On the second floor, in the veranda, on the door of the last room, stood a woman clad in a purple sari. Mohammad Ali said something to her. Asrar noticed that the woman had two roses stuck in her hair bun. She had applied a very strong perfume. The woman drew the curtain aside and shouted, ‘Madhuri!’ Asrar raised his eye to look at the door where a picture of Lord Ganesh adorned a tile. A horseshoe hung from a nail below the tile. Ali entered the room. Inside the room, along the walls were small-sized diwans which one could not call charpoys. On both ends of the diwan stood out teak poles that supported the curtains which covered the diwans. There were four beds in the room with little space in between. Madhuri moved towards Mohammad, looking pleased on seeing him. They talked for a minute or two. Asrar realized that they were well acquainted. Madhuri had a broad forehead, wheatish complexion and a bright face. She wore a red lehenga, which she had paired with a tight green blouse. Asrar noticed that there was a window in the room. It was curtained but light entered through the cracks.

When Asrar’s eyes adjusted to the darkness in the room, he saw three girls sitting on a bed. The girls looked at them with smiles on their faces. The wall right across from the women had four photos hung on them. One picture was that of Goddess Lakshmi, but Asrar wasn’t aware of who the other goddess was. She was dark, had an elaborate nose ring and big eyes. It felt as if the goddess was staring at Asrar. The third picture was that of Lord Krishna and the fourth was of the grave of Haji Malang Baba. All the four pictures had garlands made of pink paper flowers. When the conversation between Madhuri and Ali ended, she turned towards Asrar and said, ‘This is the best place for your first time!’ She said it with a lot of mischief in her voice. Mohammad Ali smiled. Madhuri called out to a girl. The girl seemed to have just entered her adolescence. She was either the same age as Asrar or one or two years older than him. Her name was Shanti. Asrar looked at her. She stared back. Her facial features were proof of her Marathi origin. Her ears had four piercings each and she wore three pairs of earrings. Her nose wasn’t prominent, but her eyes were white and big. She was two fingers shorter than Asrar and had large breasts, which had formed arches. The string of her lehenga hung outside. She wore a silver toe ring in her second toe. Mohammad Ali looked at Shanti, too, with a passing glance. Shanti smiled looking into Asrar’s eyes. Ali gestured to Madhuri that the girl was acceptable.

Madhuri called out to Shanti, ‘He is new, be careful.’