A Fine Balance

After a week, Ishvar and Om acclimate to sleeping in front of the pharmacy shop, but now an unusual sound awakens them. Trucks pull up, and government officials start rounding up all the beggars sleeping on the sidewalk, including the two tailors. This is part of the government beautification project: Get the beggars off the streets and give them food, shelter, and work. The two tailors protest that they are employed, but no one will listen. Ninety-six people are forced to work on an irrigation project on the outskirts of the city. Ishvar and Om grow dizzy from the heat and become sick from the bad food.

Dina and Maneck worry when Ishvar and Om don’t arrive for work the next morning. Dina frets because she needs them to complete 60 dresses by the end of the week. Since Maneck knows where the men sleep, he goes to investigate. He returns to Dina with alarming news: Officials have taken them to an unknown location.

Maneck offers to help Dina finish the dress order in time to meet her deadline. She protests that he doesn’t know how to sew, but he insists on trying. They build a happy camaraderie as they work, and Maneck tells Dina the tailors’ history.