Summary
Raman returns home feeling defeated. He hears his aunt making food in the kitchen and feels guilty about all the work she does for him. He thinks about how their home is a relatively lonely one, with visitors but few permanent residents. He prepares to work on a sign for a family-planning campaigner. He takes down the materials for it. He reflects on how he entered the sign-painting business because he loved calligraphy, but has ended up making no money and being in constant conflict with his customers.
He then thinks about the person who hired him to make these signs: a woman by the name of Daisy. She seemed mysterious during their first meeting and he wasn't really sure what to make of her. He remains intrigued by her. He learns where she lives and eventually works up the nerve to go visit her. He stops by her house and they talk briefly. She seems suspicious about his motivations. They talk about the lettering of the sign he is working on for her and she says she doesn't know what would be best for it.
Daisy brings him some tea and Raman feels anxious. They talk more about the sign and she appears to adopt a warmer tone with him. They discuss how best to convey her message and he leaves promptly, as she has other visitors on their way. He goes home, reflecting on how he didn't really talk about the business side of their transaction. He brings her the half-finished sign the next day. He notices that several women are at her office already. She tells him to come back in thirty minutes.
He waits around for thirty minutes to elapse. He loafs about on Market Road, the main street in Malgudi. He haggles with a street vendor over a pair of sunglasses. He returns to Daisy's office. She compliments his work and tells him to stay for a little while. She asks why he is wearing sunglasses and he says some dust blew into his eyes. Daisy gets close to him and inspects his eyes, saying that they appear to be fine.
Raman goes home and thinks about the interaction. The brush of physical proximity to Daisy made him feel giddy. He becomes concerned that his infatuation with Daisy is getting the better of him and that he is now more distracted than ever. He feels determined to finish the sign she has asked for and forget about her entirely. He thinks that his feelings for her cannot continue in the same manner or he will become increasingly pulled away from his work.
In an effort to distract himself, he picks up a book and attempts to read but becomes preoccupied with Daisy again. He thinks that he is lovesick. The following day, he returns to Daisy's office to give her the sign he painted. She tells him it looks good and shows him where she wants it hung. They talk and he feels an undeniable attraction to her. He hangs it up and asks if it looks alright. She goes downstairs to the street to look at it from a distance. She says it is great.
He prepares to part ways. She asks how to pay him and he says he will invoice her. He says goodbye and she thanks him for his diligent work. He thinks about the psychological disturbance these interactions have caused him and feels glad to be away from her. He thinks he handled the situation well and that he put an appropriate amount of distance between himself and her with his curt manner of conversation. He bicycles over to the Boardless Hotel, thinking about how he will recount the whole thing to his friends.
Analysis
Obligation appears as a significant theme in this part of the book. After hearing his aunt work in the kitchen, Raman feels guilty about being impatient with her. He acknowledges that she does so much for him and is constantly trying to make him feel cared for. This acknowledgment shows the complexity of their relationship, as he finds her traditional values irritating but is forced to recognize that she does as much as she can for him. This moment reveals the obligation he feels to her and how he is unable to ever fully dismiss her point of view, as he relies on her for so much. Narayan's portrayal of this relationship shows how obligation prevents Raman from ever actually separating from his aunt, as his sense of guilt keeps him stuck in place.
Love is also an important theme in these pages. Raman is overwhelmed by a feeling he describes as lovesickness. He finds himself unable to stop thinking about Daisy after their second encounter. The intensity of these emotions surprises him and causes him to realize that he feels more than a sense of physical attraction to her. He comes to realize that he is in love with her. This unsettles him, as he thinks it will make him unable to work at all. He wants to dismiss the experience entirely after he finishes painting her family-planning signs, but a brief moment of closeness, in which she examines his eye, leaves his heart racing. From this moment on, he knows that he will be consumed with these feelings of love. Narayan demonstrates how love completely unmoors Raman, distracting him completely from his trade and the routine of his daily life as everything becomes secondary to his feelings for Daisy.
Quality work is a theme in this chapter as well. Daisy is the first person to not only accept Raman's work but to actually compliment it. She appreciates the care he puts into her sign and recognizes the ability he displays in his craft. She offers to pay him right away and takes the sign exactly as it is with no caveats. Seemingly for the first time, Raman receives the appropriate response to the deliberate way he approaches his work. Her appreciation of his craft seems to play a role in shaping his response to her, as he is not only attracted to her but also feels that she is a person who values what he does.
