Thanks to the efforts of the young lawyer and union activist Janardhanan, Madasami was released on bail. The same evening, a rally to condemn police brutality was held in front of the municipal building. No special efforts were made to raise bail for Madathi. Madasami agreed with his lawyer’s counsel that it would be stupid to jeopardize the postnatal care the government was providing her. The Travancore Nesan printed that lawyer Janardhanan had issued a warning at this public rally: all manual scavengers would go on an indefinite strike until the case filed against Madasami and his wife was withdrawn. The newspaper also carried an editorial insisting that the workers must be given an immediate pay raise. Everyone could tell the editorial had been written by Isakki. Who else could fit in the phrase “revolutionary fire” so many times in just two paragraphs! He must have kept the fire truck at the ready while writing that editorial.

The manual scavengers’ union had already sent a petition to the municipality demanding a pay increase. The Travancore Nesan also reported that according to the explanation provided by Janardhanan at the rally—which was presided over by Madasami—the arrests had occurred because the municipality feared the workers would go on strike to press their pay-raise demands. So, in an effort to thwart any such attempts, false allegations had been foisted on the main movers in the union, and they had been spirited away. Whether this was true or not, the accusation was definitely believable. There was no telling what tricks the cowardly municipality would resort to when it felt threatened. It could end up doing the most terrible things out of fear.

Coolie Ayyappan seemed to have vanished without a trace. The police hunted for him everywhere, but to no avail. Five or six weeks had passed, marked by events of great turbulence and profound significance: Khader’s store sign was smashed, Dhamu was arrested and then released on bail, Comrade Madathi gave birth to a baby in government custody, young lawyer Janardhanan raised a war cry at a meeting presided over by Madasami, and a veritable flow of lava had issued forth from the editorial pages of the Travancore Nesan. But the entire police force was still struggling to catch one lone scoundrel—it had become a popular subject of mockery.