‘Thanks, Goldie,’ he said affably. Too hot for rasgulla, but I’ll take the juice.’ Shona stayed in the shade of the stairwell and watched Parvez standing out in the beating heat of the full sun, only slightly relieved by a light breeze as he twisted twine around a bamboo cylinder. A gloriously coloured structure sat limply at his feet, like a shot-down bird of paradise.

‘What are you doing?’ she asked. ‘Is that a kite over there?’

’Yes, it’s a kite. Do you want to come-see?’ His smile was so magnetic and kind that Shona felt herself melting like the ice in Parvez’s juice.

She stepped over willingly, while Parvez explained what he was doing. Tm just fixing it together. You need to wind the twine round the cylinder like this so you can release it quickly when you catch some wind; this way it can just unroll, like a yo-yo. And you can also pull it in quickly the same way, to keep the kite taut.’ Remembering his juice, he politely picked it up and downed it quickly, wiping away the sweet purple drips from his mouth with the back of his hand. Shona watched this small gesture with close fascination, before forcing herself to look back at the kite.

‘How will it fly?’ she asked. ‘There’s not very much wind at the moment.’ Normally there would be dozens of kites flying from the rooftops over Lahore, but Shona couldn’t see any that day.

‘There’s enough,’ said Parvez. ‘Come on, Goldie, I’ll show you. Come stand here.’ Shona stood between Parvez’s arms as he showed her how to unravel the twine, demonstrating by rolling the hollow bamboo cylinder over the rod on which it was threaded. He then took the kite and climbed to the highest point of the roof, cavalierly standing close to the edge, while Shona held on to the twine and prayed he wouldn’t fall.

‘Run when I say,’ he called, ‘and when the kite is in the air, stop and let out the twine.’ Shona, desperate to impress and not fail in this challenge, gave the kite more attention than any lesson she had had in her life and ran urgently at the signal. Feeling the kite tugging in the air just above her, she released the twine and saw it soar higher. ‘That’s it, Goldie!’ shouted Parvez encouragingly. He ran back to Shona and, standing behind her once more, his arms around her to guide the rod that she was holding, he showed her when to pull the kite in and when to let it out, to keep it swooping above their heads.