Summary

Chapter 12 begins with Anjali considering Mohan’s words, Gandhiji, and the label Harijan. She asks Ma about this, but Ma says it is not insulting, and Gandhiji says the Untouchables are children of God. It is the last day of her Diwali holiday break, and her father takes her to the corner paanwalla. They wait in a long line, but Baba keeps letting older women pass ahead. Anjali complains they will never get their paan at this rate, and Baba launches into an allegory about Akbar and Birbal. Akbar, an emperor, wanted to build a palace where a widow lived, and Birbal, his advisor, filled bags of mud in the area to start to clear it. When Akbar tried to lift a bag he said it was too heavy, and Birbal advised him to imagine how heavy the bags of memories would be...