Dhamu’s shop was one of the tamarind-tree junction’s key attractions. Indeed, the only other store in the region that did better business than Dhamu’s was Khader’s store. As Khader grew more and more unhappy with his marriage and more focused at work, shopkeepers from the Betel Merchants’ Association began bringing Dhamu along so that Khader would listen to their requests. On one such occasion, Dhamu came to vouch for a shopkeeper by the name of Arumugam. Khader was in a strange frame of mind that day, and he decided he wouldn’t be cowed down. So he said, “This man might be your brother-in-law, but that doesn’t mean I have to show him special respect. I can’t go bring you the stuff myself. You’ll have to wait for my man to show up.”

Enraged, Dhamu raised his hand to hit Khader. The bookkeeper jumped between them, which was the only reason why Khader escaped being beaten that day. He hadn’t really put much thought into those words. He’d been angry and irritated about something else, and his words came out the way they had. But he had mentioned the secret affair between Dhamu and Arumugam’s widowed sister, and so Dhamu was beside himself with anger. When things got really ugly, Khader changed his tactic. He said that Arumugam had a small outstanding balance on earlier purchases. “Let him clear that. Then I will give him the cigarettes,” said Khader.

“So only those without any outstanding payments can purchase cigarettes from you?” Dhamu asked, to which Khader replied, “That’s my decision.” Dhamu glared at him and walked out of the shop. As soon as the news of this incident reached Aziz in Kalakkad, he dropped everything and headed to Khader’s store. He stood outside the store—Khader was away at the time—and railed and ranted against certain beggars whom he did not wish to name. He even made indirect and disparaging remarks about Dhamu’s caste before taking the evening bus back to Kalakkad. He had been so caught up in his anger that it had not even occurred to him to visit his daughter.

That was the start of the enmity between Dhamu and Khader, and it only grew worse over the years. They clashed on several occasions, provoked each other, insulted each other. Once upon a time, I meticulously collected details of these instances. I no longer remember many of them now, but one instance is fresh in my memory.