The Painter of Signs (Pages 68-86) Summary

Raman is running his regular errands in Malgudi when he is overcome with fear. He can’t stop waiting for the cops to show up at his door and take him into custody. He fears that Daisy is following through on her threat to report him to the police, and that it will not be long before they find him. He reads in his chamber and converses with his aunt. He spends a lot of time in and around the house and becomes fairly sedentary.

He makes the decision to go out at last after this for eight days. After getting dressed, he heads to Boardless. There, he runs into Gupta, an old buddy, and they converse over coffee. He talks about the family-planning campaign and his peculiar journey with Daisy. According to Gupta, social workers should keep in mind that superstitions are prevalent throughout the nation when conducting their educational programs. Raman concurs and experiences a return to normalcy in his life. He feels happy as he exits the motel.

After fifteen days, Raman ultimately gets back to his regular routine. When he returns to work, his once-obnoxious clients are suddenly appreciative of his efforts. Then one day Daisy shows up at Raman’s door, shocking him. After a brief exchange of words, it’s evident that Daisy isn’t angry with him and that she was hoping to see him again. She claims that following their return, she became distracted by a written report detailing her campaign. They stroll to his garden brook together and dip their toes in the water.

Daisy responds to Raman’s admission of love by saying he’s only repeating things he doesn’t mean. He vehemently disputes this. He clasps her hand in his. As they converse more, she tells him that she didn’t have a great childhood growing up in a big family. She was almost coerced into an arranged marriage when she reached marriageable age. She addressed her potential husband immediately when they first met, which scared him away. Her family was furious with her for not making more of an effort to court him. She decided to leave them because this deeply distressed her.

She sees it’s becoming late and quickly leaves Raman’s place. It is Raman’s aunt preparing dinner. He tries to think of a way to get her to quit inquiring about his romantic history. To stop her from making assumptions about him, he says in passing that he has to go to an office the next day. He considers what he should do next.

Raman visits the bangle vendor the following day and hangs up his sign. The man declines his request for seventy-five rupees after thanking him for his assistance. They eventually get along and converse about Daisy. The vendor of bangles requests that he make a good impression on her since she has promised to buy a large quantity of bangles to give to the villagers as a prize for receiving a birth control procedure.

The Painter of Signs Pages 87-111 Summary