The crowd did not let up even at ten at night. The buses heading east began running at two thirty in the morning. At least a quarter of the people who went to the theater for the second show had to catch these buses later. They paid four annas for the pleasure of dozing off under the ceiling fans in the fancy theater, waking up now and then to catch a glimpse of women dancing onscreen, or a few fine moves of a sword fight, or a love duet. Only those who have experienced this pleasure know its value.

Amid such constant commotion, it was nearly impossible for anyone to steal tamarind pods from the tree. Even though almost everyone felt this urge at one time or another, it was still not the sort of the thing they could bring themselves to do with others watching. So it was no surprise that no fruit from that tree ever got stolen.

It was a fine tree. Year after year, it brought in an outstanding harvest. I don’t know if the tree ever realized that no individual would ever make special claims on it. But I suspect it knew. No one thought of the tree as their own, but the tree seemed to exude the conviction that it belonged to everyone. Still, since the municipality owned the tamarind tree, it had rightful claim to the income from the tree. But the municipality had no use for the tamarind harvest, just as it had no use for rice or salt or black gram dal. All it needed was money—money to protect its people, take care of them, improve their lot.

Therefore, every year, the municipality auctioned away the tree for a year’s lease, keeping only the cash proceeds as income.

It was a Thursday. The town crier’s drum could be heard in the bazaar, announcing that the next day, at three in the afternoon, the tamarind tree would be put up for auction. And so, on Friday afternoon, a municipal employee and a helper set out from their office toward the tamarind-tree junction.

The employee’s name was Vallinayagam Pillai, usually called Valli. He had been working for the municipal council for nineteen years, drawing a salary of thirty-three and a half rupees, dearness allowance included. Even though he was an ordinary employee, he wielded a great deal of influence in the office. This was because he was the only one in the entire office who was well-versed in municipal codes and procedures. He was the one who advised the mayor on how to catch a tax evader. In the same breath, he would run to said tax evader and advise him on how to dodge the consequences. The former ensured his monthly salary; the latter covered the monthly shortages. The fact that he attended to both these jobs at once ensured his family’s subsistence.