the vendor of sweets by r.k.narayan

for a moment jagan felt as if he were a petitioner in his own house, and there flashed across his mind those far-off days when mali used to stand at his door, cringing for some concssion or for cash, and for a brief second he was aghast at the transformations that had come with time. i have to be off myself, he said to redress the balance of importance ,but grace went back to her work in the kitchen without a reply. unable to make up his mind , he idly opened a cupboard and stood gazing at the old bottles and packing paper that he had preserved on the theory of keeping a thing forr seven years.

1. what is the situation? where does this happen?