At around 6 p.m., Asrar, Saleem Ghare, Suleiman Vanu and Mohammad Ali went to buy daily essentials from Null Bazar. The sun had shone pleasantly throughout the day and the mud on the streets had dried up. Saleem Ghare carried a list of things that had to be bought. Whenever they spotted anything from that list, they would stop. While the others were busy shopping, Asrar stood and gazed at the girls roaming in the market. In his mind he thought that there was a small probability that Hina might have come to the market with her mother for shopping. At times when he saw a girl from afar, he was sure that it was Hina but when she came closer, he was disappointed. Mohammad Ali was observing this. Finally, he could not control himself and told Asrar, ‘Stop behaving like a fool or else you will get one nice smack.’

‘What? What did I do?’

‘Stop staring at the girls.’

Asrar was befuddled. He looked at Mohammad Ali and said, ‘I was hoping I’ll spot Hina here.’

‘Now you’ll spot Hina in the moon as well!’

Asrar lifted his head to look at the sky. Mohammad Ali was bemused because the sun had not even set properly for the moon to be visible. Out of amazement he said, ‘There’s still time for the moon to rise.’

Mohammad Ali laughed at his own wit. He said to himself, ‘It is true to say that love blinds a person.’

Asrar realized his folly. He became more conscious of his actions than required. He did not lift his head up. He entered a small utensil shop but was looking down. At that moment, Hina came out of the cloth shop next to the utensil store and crossed the road with her mother. She had been shopping for the last one hour. A number of times the thought crossed her mind that Asrar lived in that area, but she could not imagine that he would be in the market at that time.

Saleem Ghare was to give a golgappa party.

They were standing around the golgappa stall on the footpath. Mohammad Ali mischievously suggested to Asrar, ‘Look inside the golgappa as well …’ Asrar turned towards him and Ali continued, ‘It is possible you will see her inside it too …’

Before Mohammad Ali could complete his sentence, Asrar stuffed a golgappa in his mouth.

It was difficult for Mohammad Ali to control his laughter, and the golgappa he swallowed would have stuck in his throat had it not melted immediately.

Everyone kept laughing. And Mohammad Ali kept coughing.