The laugh was deep and layered. He laughed with him too. And the only word they uttered while laughing was love … love … love. They continued to laugh. Mohammad Ali could not have imagined that after a few months, he would come face to face with a new meaning of love altogether. Such a meaning that would open his previous life and leave marks on the path of his future. In the past he had several relationships with women, which could be called consensual sexual alliances. But for the last 5–6 months, a Shia girl living on the third floor of the kholi had been head over heels in love with him. The girl lived with her mother. The mother was in the business of clothes. She bought clothes from Surat and sold them in Mumbai. She had to be in Surat for fifteen days each month on business. When she would be away, her daughter would call Mohammad Ali over. And sometimes he would go to No. 8 in the red-light area where he had a casual relationship with a girl.

It was after a very long time that Mohammad Ali told Saleem about the physical relationship between his boss’s wife and the worker. And he said it with a heavy heart. This grief was not caused by the success of his friend, the worker, but by his own failure.

‘Absolutely correct, boss!’ Aslam bowed down.

Right then a boy with a camera around his neck came to them and pestered them to get photos clicked in front of the Gateway or the Taj hotel. This was a good way of making money. He agreed to click for Rs 100. They got two photos taken, one in front of the Gateway and the other with Taj as the background. The photos were developed in a few minutes. They were extremely happy to see the pictures. Especially the newcomers. For them it was a precious memory of their first day in Mumbai.

By evening, the crowd had grown so much that if any of the newcomers had got lost, it would have been impossible to find them. Hence, Mohammad Ali advised them to hold hands. They moved away from the Gateway along the sea wall. They stopped at a place, sat on the wall and looked at the floating boats. Many foreign tourists were also getting photos clicked. A white-skinned girl in shorts was standing and enjoying the cool breeze from the sea. Her perfectly shaped legs were more attractive than her golden hair and white skin. Each of them skipped a heartbeat looking at her. But after every glance they would look here and there to hide what their hearts felt about the fairy from the West who had created the desire for sin in their hearts. Two smooth-skinned, clean-shaven men came and stood near them.

Seeing them, Mohammad Ali suggested, ‘Let’s walk a bit now.’