Summary

This section opens on Day 5 with Ma waking in the early morning to find Mishti gone. The unlocked bedroom door, abandoned crayons on the bed, and the empty storeroom confirm that her granddaughter is missing, and Ma’s panic surges into the lane as she calls for Mishti and questions every familiar face she passes. Back upstairs, Dadu is already dressed and ready to help. Together they move through the neighborhood and then toward the rickshaw stand, asking anyone who might have seen a young man with a small girl.

At the rickshaw stand, the drivers are absorbed in a dull public-health play about dehydration, barely listening to Ma and Dadu’s frantic questions. Their search finally gains momentum when the “discount Uber” driver who once ferried them to the consulate recognizes Dadu and commandeers the play’s microphone to broadcast Ma’s plea...