The Sardar of Stone

In Zarnabad, every morning began at the Sardar's table.

Under the old banyan tree in the main square, a long cloth was spread, and anyone could sit and eat — traveller or labourer, beggar or merchant — no questions asked. Sardar Aman Khan stood and served them himself, and whenever someone tried to thank him, he would laugh and say, "This is not my wealth. It is the city's. I am only the one who shares it out."