‘The First of the Odds’: A short story by novelist Anees Salim

Written as a polyphonic narrative, The Odd Book of Baby Names traces the lives of nine children, many of them illegitimate, of one of India’s last monarchs. This was omitted from the published version of the book and has now come forward to be read as a standalone story.

Abduk, the one who is blessed by God.

Once – when the skies were a lot whiter, leaves were much greener and the earth under the fig tree turned a deep copper when it rained – my father ruled a kingdom. He died this afternoon in his sleep, sans his sceptre.

Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un. Verily we belong to Allah, and verily to Him do we return.

When the news of his death reached me, I was sitting at my bedroom window which overlooked, across acres of buildings that were shorter than the tenement block I lived in, the palace he probably had been confined to.

My home had eleven windows, all arched, all green. No matter which direction they opened to, they all afforded a distant view of one of his palaces. There were nine of them, standing on the crowded skyline like something shaped out of clay, surrounded by structures that looked to have been constructed...

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