Summary

Anjum leaves for a nearby cemetery, where generations of her father’s family are buried. Anjum unrolls her carpet and attempts to sleep between two graves, though she finds it difficult to sleep. She is disturbed by her memory of Zakir Mian’s death and by the images of people pulled apart, limb from limb. She remembers how the government army shouted, “Only one place for the Mussalman! The graveyard or Pakistan!” (66). She remembers that the soldiers spared her life, believing that it is bad luck to kill a hijra. The Poet-Prime Minister is remembered as “Gujarat ka Lalla” or “Gujarat’s Beloved” (67).

Anjum lives in the graveyard for months. Eventually, a building contractor and friend of Anjum’s, named Mr. D. D. Gupta, comes to visit. Other visitors also come, including Zainab. Ustad Hameed, the music teacher, visits regularly too. Despite...