The Vendor of Sweets

Jagan meets with the cousin. Although he is reluctant to talk about Mali, he does. The cousin wants to know all about him. When he asks Jagan how he feels about Mali’s “scheme” (68), Jagan is embarrassed that he did not listen when Mali spoke. The cousin knows more about his son than Jagan does. The cousin elaborates, saying that he was present when Mali was meeting with the son of the local Registrar to discuss the business venture. Mali is intent on producing what he calls story-writing machines. Jagan pretends to know all about it, but it is obvious to the cousin that Jagan is largely uninformed.

The next morning Jagan asks Grace if he can speak with Mali. She says that Mali has 15 minutes for him. Mali shows him the story-writing machine. It is a box-like apparatus of knobs that, when turned and pushed, can be set to produce various story elements: climax, tension, character types, redemption, acts of violence, acts of kindness, and so on. He says that it will function much like a typewriter, creating sophisticated outlines of stories. Therefore, rather than create from scratch, the writer’s job will merely be to flesh out the frameworks that the story-writing machine produces. Mali says that most American writers use the machine already. He needs 50,000 rupees to make it a reality in India.

Jagan speaks to the cousin about the plan. The cousin reveals that Mali believes Jagan already has the 50,000 rupees. Apparently, everyone believes that Jagan has amassed a great fortune. Jagan visits Nataraj at Truth Printing and asks if he has forgotten his manuscript. Nataraj says that he will be able to print Jagan’s book after he finishes his work on Mali’s prospectus. Days later, Mali’s proposal for his company is flooding the streets. Jagan feels pressured by Grace and Mali to tell them if he can help them, but stalls until they ask him outright. Jagan tells them both shamefully that he is a poor man and does not have the money. As the chapter ends, he tells the cousin that on the next day he will greatly reduce the price of the sweets in his shop. 

Two days later, Jagan reduces the prices of the sweets. There is such a demand for the suddenly inexpensive candies that the shop is out of stock by five o’clock. He tells Sivaraman, one of his cooks, not to worry. The demand for sweets will ultimately result in more business, says Jagan. Even though the cooks and vendors have no more work for the day, Jagan asks them to stay. He reads them a story from the Bhagavad Gita, which bores them all terribly. After the story, three visitors arrive. Jagan recognizes two of them. The first is a sait (a member of a Punjabi clan) man who oversees a restaurant empire in Ananda Bhavan. The second one runs a canteen in the law courts. The third is a stranger. They want to know why Jagan has reduced his prices. One of them says that if Jagan continues, all of them might follow suit. He says this in a menacing tone, which Jagan does not understand. He feels like he is being threatened but does not understand why.

They leave after telling Jagan that they expect his cooperation. The man who was a stranger reenters and speaks to Jagan alone. His name is Chinna Dorai and he says he only lives one street away from Jagan. He says that one day he wants to take Jagan to see the place where his master lived and worked. Then he admits that he has other business. Chinna Dorai is a hair dyer. His business is to make white hair dark again. He does it for the sait, and he is willing to help Jagan look young as well. Jagan says that there are natural ways to stave off gray hair, and Chinna will learn this when his book finally comes out. 

Chinna takes Jagan to his master’s old home, which is in a secret grove near a pond. Jagan asks how his business is going, and Chinna says that at least the sales-tax people have not come for him yet. This makes Jagan, who is not paying all of his required sales-tax, nervous. He thinks that if Gandhi would have said that sales-tax was necessary, then he would be able to pay it, but because he does not know Gandhi’s opinion on the matter, he views it as a moral uncertainty.

Chinna tells him that his life’s work is to finish a sculpture of the goddess Gayatri. But he cannot do it unless he has the funds. Most successful artists of the time were subsidized by their patrons. Chinna asks Jagan if he will buy the grove so that he can finish the statue and complete his duty to his master. Jagan says he will consider it. It is a moment of ambivalence for Jagan. He is being asked to take on a great burden, but for reasons he cannot yet understand, he feels as if he is the one who is being helped.