Fiction: What will ‘Mohammadiya Hindu’ Ashiq Miyan do when LK Advani’s Ram rath arrives in Aramganj?

The shutter goes up at exactly nine-thirty every morning. The shutter is inscribed with the words “Mister India Gent’s Tailor”, next to which is a painted picture of a suited-booted Anil Kapoor, the reigning Bollywood hero. Today, on 20 September 1990 as well, the shutter goes up at nine-thirty. The man steps in, and the shutter of the adjacent shop too gets lifted up from the inside, this being “Savitri Ladies Boutique”. Behind this second shutter lies a shiny glass door with a “welcome” sign, and below it, the injunction – “Yahaan shohdon ka khada hona manaa hai”. Loafers, louts, scoundrels not to stand here. Shohdon, the word used in the edict, refers to not just any scoundrel but a smirking, winking, neck-craning embodiment of sleaze only to be found in mohallas like this one.

Now hear this – both shops, owned by the same man, with the same wall and veranda, but with two different sets of rules! The day before, Bhola babu had come here to give measurements for a pyjama. The festive season is on, and Mister India being jam-packed, he had shifted just a bit to the other side. At once, a voice rose to admonish him...

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