There was little conversation during the drive. The car crept along the treeless pavements as scores of sackcloth shacks came into view. As his family moved further and further from the safety of the school compound, driving deeper into the inflamed streets, Govinda noticed how the shacks expanded into slums surrounded by garbage heaps. He saw three Sikh men dragged out of a shop and beaten. The men were flogged with canes. Further ahead a bus driver had been forced to stay in his burning vehicle as men brandishing weapons looked on and chanted the slogan, ‘khoon ka badla khoon se lenge’, blood for blood.

A family had been dragged out of its car. The father was begging for his life. He had been thrashed and a tyre placed around his neck. The mob set the man alight using torches made of wooden splints. Too late to turn back now, he thought. To his dismay, Govinda saw that his hands were trembling. He clutched the seat. Far too late.

‘Dear God,’ Gitanjali cried as the man shot forward like a fireball and then fell hard against the ground. A woman reached the burning man and tried to smother the flames with her hands.

Then Govinda saw a young Sikh boy wearing a white patka and felt his chest tighten like a fist. He was nine or ten, his face thin and sharp. He turned his wide-eyed gaze towards the car. The boy stared at Govinda. Some men grabbed the boy. Govinda’s mouth filled with saliva and he crumpled, hands on his knees, and brought up bile. When he looked up he couldn’t see the boy. The stench of gasoline and burning flesh and vomit was overwhelming. Further ahead a fat man on a bicycle was being chased by angry youths. Between the crowd, the dust and the dacoits, Gitanjali prayed aloud that they would be safe. She thanked God they were leaving for good. Her hand was clamped down on Govinda’s thigh.

‘Drive faster,’ Sunil Seth told Ashok. Govinda felt relieved to be in the car but then as he looked around him he was struck with the thought that there was only a thin pane of glass separating him and his parents from the rioters. The streets were shattered and charred. Everything was burning.