Lahore

Lahore is a brief but consequential stage in Devdas Mukherjee’s wandering life: he finds an old friend there, returns to liquor, and suffers recurring illness before departing for Allahabad. The narrative gives the city little physical description; its importance lies in the encounters and deterioration that take place during Devdas Mukherjee’s stay.

Arrival and Reunion

Devdas Mukherjee travels to Lahore, where Chunilal is working. Hearing that his old friend has arrived, Chunilal comes to meet him, bringing the two together after a separation. The reunion anchors Lahore in the story as a place of renewed companionship, though it does not interrupt Devdas Mukherjee’s increasingly unsettled course.

Drinking and Remembered Attachments

After a long interval, Devdas Mukherjee drinks liquor again in Lahore. As he does so, he thinks of Chandramukhi, who had forbidden him to drink, and recalls her as bright, composed, and loving toward him. His thoughts also register a shift in his attachment to Parvati: she has receded from his immediate concern, though she still flares into his mind from time to time, like a lamp wick close to going out. Lahore thus becomes the setting for a return to drinking alongside the persistence, and changing balance, of his feelings for the two women.

Illness and Departure

The local climate does not suit Devdas Mukherjee. He falls ill often, and his stomach aches repeatedly; seeing him sick again, Dharmadas is nearly in tears and urges him to go somewhere else. Devdas Mukherjee agrees. After a period of gradual recovery, he asks Dharmadas to leave, packs his things, says goodbye to Chunilal, and returns to Allahabad, where he feels much better. Lahore’s narrative episode therefore ends not with a settled return to health but with departure prompted by illness; months later, Devdas Mukherjee is already asking to travel onward to Bombay.