A taxi stopped in front of Asrar and Mohammad Ali. Asrar closed his umbrella and sat inside the vehicle. Ali told him that one day that same year an incident took place. He was sitting with a relative at Moosa Patel’s shop. His relative was a servant at the shop. Silence had engulfed Mumbai by the evening except the sound of police sirens and ambulances. The boys who worked at the shop were relieved at around 4 p.m. Ali continued, ‘Moosa Bhai, my relative and I went to Moosa Bhai’s old house which is in our area. He had not bought the new house by then. His wife still likes that area. Moosa Bhai told his relative, “Sala, Yaqoob ko jab andar se khabar mil gai thi ke Gallu ne police ke kaan mein haag diya hai to fir jhanjhat cancel karna chahiye tha, abhi kitne mein padga malum hai? Sab ko … sala [When Yaqoob became aware that Gallu had tipped off the police, he should have cancelled the plan. Now do you know how much it cost everyone]?” This relative had worked with Moosa Bhai for years. He was his secret keeper. Moosa Bhai switched on the television. There was some news about an incident but then I wasn’t as aware and couldn’t understand a thing. The relative asked, “Apna kuch lagela hai kya seth [Is something of ours at stake boss]?” Moosa Bhai said, “No, but these people are friends. And this boy, Yaqoob. What a smart chap he is. May God bless him.” That night we stayed at Moosa Bhai’s house for long.’

Ali asked the driver to stop the taxi a little before the VT station near a restaurant. They had chilli chicken and fried rice at the restaurant. During the meal Ali told him more about the Mumbai serial blasts. Soon they were done with eating and paid the bill. While getting up Asrar said, ‘Still, it is wrong to kill innocent people.’

Ali remarked, ‘If they hadn’t been killed, we wouldn’t have been alive. The situation was very dangerous then, idiot!’