Yusuf Memon was a perfumer in Nagpada Junction. He had a shop there. The demand in Saudi Arabia and Qatar had made his business very profitable. He had bought this shop in 1990 after taking a loan from the Memon Cooperative Bank. He had acquired the shop in the Fort area because he was in the good books of a Muslim politician who was not only known for his ignorance, emotionality and bad language, but had also brought a bad name to the community. He had once gone to jail under a black law, but his money had helped him save himself, or else the law was such that if an innocent goat was charged of being a cruel monster under that law, she wouldn’t have been able to free herself from the charge and would have been convicted. The politician had a lot of money and was known for splurging it on those he liked. He made Yusuf Memon acquire the shop in such a costly and posh area as the Fort. His business flourished in this area. He was able to repay the bank loan sooner than he had expected. He also bought a flat in an old-style building on the third floor in Madanpura and put his old house on rent.

He seemed religious from the outside but wasn’t orthodox. He had studied in an English-medium school till the tenth standard and had taken admission in a famous college in western Mumbai but had failed in one subject in class twelve. This affected him so much that he dropped out of education. He worked in the community trust for some time. He was skilled and experienced in building contacts and getting his work done. He got into the business of scents. He was handsome, courageous and young by heart. Hina was his third daughter.

One day an Arab had come to Yusuf’s shop. He was warmly welcomed and served juice. Yusuf was impressed to see that this man could speak Urdu. The Arab told him that he had stayed in Pakistan for some time and now wanted to travel in and around Mumbai. And he would be staying in rented rooms during his sojourn. His name was Burashid Ibn Ali Al Inheraf, and his father Ali Inheraf was a poet. He was, as of then, living at the Taj hotel. He invited Yusuf over to his room with some samples of perfumes. He reached the hotel at the appointed time carrying six bottles of perfume with him. Burashid greeted him as if he was an old friend. He sat in his room staring out of the window. The lights from the city were reflected in the rising and falling waters of the sea. He then looked at the Gateway of India, which was crowded.