There was no escape.

“Annachi,” greeted Valli.

“How much did the tree go for?” Moothapillai asked, his eyes fixed on the coffee in his tumbler.

“You didn’t come!”

“Why should I go to the auction and keep fighting with Sahib year after year? I saw him going just now. He walks with his nose in the air, his towel sweeping the ground. He thinks he will make a lakh from this. Let him! What do you say?”

“Sounds right.”

“So,” Moothapillai asked again, “how much did it go for?”

“The auction didn’t happen. There was a small complication.”

“What complication?”

“There were no pods.”

“On the tree?”

“Yes.”

“Not even one?”

“Not even one.”

“Then there is no complication. There were no pods, there was no auction. Why do you call it a complication?”

“That’s right, that’s right.”

“Theft?”

“I don’t know.”

“It can’t be theft,” Moothapillai said. “Maybe sparrows ate them?”

At this point, Moothapillai exchanged a quick glance with Nagaru Pillai and winked.

“Then they would have eaten them every year, wouldn’t they?” asked Valli.

“But there are a lot more sparrows this year, you know.”

“Why is that?”

“Who knows why? Sparrows, grasshoppers, rats, bandicoots, lizards, mosquitoes, there is more of everything this year. Aren’t we in August already? But we have still not had a drop of rain, have we?”

Valli contemplated this. “Why do you think that is?”

“Because earlier, there was one man ruling the kingdom. Now there are ten men running things.”

“Oh! You are talking about that!”

“What am I talking about? See, in a kingdom, there should be one man issuing commands and others obeying,” Moothapillai said, warming up to his favorite subject. “But what is happening now is sheer madness. Take my home for example. If I, my wife, my children, my driver, my maid, my servant, everyone gets to have a say in how things are run, then who is going to do the bidding? Do you understand what I mean?”

“I do.”

“Oh, here comes all the maharajas!”

Valli turned. A crowd was approaching, with Sahib and Moopanar in the lead. Valli’s eyes widened. “Annachi, I will take leave. I need to go write up the report,” he said, walking away in a hurry. “Hey! Hey!” Sahib called out, clapping his hands. Moopanar was clapping his hands too. Valli walked as fast as he could, waving his left hand behind him in a hurried goodbye.

“Running away in humiliation!” said Moothapillai, shaking with laughter. “Serves them right for coveting what belongs to our Lord Padmanabha!” He laughed even harder, Nagaru Pillai joining in. When Sahib and Moopanar reached the carriage, the three bidders fell into a discussion about the current fate of the tamarind tree. A crowd gathered around them, joining the speculation.

“Was it theft?” asked Moothapillai.

“I have no idea,” said Sahib.