Summary

Gopal returned home still in terrible pain. The foreman had not returned to talk to them. Bhima knew they needed the money to get by until Gopal could return to work. She had tried to talk to Gopal about it, but he refused to talk about the accident.

When the man from Gopal’s company finally came, he admitted that he was not the foreman, but an accountant. Gopal told the man he would be returning to work as soon as the bandages were off. The accountant explained that the contract said the company would pay them 1,000 rupees. Gopal could not sue them and would need to find a new job. He told Gopal that they had no need of a man with three fingers because he would be “like a woman without breasts” (212).

Gopal became angry and said he wanted a...