Summary

When Sriram leaves, he turns back to look at the prison, which he now understands as a “tyrannical world” (549). As he walks along the road, he marvels at the fact that he is now walking in an independent India. He looks about him for any sign that it has changed but sees none. He feels a sense of personal accomplishment knowing that he contributed to India’s independence.

His first order of post-prison business sis to eat something. He stops at a shop where he recognizes one of the waiters. The waiter tells Sriram that they are struggling to get rice and frying oil. Sriram, hungry, interrupts the waiter’s assessment of the current state of the country to ask what dishes they do have in stock. They have nothing fresh. When he asks for coffee, the waiter begins to explain...