Yusuf told Hina about the importance of the antiques and their historical sources. He told her about different cultures, communities, religions and their signs and symbols. They also inquired about Hindu deities. At that time Hina realized that Yusuf was no longer the same man who used to call other religions evil and his religion the ultimate truth. She listened to him in complete astonishment. The museum had a lot of displays from the Mughal era. Many pieces of art from the Mughal period delicately depicted romance and sexuality. In many miniature paintings, one could see princes and noblemen engrossed in the pleasure of lovemaking. Hina looked at them for a moment and then turned towards the other section. Yusuf was able to sense that she was embarrassed by those paintings. He called Hina back and said that those paintings had no flaw; in fact they carried within them one of the essential truths of life. Running away from that was the beginning of making one’s life meaningless. He said that one must give birth to meaning in one’s life. Hina was silent. She was looking at the man who had always cursed her elder sisters for having conversations with men. That man who had regularly asked them to put their dupattas in place.

Since the day Hina had seen the picture of a beautiful nude woman in his room, she had a lot of questions in her mind. As Yusuf gave her the lesson of the truth of life, those questions became fresh in her mind again.

There was a wooden slab for sitting in the middle of the museum. She sat on it. Yusuf advised her to take admission in a decent college and continue her education. Talking about higher education, Yusuf mentioned that his friend Aymal was coming to Mumbai the following week and that she would be just the right person to consult about higher education. Hina was reminded of that meeting when Aymal, Burashid and Wardatul Sa’adat had come to the house. She tried recollecting Wardatul Sa’adat’s image in her mind. Yusuf told her that Wardatul Sa’adat was studying for a master’s degree in international law at a prestigious college in London. Hina was listening to him carefully. While talking about Wardatul Sa’adat, unconsciously Yusuf was reminded of the party at Khandala. That night she had presented herself as the Egyptian deity Isis and had read her dissertation on ‘Imagination of the World without Satan’ which was greatly appreciated. Yusuf looked at Hina. She looked like Isis. He smiled and said, ‘You look like Isis.’

‘Who’s that?’

‘Oh yes, she’s an Egyptian goddess. Some call her the patron of nature and others call her the goddess of magic.’

Hina laughed loudly.

Yusuf kept looking at her while she laughed.

‘Daddy, how did you change so much?’

‘So much …?’

‘So much that you are no longer what you used to be.’

‘Change is inevitable. I feel more alive now,’ Yusuf replied.