Summary

The protagonist’s name, Margayya, means “one who showed the way” (195). He works as a small moneylender, directly across the street from the Central Co-operative Land Mortgage Bank, which was built in 1914. Margayya’s business depends upon his ability to convince his clients to take out loans from the Co-operative Bank and to then default on their loans, with the logic that they will continue paying the same monthly installment regardless of how much money they borrow. His general scheme is to advance a small loan for interest in order to receive a larger loan from the Co-operative Bank, which is then passed onto someone in need for higher interest.

Margayya, who is in his early forties, has finally bought a pair of spectacles. He procured the glasses on a trial period but never gave them back. Margayya tells Mallanna, another...