How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
When I was twelve, however, Papa decided to move upmarket, closer to Joshi's Hyderabad Restaurant, and he turned our old restaurant compound into the 365-seat Bollywood Nights. (2.55)
Papa feels competitive against Uday Joshi, who owns restaurants on the ritzy side of town. This competition against the wealthier class places the Haji family in a dangerous place, so right from the beginning we get the message that competition isn't good.
Quote #2
Madame Mallory did not do the decent thing. She did not cross the street and talk directly with Papa, try to reason with him. She never tried in any way to make us feel welcome. No, her first impulse was to crush us under her heels. Like we were bugs. (6.34)
Mallory is wired to be competitive. Her immediate reaction when she sees the sign for the Maison Mumbai is not to shake hands and wish her neighbors luck, it's to squash them like a bug.
Quote #3
I never say Papa so brilliant an operator—so charming, so ruthlessly determined to bend the will of others, and yet so generous in making them feel they had won. (8.35)
Papa is competitive to the bone, and he pours every ounce of his energy into retaliating against Mallory. It's practically an art form to him.