The Rat by Ashoka Mitran

By King Meera -
Themes:
Poverty
Frustration about poverty
Hunger (seen through all the detailing about vadais)
embarrassment

* guilt about buying perfectly good human food for a rat
* what goes around comes around - Ganesan knows the rat will return - "not the gutter this time... off to the maidan... at least a week..." (page 113)
* you miss the inconveniences too, when they're gone
* author playing with brevity and conciseness of form while portraying complexity of character
* poverty and one's inability to do much about it

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