Another box was hauled in by an old man with a thin frame, skin as dark as black leather, wrinkled face, tired old eyes, a dirty cloth around his neck and body bathed in sweat. Raahat and Rajjo watched as the man manoeuvered the box of cash inside the door, his veins bulging with the effort as he disappeared inside the room. As Arjan was about to follow him inside, Rajjo mocked him again.

‘Do you think that poor man, wearing a mere loincloth, lugging the box of cash is muttering the name of God? If he gets half of what is in it, he can live decently for a few months,’ said Rajjo. Arjan didn’t answer. Rajjo continued, ‘If I was God, I would definitely let him have some…’

Arjan sighed and added under his breath. ‘They need it to run such a big organization. They need the money, and a lot of it goes to charitable causes.’

Rajjo leaned forward, thrusting her left ear forward. There was a strange look of pride and a telltale flush of vulnerability. She had not heard him clearly, but she did not want to ask him again.

Arjan repeated what he had said, a little louder this time.

‘I heard that…’ muttered Rajjo, swallowing a lump. The silence in her ear sometimes ate her up.

Raahat mumbled, ‘I need to finish my prayers,’ and disappeared, sensing the tumultuous mood. Rajjo was an unpredictable hurricane ready to erupt unannounced anywhere. As Raahat moved away, he heard Rajjo say to Arjan, ‘I want to be transferred to the ashram Rani Maa is visiting next.’

Instead of answering or responding to her request, Arjan surprised her with a question. ‘Do you want a machine for your right ear? Do you want to consult an ear specialist?’ Arjan asked. Rajjo was taken aback with the sudden question as she shook her head and shrugged her slim shoulders.

There was something about this girl that got to him. She reminded him of a brutally bruised doe, the doe now fighting alone in the night, with her shadows, with the tree barks, with the leaves, with the forest. For everything around her was a predator. The only thing he could extend was comfort and support.

An invisible fibril connected them.

Rajjo’s request was odd. But he could not deny it outright. Maybe Rani Maa would be able to engage her and bring her back to embrace faith. ‘Let me check Rani Maa’s schedule and see if something can be done.’

Rajjo nodded with relief. At least he was going to consider her request. The weight of the warm afternoon burnt her neck and shoulders. Half of her world registered the harmonium strains permeating the stillness across the compound and the priests reading out the holy shabads on the loudspeaker.

However, the other half of her world was dark and silent. Neither a flap of a bird wing, the trickle of water, the patter of rain, nor her mother’s melodious voice reading prayers out loud for her little daughters and son could shatter that ultimate silence.