face as if he was relieved to see the heartbroken man (narrator’s father)
leave in shock and the last of his friend.
It was only towards the end of the story that we could see through the facade to make out
his noble intentions. The truth was that Mahdar, under the pretension of going violent, was
actually trying to save his best friend from the fury of the mob. He had all through nothing
but the best interests of his friend in his mind. If he had taken the belongings out of his
friend’s pocket, it was to put back the parting gift of his life’s savings. If he had pushed him
into the compartment, it was to ensure his safety and security. Mahdar’s note to his friend at
the end is deeply moving and makes us believe in humanity. There exists good human beings
amidst adversaries.

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