CHAPTER 28

Summary

• The chapter is set in 1933 in Parambil. The protagonist, a ten-year-old boy named Philipose, has a keen interest in various soils and concocts his own ink using crushed beetle shell, gooseberries, and human urine among other ingredients.
• Philipose prefers to walk everywhere he goes, as opposed to being ferried or driven. These walks often lead him to meet interesting characters, one of them being the "Sultan" Pattar, a renowned maker of the sweet jalebi.
• On one of his walks, Philipose witnesses a man crash on his bicycle into an embankment and helps him. The cyclist, an old man named Koshy Saar, takes an interest in Philipose’s handmade ink, asking for a regular supply of it.
• Koshy Saar, a schooled, worldly man, begins to mentor Philipose and loan him books to improve his knowledge and English skills. The first book he lends him is Moby-Dick.
• Philipose’s reading journey becomes a shared experience with his family. Every week, they would gather and listen to Philipose's translation or summary of his assigned reading from Moby-Dick, finding the tale both entertaining and scandalous.
• Philipose reveals that Koshy Saar doesn't believe in God. Despite this revelation, Philipose's mother, Big Ammachi, is not upset. Instead, she remarks on how fortunate Philipose is to have Koshy Saar in his life and looks forward to Philipose's reading journey with his next assigned novel, Great Expectations.