The tailor who works downstairs from Raj’s family apartment has started living there with Raj’s elderly, widowed aunt. He claims that she feeds and houses him in exchange for “protection,” but in reality, he is taking advantage of her hospitality. Like so many of the novel’s other characters, he pretends to be generous and caring in order to disguise the way that he takes advantage of others. But since Deven also stays at Raj’s house rent-free, the tailor’s behavior raises the question of whether Deven is taking advantage of others, too.