Summary
Back in Malgudi, Raman is filled with a sense of dread as he goes about his daily errands. He keeps waiting for the police to arrive at his door and arrest him. He is afraid that Daisy made good on her promise to report him to the police and that it is only a matter of time before they locate him. He talks with his aunt and reads in his room. He becomes somewhat sedentary and spends a lot of time around the house.
After eight days of this, he decides to finally go out. He gets dressed and goes to Boardless. There he encounters an old friend, Gupta, and they chat over coffee. He talks about his strange trip with Daisy and the family-planning campaign. Gupta says that people have many superstitions all over the country and that social workers should bear this in mind when they go about these informational campaigns. Raman agrees and feels a sense of normalcy return to his life. He leaves the hotel in good spirits.
On his way home, Raman runs into the lawyer, who says he has opened a new office. When Raman asks who drew his sign, he said he got it from one of Raman's competitors. This bit of information irritates Raman greatly. Later, Raman is accosted by a police inspector. He feels terrified. The police inspector says he has been looking for him, but keeps getting interrupted before he can explain why. They go to the station together, but Raman is allowed to leave, as the police have other matters to attend to. He is afraid of what will happen next.
Fifteen days elapse and eventually Raman resumes his old schedule. He starts working again and finds that his old pesky clients are suddenly grateful for his work. Then one day, Daisy surprises Raman by appearing at his doorstep. They chat for a little while and it quickly becomes clear that Daisy isn't upset with him and was hoping to see him again. She says that she had been preoccupied after their return with a written report of her campaign. Together they walk to the creek in his backyard and dip their toes in the water.
Raman confesses that he loves Daisy and she says he is just repeating phrases he doesn't mean. He adamantly denies this. He takes hold of her hand. They talk more and she reveals to him that she had an unhappy childhood in a large family. When she came of age she was nearly forced into an arranged marriage. When she met her prospective husband she scared him off by speaking directly to him. Her family got extremely angry with her for not trying harder to woo him. This disturbed her greatly and informed her decision to leave them.
She leaves Raman's house abruptly when she realizes it has gotten late. Raman sees that his aunt is making dinner. He tries to figure out how to stop her from asking questions about his love life. He makes some casual comments about needing to go to an office the following day, to prevent her from speculating about him. He thinks over what his next move should be.
The next day, Raman goes to the bangle-seller and hangs up his sign. The man thanks him for his help but then balks at his asking price: seventy-five rupees. Eventually they settle up and end up talking about Daisy. The bangle-seller asks him to put in a good word with her, as she has offered to purchase a bulk order of bangles to distribute to the villagers as a reward for getting a birth-control operation.
Analysis
Tradition is a theme in this section of the book. While talking to Raman at the Boardless, Gupta says that people all over the country value superstitions and myths. He says that social workers need to be aware of this as they undertake campaigns like Daisy's family-planning one. What he means is that while he may agree with people like Daisy, the weight of traditions and customs must be acknowledged by the activists who are attempting to change people's minds. Gupta's comment is indicative of a somewhat moderate point of view that still embraces modern ideas but is respectful of past customs. At the same time, it is easier for Gupta to feel this way, as he has not suffered the consequences of a patriarchal society like Daisy has. His point of view seems reflective of the novel itself, as it does not dismiss the villagers but still recognizes the harm caused by many of the traditions espoused in their towns.
Quality work is another major theme here. As Raman gets back into his old habits, he finds that his business is doing better. In his absence, his old customers came to realize their dependence on his services and as a result they have become more flexible about his approach to his work. While he still has to seek out payment, he finds it is much easier. These scenes suggest that Raman has become slightly more savvy about meeting his customers' demands while not dropping the standard of his work. In having to do such a high quantity of work in a short period of time, Raman appears to have let go of some of previous hangups about his customers. This part of the book shows him striking a balance between the craft and business aspects of his trade.
Sexism is also a significant theme in these pages. Daisy describes her unhappy childhood to Raman. She says she grew up in a crowded household and was not given a chance to be an individual. When she became old enough, her parents, particularly her father, emphasized to her that she needed to get married and do everything she could to find and secure a husband. She was also told that she would have to do everything exactly as her husband asked her to and behave in a way that completely suited his wants and needs. She found this disturbing and ultimately scared off a suitor by speaking sharply to him. These unsettling early experiences show why she feels such a personal connection to her campaign, as she doesn't want women to continue to be indoctrinated into a life of dull, draining servitude. Narayan highlights the real consequences of this sexism and shows the pain that Daisy has harbored as a result of her stifling childhood.
Love is a central theme in this section as well. Daisy criticizes Raman when he first admits his feelings for her. She does not deny that she might feel the same way, but says that he is merely acting out a romantic part that he has seen in movies and books. Her comment indicates that she is suspicious of these declarations because she finds them to be disingenuous. She ends up being, to an extent, correct, as he quickly backtracks and mocks contemporary romantics, in a continued effort to impress her. In this scene, Narayan subverts expectations and takes away the force of Raman's speech, suggesting that it may not be possible to put real love into words, as it would be too strong to neatly package in stock phrases like the ones he is uttering.
In this part of the novel, Raman nearly resumes the routine of his old life before getting drawn back into Daisy's orbit once again. He sees potential promise in his business again and feels his lovesickness beginning to lapse, only for Daisy to disrupt this. Daisy's revelation of her personal history adds another dimension to her character as the reader is able to see why she feels so personally attached to the issue of family planning and how her childhood has left her with serious emotional scars. Both characters seem to be moving towards a romantic connection, but there are clearly many fault lines between them.
