cemetery
◉
Ganpat Suryavanshi was full of gratitude. Tanvir had wanted to leave right after depositing Ganpat's son home, but the sentry and his wife would have none of it. He had dragged the reluctant Tanvir inside and plied him with a hot glass of chai and some khari biscuits. Tanvir had initially relented because Ganpat had said that the gods would be angry if they let a good Samaritan go away without offering him anything, but now he was really thankful, as the first bite of sustenance was doing its bit in rejuvenating his fatigued faculties. He realized that he had not eaten anything since the morning. Without warning, the shock of the events of the day again reared its head inside him. But this time, Tanvir fought it. Ganpat Suryavanshi had been looking at him, curious, for the past few minutes and now, there was a flash of recognition in his eyes. 'You!' he said. 'You are the man who saved the woman in the burqa.'
Tanvir nodded with his mouth full.
Ganpat Suryavanshi seemed scared now. 'Please, why are you here? I have not done anything. I told everything to the police.'
Tanvir drank the last of the chai and wiped the khari crumbs away from his mouth, 'Don't worry, bhai, I know that you were not involved with them. I was just on my way back from there. The police and I were searching for something.' He got up to leave. Nodding at Ganpat's wife, he said, 'Thank you for your hospitality.'
A relieved Ganpat smiled. 'I'm just a small man. It was too much for me. But you are brave. I wish I could help. What are the police looking for now?'
Tanvir was in a hurry now and didn't really want to engage in a conversation. He walked towards the door, 'Oh, nothing really. Just a small marble-like glass bead. Anyway, take care of your boy. Salaam!' He exited before Ganpat could say anything further.
The night was cool outside. Tanvir started to wind his way out of the narrow maze-like gullies, in the direction from where he had brought the young boy home. As he came out from the Koliwada onto the main road, he heard a voice behind him. 'Wait!' He turned to see Ganpat Suryavanshi rushing down the winding path at a distance. A little irritated, Tanvir hung back, waiting for Ganpat to catch up with him. He wondered what the sentry wanted. Ganpat reached him, huffing and puffing away.
'What is it now?' Tanvir's impatience was now at its height as he waited for Ganpat to catch his breath. Ganpat opened his hand and extended it towards Tanvir. In his hand lay the evil eye pendant shining in the meagre streetlight. Tanvir's eyes lit up with excitement.
Ganpat panted, 'As I was leaving the godown tonight, I saw this lying at the corner of the gate post. I thought it was just a kid's marble, and so I picked it up and brought it home for my younger son to play with.'
Tanvir grabbed the bead and held it up. It didn't seem have a scratch on it. He guessed it must have come loose and rolled away towards the gate when he had torn open Rabia's burqa. Tanvir's happiness knew no bounds as he hugged the still-panting Ganpat.
◉
'Allied Computer Peripherals' proclaimed the signboard hung over the shut steel shutters of one of the wall-to-wall shops lined up on Lamington Road's wholesale electronics market.
The shop in question was owned and run by one Sarabjit Singh Sondhi, who was never likely to be lauded for his expertise as a homegrown Indian computer whiz, but was going to make a fortune through the cyber business, nevertheless. Through cyber crime, to be more specific.
Sarabjit and his small team of computer geniuses specialized in credit card fraud. He used his computer peripherals business to launder the money that he nibbled away from the credit cards of high net worth citizens. Sarabjit was also an iconoclast in other ways, in that he was married to Zulekha Siddiqui, his college sweetheart from Khalsa College. Not many people knew that Sarabjit and Zulekha's inter-caste marriage had been made possible only because Sarabjit
◉
Ganpat Suryavanshi was full of gratitude. Tanvir had wanted to leave right after depositing Ganpat's son home, but the sentry and his wife would have none of it. He had dragged the reluctant Tanvir inside and plied him with a hot glass of chai and some khari biscuits. Tanvir had initially relented because Ganpat had said that the gods would be angry if they let a good Samaritan go away without offering him anything, but now he was really thankful, as the first bite of sustenance was doing its bit in rejuvenating his fatigued faculties. He realized that he had not eaten anything since the morning. Without warning, the shock of the events of the day again reared its head inside him. But this time, Tanvir fought it. Ganpat Suryavanshi had been looking at him, curious, for the past few minutes and now, there was a flash of recognition in his eyes. 'You!' he said. 'You are the man who saved the woman in the burqa.'
Tanvir nodded with his mouth full.
Ganpat Suryavanshi seemed scared now. 'Please, why are you here? I have not done anything. I told everything to the police.'
Tanvir drank the last of the chai and wiped the khari crumbs away from his mouth, 'Don't worry, bhai, I know that you were not involved with them. I was just on my way back from there. The police and I were searching for something.' He got up to leave. Nodding at Ganpat's wife, he said, 'Thank you for your hospitality.'
A relieved Ganpat smiled. 'I'm just a small man. It was too much for me. But you are brave. I wish I could help. What are the police looking for now?'
Tanvir was in a hurry now and didn't really want to engage in a conversation. He walked towards the door, 'Oh, nothing really. Just a small marble-like glass bead. Anyway, take care of your boy. Salaam!' He exited before Ganpat could say anything further.
The night was cool outside. Tanvir started to wind his way out of the narrow maze-like gullies, in the direction from where he had brought the young boy home. As he came out from the Koliwada onto the main road, he heard a voice behind him. 'Wait!' He turned to see Ganpat Suryavanshi rushing down the winding path at a distance. A little irritated, Tanvir hung back, waiting for Ganpat to catch up with him. He wondered what the sentry wanted. Ganpat reached him, huffing and puffing away.
'What is it now?' Tanvir's impatience was now at its height as he waited for Ganpat to catch his breath. Ganpat opened his hand and extended it towards Tanvir. In his hand lay the evil eye pendant shining in the meagre streetlight. Tanvir's eyes lit up with excitement.
Ganpat panted, 'As I was leaving the godown tonight, I saw this lying at the corner of the gate post. I thought it was just a kid's marble, and so I picked it up and brought it home for my younger son to play with.'
Tanvir grabbed the bead and held it up. It didn't seem have a scratch on it. He guessed it must have come loose and rolled away towards the gate when he had torn open Rabia's burqa. Tanvir's happiness knew no bounds as he hugged the still-panting Ganpat.
◉
'Allied Computer Peripherals' proclaimed the signboard hung over the shut steel shutters of one of the wall-to-wall shops lined up on Lamington Road's wholesale electronics market.
The shop in question was owned and run by one Sarabjit Singh Sondhi, who was never likely to be lauded for his expertise as a homegrown Indian computer whiz, but was going to make a fortune through the cyber business, nevertheless. Through cyber crime, to be more specific.
Sarabjit and his small team of computer geniuses specialized in credit card fraud. He used his computer peripherals business to launder the money that he nibbled away from the credit cards of high net worth citizens. Sarabjit was also an iconoclast in other ways, in that he was married to Zulekha Siddiqui, his college sweetheart from Khalsa College. Not many people knew that Sarabjit and Zulekha's inter-caste marriage had been made possible only because Sarabjit
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