In 1925, he left his first wife, Gladys, and three young children Adrian, Dennis (who became a published poet in his 90s) and Daphne in England and went to British India to become Professor of English Literature at Islamia College, the University of Punjab in Lahore (now part of Pakistan).
He was interviewed and appointed as an English professor by the then principal of Islamia College, Abdullah Yusuf Ali (an author, academic and educationalist who went on to translate the Quran).