When Father calls out to Rati, she doesn't respond. So he opens the shop door and goes inside, where he sees her just sitting quietly, lost in thought.
Seeing this, Father lightly taps her on the head and says, "What are you thinking, you crazy girl? And why haven't you gotten dressed yet? Come on, the bus is waiting outside. Don't you want to go to school?"
Rati replies, "No."
"Why?"
"Because now I'm going to open my own shop."
Hearing this, Father starts laughing and says, "Do you even know how to open a shop? And where will you get the goods from? Do you even have any money?"
Just then, the bus driver starts honking. Father understands that Rati has come up with some new stubborn idea again. So he goes outside and signals the driver to leave, and the bus goes away.
He comes back to Rati and says, "What happened? You don't have any answer, right? Child, opening a shop is not so easy. It takes a lot of effort."
But Rati replies confidently, "I have already made a full plan to open my shop."
Father, surprised, says, "Oh really? Then tell me too."
"No, why should I tell you? What if you steal my plan?"
"You think I would do that?"
"No, but I don't want to take the risk."
Father laughs again. Now he has nothing else to do, so just to keep her engaged, he decides to go along with her and asks,
"Alright then, where will you open your shop?"
"On the roadside."
"What will you sell?"
"Corn."
"But how will you buy it? You don't have any money. Should I give you some?"
"No, I don't want your help. I will open my shop on my own."
"Then how will you buy it?"
"Look, I have gold earrings. I'll sell them and get money."
"But I gave you those earrings."
"So what? They were a gift, right? So now they are mine."
"Alright…"
"Then I can also gift you some money."
Rati thinks for a moment and then says, "So you mean I can't sell this?"
Father thinks to himself, Where does this girl even come up with such ideas?
But just to tease her a little, he says, "Yes. If you want to open a shop on your own, then all the investment should be yours. Otherwise, I'll become a partner in your shop."
But Rati wanted to prove that she could run a shop even without her father—and without telling lies. So she takes off both her earrings and places them in Father's hand, saying,
"No, I don't want to make you a partner in my shop. From today onwards, I won't take anything from you. Grandmother said that I would have to beg without you—but you'll see, from today, I will take care of my own expenses."
Until now, Father had been finding Rati's words amusing, but hearing this hurts him deeply. He tries to explain to her that she has misunderstood what Grandmother meant, but Rati refuses to listen.
She walks outside the shop and looks around, standing there for a while as if thinking about something.
Father follows her, but he cannot understand what is going on in her mind.
Then Rati goes back inside the shop, tears a page from her notebook, and writes something on it. After that, she comes back out and stands by the roadside holding that page.
When Father sees this, he comes closer and reads what is written on the paper. Seeing it, he is shocked—he cannot believe that something like this could even be done.
People passing by read the page in Rati's hands and just laugh as they walk away.
It becomes 12 o'clock, and Rati is still standing there holding that page, but not a single person has stopped. Seeing this, Father says to her,
"Child, do you really think these people value something like this?
I lie only because lies are what sell here."
Rati does not pay attention to his words, but Father feels hurt.
He calls her to eat something, but Rati refuses.
Now Father cannot force her either, because he knows very well how stubborn Rati is.