Chapter 2: A Pair of Mustachios

Ramanand, who is a money lender and a grocer, is cunning and has a servile nature which is apt for his money-lending and groceries selling business. He does not get angry but prevails over some customers like Azam Khan with his intelligence and by hurting their pride. Here it is obvious that Ramanand considers his customers as correct in principle. He gives his business the first priority, and his pride is secondary.

Azam Khan is a victim of pride. He is lost in the glory of his ancestors. He is short-sighted, arrogant and full of anger. He is prepared to sell all his property in order to keep Ramanand’s moustaches down, as it is suitable for his class. Azam Khan is living in the past. He is short-tempered, impractical and does not know what is good for him.

In this story, Ramanand is considered a dedicated businessman. His perception of business is obvious from the reality that he concurs to lower his moustache at the request of Azam Khan. However, he lowers only one tip of his moustache to provoke Azam Khan in order to bring all his property under mortgage. He does not get angry and retains his business principles on top of his priorities.

Both Ramanand and Azam Khan seem to have very fixed views about each other and themselves. They are involved in the social milieu, which believes in the differentiation of people based on their moustaches. Khan Sahib was included in the tiger class moustache, while Ramanand was included in the goat class moustache. Both of them are in harmony with the fact that they should not cross each other’s limits. In the end, Ramanand scores over Khan Sahib by turning up the end of his goat moustache, which makes it look like a tiger moustache. Azam Khan gets raged by this action and is tricked into selling all of his property to Ramanand.