Gyan was in the village, buying rice, when he was swept up in a crowd of young men, some of them student-friends of his. The men were protesting. They were of Nepali descent and were tired of and frustrated with being treated like third-class citizens. They claimed that they had fought for India and for England for several generations, but they had not been compensated for their sacrifices and hard work. They were continually denied jobs and positions in the government merely because of their Nepali blood. Because of this, they no longer wanted to beg for help. Instead, they wanted their own territory, their own part of India.

As Gyan was drawn into their midst, he first questioned whether the young men were serious about their demands. He wondered whether they were only posturing, expressing themselves in solidarity but not committed to fighting for what was due to them. However, the longer he stayed in their company and listened to what the young men were saying, the more Gyan empathized with their concerns and their demands. He reflected on how long he had tried to find a job without any success. He thought about the male members of his family who had sacrificed their lives in the wars, first in support of British forces and later in their fight for India's freedom from colonial rule. None of his relatives were rewarded for their efforts. When he talked to his father and uncles about the wrongs that had been committed against them, they had no reaction other than to accept their fate without complaining. As he listened to the young men in the protest, Gyan began to change. What the young men were saying made more sense to him. He no longer wanted to stay on the sidelines, accepting the unfair treatment that all Nepali descendants suffered through. They were treated like slaves in their own country, and Gyan decided that he had had enough.

The next time that Gyan went to Sai's house to tutor her, his attitude had changed. He looked at Sai through different eyes, seeing how silly she was, so influenced by Western ways. He asked her why she celebrated Christmas, since it was not an Indian holiday. He was sickened by her complaints that seemed trivial, considering how much real suffering was going on in India at the homes of Nepali-Indian people. Many of Gyan's relatives went hungry because they did not make enough money to buy decent food. Gyan had an argument with Sai, calling her a silly copycat and stating that it made no sense for him to be attempting to educate her.

The narrative then flashes back to when Sai's grandfather, the judge, returned from England. He was welcomed in his village as if he were a hero. However, it did not take long before some of his relatives began to make fun of Jemu because he was putting on such English airs. Some of his female relatives, while rummaging through Jemu's suitcases, discovered that he had a powder puff in a case of white and pink powders. Nimi, Jemu's wife, mistakenly thought the scented powder was for her, so she took it. Later, when Jemu found the powder case in Nimi's possession, he became furious with her for being arrogant enough to think he had brought her a gift. He had also grown unused to not having any privacy.

As time passed, Jemu could not think of Nimi without seeing how unsophisticated she was. In spite of Jemu, Nimi refused to learn English. Everything about the way Nimi dressed irritated Jemu. Eventually, Jemu's frustrations with his wife developed to the point that he did not even want to be seen in public with her.