They teach one to cultivate propriety in conduct. Throughout their lives, in every matter, they give utmost importance to this sense of decorum. Our people too have written a great deal about propriety. But all those writings have remained buried in palm-leaf manuscripts, on scraps of paper, and in printed books—never seeing the light of day.

If I continue in this vein, there are many more things I could say, and many more you would have to listen to. But by now, I must have already wearied you all with my long-winded lecture. It would not be proper—nor would it be courteous—to trouble you any further. Therefore, I take my leave, offering my heartfelt thanks to you all for having listened so patiently and attentively to everything I have said thus far. I wish you all the very best.”

With these words, I sat down.

The felicitation held at the high school caused quite a stir. The whole town was abuzz, everyone talking about it—some saying it was splendid, others simply marveling at it. My fellow students exclaimed, “Our Parvateesam spoke so magnificently! Imagine, even with the headmaster present, he spoke without a hint of fear or hesitation—how did he manage that, eh?”

Others said, “Oh, that’s not it! He’s one of us, isn’t he? He used to play and sing with us, just like anyone else. We’ve seen him as he was—how did he become such a person? I simply can’t fathom it.”

Yet others remarked, “What’s the big deal? If you burn through ten thousand rupees and make a single trip to London, any fool can become like that!”

And so, within twenty-four hours, all these comments had lifted me to great heights.

Though they raised me up so high in their enthusiasm, I, for my part, felt rather dizzy and uncomfortable. As long as I was on solid ground, nothing anyone said bothered me, but now, being hoisted so high, even the slightest slip in balance could spell disaster.

Now, with the lawyers’ felicitation ceremony approaching, I wondered how I would manage to hold my own there…

I sat there, pondering whether I should step outside or not.

Just then, my mother brought me a little snack she had prepared with some effort. Poor woman, how much trouble she takes for me! I thought to myself, “If only I had a daughter-in-law, she wouldn’t have to suffer so much,” and chuckled inwardly as I finished the snack. By the time I was done, the clock struck four. “Oh, it’s getting late,” I thought, and quickly washed my face, tied my turban neatly, and came out to sit in the front yard.

No sooner had I settled down than two lawyers from Versapuram arrived to take me along. Just as I had thought no one would come—just like those days when I used to go to high school—they appeared at the exact moment and kindly asked me to come. They were very pleased to see that I was