He asked Pervez to pick up the magazines from the floor. He grabbed hold of both boys by the scruff of their necks and dragged them out of the classroom. He went for Jasper first, pulling him by his hair and slapping him across his face seven or eight or nine times. He extended his hands and locked his fingers tightly around Pervez’s ears. ‘Scum,’ said Singh, ‘you chaps are going to send this country to the dogs one day. And I’m not going to let that happen.’ He then began to slap him, around the cheeks, on the neck, under his earlobes, on the back of his head, finishing it off with a clenched fist in the middle of the boy’s back. Pervez begged for mercy; Singh relented. The bell rang. The boys filed out in silence.

Jasper and Pervez went in to fetch their bags. They emerged a few minutes later, still red-cheeked, their hair dishevelled. Singh asked them to stay back. He let the staircase empty, then invited the two boys to come with him to the canteen. It was a small place, crowded with boys drinking Gold Spot and eating bread pakoras. Few teachers came here. Some boys stood up and offered Singh their table. Word had spread that Helicopter was in a foul mood today. Singh sat down and asked Pervez and Jasper what they wanted to eat. He said, ‘Order what you feel like, it’s on me today.’

Pervez ordered two Gold Spots, three bread pakoras, four aloo samosas and a plate of chhole bhature. Jasper ordered two mutton burgers, three Thums Ups, two samosas and a bread pakora. Singh didn’t order anything but sat with his arms around the boys’ shoulders. When they offered to share their food with him, he refused.

Eunuch Park

He sits on a park bench in south Delhi watching a group of old men doing laughing exercises. It is six o’clock in the morning. Today is the first clear day after four straight days of rain.

His girlfriend lives with her parents in an apartment just down the road from the park. He lives and studies in Delhi University, on the other side of town.

On weekends, he takes the Ring Road bus to get to her apartment. He usually stays till evening, has dinner with the family, then leaves. Except that he never actually leaves; he only pretends to leave. He strolls around the neighbourhood till midnight, waits for the family to go to bed. At the appointed hour he slides the latch of the front gate and climbs a steep flight of stairs. She dutifully waits for him on the first floor, the door slightly ajar. He sneaks into her room on tiptoe and they spend the entire night figuring out the basics of lovemaking.