Summary

Tochi asked for a job at a local shop but was turned away due to the village he’d come from. Outside, the shop Narinder—who Tochi didn’t know—told him he had been treated unfairly and urged him to go to the gurdwara, the Sikh place of worship. Tochi, offended, told her he needed “a woman’s bed” (93) and she left. The next night, Tochi foudn a job cleaning and shelving at a shop.

In the next section, Narinder’s landlord attempted to raise her rent, but she successfully shamed him into changing his mind by saying, “I might be your tenant but I’m also your friend and neighbor” (97). She reflected on her immigration interview in which she pretended to be in love with Randeep, using doctored photographs and love letters to prove her case. Narinder worked at the gurdwara, and...