Rakesh has become a source of immense pride to his parents. The first in his family to get an education, he goes on to qualify as a doctor, practicing for a time in the United States before returning to his native India. So proud is Rakesh's father of his son that he starts giving himself airs and graces and becomes puffed up with pride. This is due to the fact that he takes credit for his son's achievements.

Mr. Varma's inordinate pride is much in evidence when Rakesh puts him on a frugal diet as a way of tackling his depression in the wake of Mrs. Varma's death. No longer able to eat fried food and desserts, Mr. Varma begins to feel resentment toward his son. Above all, he regards him as showing ingratitude for everything he's done for him:

That is how he treats me—after I have brought him up, given him an education, made him a great doctor. Great doctor! This is how great doctors treat their fathers, Bhatia.

Mr. Varma comes to see his son as a tyrant. Rakesh may think he's acting out of concern for his father's welfare, but that's not the way that Mr. Varma sees it. As the traditional head of the house, he deeply resents the fact that he's being treated like a child—as he sees it, anyway—by his own son.

The old man believes that Rakesh's status as a "great doctor" has changed his personality, to the extent that his "masterly efficiency" is nothing but heartlessness and his authority is only a form of tyranny in disguise.