Hindu boy watches as his sister in law is taken

It was still an hour till adhan. For the last few years, Arjun had spent most of his free time waiting to hear the sweet sound from the mosque. Nowadays he could tell by just looking at how low the sun was in the sky. Shehbazpur’s mosque was the largest one in the district; he’d never been inside of course, Hindu’s weren’t allowed. It sat in the middle of the town splitting Shehbazpur into two ilakas, the smaller eastern one where he lived along with other hindus, and the western muslim ilaka, where he would visit only when he had to play at the maidan.

On days like today, he would visit the bazaar near the center, to help his bhabhi shop and carry the things home. Rajkot’s movie theatre was too far away and the TV didn’t work unless it was a national holiday. So when his bhaiyya married and brought home Reshma bhabhi, it was like a firecracker went off in his teenage heart. To him she was more beautiful than the fairest begum’s in Shabazpur, with soft brown eyes & fine wavy hair, she was like karisma from the films.

The muslim gangs were the reason he avoided the western ilaka till adhan. The last time he had come home with a bruised and beaten face and his bhabhi had started crying. Nowadays he practised avoiding the main streets at least till the call for prayers. He was taking the small gully behind the bazaar that nobody used, kicking a smooth read and black stone while he walked. “Aaj bhi kho gayi hai chamiya? (Got lost again darling?),” he heard a deep voice. Startled Arjun spun around, but there was no one there. “Na huzoor. Bazaar pherne aayi thi (No, I’m not… Just shopping is all),” said a sweet familiar voice from the other side of the wall.