Rajam and Mani's friendship

As I was reading Swami and Friends, one thing that stuck out for me was the way in which Rajam became friends with Mani at the beginning of the story. It would appear that Rajam basically forces Mani into being friends at gunpoint, which struck me as a bit odd. It could be argued that Rajam's actions led to a peaceful result, and that the end justifies the means, but in my mind a friendship can only be made when both sides are in agreement with one another. A relationship based on the idea of "be my friend, or else" seems a bit broken to me. This scene perhaps makes a statement about the attitudes of the British imperialists when they colonized India: "Let us govern you, or else!" Another part of the scene which has colonial symbolism is the offering of biscuits as an olive branch. Biscuits are a very British foodstuff, and basically offering them as an act of friendship after holding Mani at gunpoint creates a very strange scene indeed.