Summary

The chapter titled “The Tenant” is told, in the third person, from the perspective of Tilo and takes place sometime in the past. The baby is sleeping peacefully, while Tilo, “her kidnapper” (218), thinks about two people named Miss Jebeen and Miss Jebeen the Second.

Naga asks Tilo why she is leaving him, and attributes it to the recent death of her mother. Naga reflects back on that day in 1996 when Biplab messaged him. Naga secured himself an entry permit to the Shiraz in order to meet with Ashfaq Mir, Deputy Commandant of the Shira Cinema JIC. Ashfaq Mir, knowing that Naga and Tilo are his captives until he lets them go, eats biscuits, recites poetry, and discusses the problems with the Kashmiri separatist movement. He orders a thin Kashmiri boy brought in. While Ashfaq Mir describes the boy as brainwashed and...