Ghany struggled with the drawer once more, took...
Ghany struggled with the drawer once more, took out the other half-sheet, stamped his name on it, wrote, and then had everybody sign againBiswas was now leaning forward against one of the dusty walls, his feet pushed far backHe was spitting carefully, trying to let his spittle hang down to the floor without breakingGhany hung up his name stamp and took down the date stampHe turned some ratchets, banged hard on the almost dry purple pad and banged hard on the paperTwo lengths of rubber fell apart"Blasted thing bust," he said, and examined it without annoyanceHe explained, "You could print the year all right, because you move that only once a yearBut the dates and the months, man, you spinning chanel watches them round all the time He took up the length of rubber and looked at them thoughtfully"Here, give them to the boy He wrote the date with one of his pens and said, "All right, leave everything to me nowExpensive business, affidavitsStamps and thing, you know
Bipti fumbled with the knot at the end of her veil and Tara paid
"Any more children without certificate of buth?"
"Three," Bipti said
"Bring them," Ghany saidNext week? Is better to straighten these things right away, you know
In this way official notice was taken of MrBiswas's existence, and he entered the new world


_Ought oughts are ought,_
_Ought twos are ought


The chanting of the children pleased LaiHe believed in 925 tiffany's necklace thoroughness, discipline and what he delighted to call stick-to-it-iveness, virtues he felt unconverted Hindus particularly lacked


_One twos are two,_
_Two twos are four


"Stop!" Lai cried, waving his tamarind rod"Biswas, ought twos are how much?"
"TwoYou, Ramguli, ought twos are how much?"
"OughtThat boy with a shirt that looks like one of his mother bodice He held the rod at both ends and bent it back and forth quicklyThe sleeves of his jacket fell down past dirty cuffs and thin wrists black with hairThe jacket was brown but had turned saffron where it had been soaked by Lai's sweatFor all the time he went to school, MrBiswas never saw Lai wearing any other jacket
"Ramguli, chloe bags paddington go back to your deskAll right, the two of youAll-you decide now how much ought twos is?"
"Ought," they whimpered together
"Yes, ought twos are ought He caught hold of MrBiswas, pulled his trousers tight across his bottom, and began to apply the tamarind rod, saying as he beat, "Ought twos are oughtOught oughts are oughtBiswas, released, went crying back to his deskBefore we talk about anything, tell me where you get that bodice from?"
With its flaming red colour and leg-of-mutton sleeves it was obviously a bodice and had, without comment, been recognized as such by the boys, most of whom wore garments not originally designed for them
"Where you get it from?"
"My sister-in-law
"And you chanel black handbags thank her?"
There was no reply
"Anyway, when you see your sister-in-law, I want you to give her a messageI want you" -- and here Lai seized the boy and started to use the tamarind rod -- "I want you to tell her that ought twos don't make fourI want you to tell her that ought oughts are ought, ought twos are ought, one twos are two, and _two_ twos are fourBiswas was taught other thingsHe learned to say the Lord's Prayer in Hindi from the _King George V Hindi Reader_, and he learned many English poems by heart from the _Royal Reader_At Lai's dictation he made copious notes, which he never seriously believed, about geysers, rift valleys, watersheds, currents, the Gulf Stream, and a number of borse replica deserts