Summary

Ram attempts to resume his normal life with Anita and Asha. He hopes to “act on our agreement right away so there would be no doubt we had struck a bargain” (167). He accompanies Mr. Gupta to a hospital, where Mr. Gupta donates blood to attract political support. He later directs Ram to sell some of the land owned by the education department in order to finance his campaign.

Ram visits a small school near a posh area of Delhi. He tells the principal that “the government wants to shut down your school” (175) and offers him one lakh (100,000 rupees) as payment. When Ram returns home, he receives a call from a Congress Party employee who threatens to kill him for stealing Congress funds. The man continues to monitor Ram’s calls, sometimes interrupting the conversations. Ram apologizes again to Anita and wonders “if our...