Cars, taxis and buses were crawling on Mohammad Ali Road. People were crossing the street by running in front of these vehicles. The horns were being relentlessly blown. A few people were talking loudly at the turn of the road. Below the JJ Flyover, two hand-rickshaw pullers were sitting on their vehicles and smoking. A taxi driver was arguing with a Bohra woman. A crippled man standing opposite to this woman, wearing a green cap, was waiting in anticipation of alms, as if his wish would be granted immediately after the argument ends. Even the beggars in Mumbai seemed to be very hopeful. Asrar really liked the red, green and blue beads around the beggar’s neck. The argument had not ended when a young girl also joined the beggar in spreading her hands in the hope of alms. The lame beggar did not like the girl’s presence. He hit the girl on the hip with his crutch. She ran but before crossing the road hurled a few abuses at the beggar which were drowned in the noise of the traffic. No one noticed this incident. Asrar kept staring at the flyover which looked like a sleeping anaconda in the sunlight.

On Mohammad Ali Road, the smell of delicious sweets from the Umar Ali Usman sweet shop, filled the air. They looked at the nankhatai. A boy wearing a lungi entered the shop with a tray of sweets on his head. The smell of the fresh sweets attracted Qasim’s attention the most. He immediately asked the boy, ‘Which mithai is this?’

‘Aflatoon,’ the boy replied.

Mohammad Ali asked Qasim, ‘Do you want to try it?’

Without waiting for his answer, Mohammad Ali bought half a kilo of aflatoon and offered it to the newcomers.

After spitting out the betel juice, Mohammad Ali showed off his knowledge of various kinds of sweets in Mumbai. Saleem added that even the sweets at the Dum Dum shop were very delicious. They were relishing the sweets when a few kids rushed towards them with outspread hands, asking for a share. One boy was only wearing trousers. The oldest boy wore a torn cap. Saleem spat his betel juice on the footpath and irritably said, ‘Kya re kaam dhanda nahi hai? Chal hat [Don’t you have any other work? Get lost].’

When the older boy pointed towards the younger one’s mouth, probably to indicate hunger, Mohammad Ali said, ‘Abe saale, tu idharich piche ki footpath par rahta hai na [Don’t you live in these parts, on the footpath behind]?’

The boy stared at Mohammad Ali. He told the newcomers that these kids were actually drug addicts. They beg and eat and are found sloshed. On hearing this, the boys ran away. There was routine traffic on the roads. Two buses going towards Churchgate arrived. They were still indulging in aflatoon when Saleem said, ‘The buses are empty, we should catch them.’