Untouchable

Rakha arrives with food and the family eats. Bakha loses his appetite as he remembers that they are eating food that the upper castes consider garbage. He excuses himself and says he is going to the wedding of Ram Charan's sister. He has not actually been invited, and does not know "what had made him decide so suddenly on such an extraordinary adventure" (86). He is hiding the knowledge from himself that he wants to see Ram Charan's sister one last time before she is given to another man. As children, he and his friend's sister had pretended to be married as a game. He remembers that as they had grown older, he had found her beautiful, and had begun to have sexual thoughts about her.

Bakha finds Chota outside of Ram Charan's home. They watch the wedding crowd but are not allowed to join it. Chota calls to Ram Charan, who leaves the wedding to bring them candied plums. They walk into the nearby hills together and Bakha enjoys the solitude. He remembers playing games in the hills as a child, and mourns the loss of his free time, now that he spends his days sweeping and begging.