And he knew, of course, that except for his English clothes there was nothing English in his life. But he kept up his new form, rigidly adhering to his clothes day and night and guarding them from all base taint of Indianness, not even risking the formlessness of an Indian quilt, though he shivered with the cold at night.
-- Bakha (chapter 1)

Importance: This quote highlights Bakha's desire to move closer to the English and distance himself from the Indian way of life. Bakha finds the English presence to be a marker of class and prestige far from his daily life. In dreaming of ascending their elevated status, Bakha gives meaning to his own life.

And though his job was dirty he remained comparatively clean…For he looked intelligent, even sensitive, with a sort of dignity that does not belong to the ordinary scavenger, who is as a rule uncouth and unclean.
-- Bakha (chapter 1)

Importance: Bakha lives...