Gopala Iyer did excellent business during the Deepavali season that year. There was not enough space inside the shop to hold all the customers, and people had to wait outside on the steps. Two days before Deepavali, people started jostling and shoving and pushing to get into the shop. You would think they were getting the stuff for free! Gopala Iyer stood in front of the counter, welcoming everyone. A steady stream of boys from the restaurant kept bringing coffee and tea and cool drinks and leaving with empty cups. Daulat Ram’s face appeared in Gopala Iyer’s mind. He imagined the man standing in front of the store, taking in the scene. What are you so surprised about? Nothing much to see. Yes, I am running my business. But nothing you haven’t seen. Yes, it is going all right. True, it is all by God’s grace. Everything happens by His grace. Everything. Don’t think this is all my doing. It’s all His grace.

Gopala Iyer continued to do the purchasing himself. When they took inventory that year, they found that they still had fifty thousand rupees’ worth of stock. So Gopala Iyer tried to keep the new purchases in check. But he couldn’t. “What’s this, sir? Last time you bought stuff worth four or five thousand rupees. Now you want to spend only one or two thousand?” He couldn’t bear the taunts from the wholesale merchants. So, just to save face, he again bought a huge stock. The thought of Khader, who had mentally detached himself from the running of the store and only made a show of being upset by things, enraged Gopala Iyer. He was convinced that Khader was, in truth, laughing at him. “Go ahead, laugh,” he kept muttering to himself. “My horoscope says I will be rid of Saturn by August. There’s no holding me back after that.”