‘A gift,’ Abhimanyu offered it to the old man, who couldn’t quite fathom the reason behind the gesture. Until months later, that is. Not until his humble nukkad was nicknamed Radio Chowk, as throngs of people would come over for their morning and evening tobacco fix, but more so for their daily news fix. Business remained brisk as men chewed and spewed their way through proclamations of election victories, crushing accounts of wars sprinkled with a healthy dose of Bollywood songs. Decades later, transistors dangled precariously from the metal roofs of every thela of the same nukkad. The prince of Ranakpour had lost authority over his land, but he had unknowingly left behind a legacy, as the name stood the test of time – Radio Chowk.

That night, Abhimanyu slept better than he had in months. Alas, a sleep so deep and restful that it took his guard off and in sneaked a lucid dream, of Meera.

Chapter 17

Chapter 17

The largest ant colony ever found was more than 6,000 kilometres wide. Somewhere in Europe, thirty-three Argentine ant populations had merged into one giant super colony, boasting millions of nests and billions of ant workers. A billion ants weigh approximately 2,500 kilograms, roughly equal to forty-two average-sized Indian adults. Considering a single ant can carry fifty times its own bodyweight, a billion ants can haul a locomotive engine with relative ease. Add to that the fact that a trap-jaw ant can close its jaw at 140 mph, a billion ants could chew up each and every person inside a jam-packed third-class compartment of the Indian Railways within seconds if they wished to. And so it was no surprise that a couple of thousand ants nesting on the tin roof of Meera’s wretched little hut in the Danpada fishermen colony, Bombay, polished a jar full of modak overnight, leaving behind an empty steel vessel wiped clean as a whistle. At first, she suspected someone had broken into her rented room and stolen the sweet so lovingly prepared by her elder sister. But then her landlord told her the tale of the wily insects and gave her tips on how to protect her food. ‘Double pack everything edible and then dangle it with a rope from the hinges of the tin roof,’ he said.