Long have I sat with this paper under the old tamarind tree that was Ma’s parlour. Thought and thought I’ve, asked aloud for advice, my voices had none to offer, but began their crazy hissing, khekhe fishguts noises. It’s then I’ve remembered the tape mashin in the wall. I will tell this story, I thought, and that way I’ll find out what the end should be. I’ll know what to do. When I started speaking, when I heard dead Aliya’s voice calling, it was like she and the others who are no more came back to be with me. My dear ones, heroes of my heart. Eyes, I can’t tell you how I miss them, until I die this wound will never heal. They’ve been here through every minute of this telling. Ma’s here with me now, sitting smiling she’s, calling me son. Let me clear my eyes of dust and rainbows. Yes, I can see her. “We’ll meet in paradise,” she says. I know that one day I will meet her there.
Eyes, here’s what I’m thinking, and this I’m speaking to the mashin, I’ve told to no one but you. Of the cash I earned from Zafar and Co., which was four hundred bucks a month, each day I spent only four. In a tin inside the scorpion wall is more than ten thousand rupees. Eyes, it was for my operation, but now that cash, plus a little persuasion from Farouq’s friends, will go to buy Anjali free and she will come to live with me. See, Eyes, I reckon that if I have this operation, I will be upright, true, but to walk I will need the help of sticks. I might have a wheelchair, but how far will that get me in the gullis of Khaufpur? Right now I can run and hop and carry kids on my back, I can climb hard trees, I’ve gone up mountains, roamed in jungles. Is life so bad? If I’m an upright human, I would be one of millions, not even a healthy one at that. Stay four-foot, I’m the one and only Animal. What reply would you give, Elli?
I am Animal fierce and free
in all the world is none like me
Eyes, I’m done. Khuda hafez. Go well. Remember me. All things pass, but the poor remain. We are the people of the Apokalis. Tomorrow there will be more of us.
KHAUFPURI GLOSSARY
(Some common Hindi words listed here have a specifically Khaufpuri twist, and have different meanings in other parts of India; ñ signifies a nasal twang, as in French non.)
aaj kahaañ chalogé?—Where are you off to today?
Aawaaz-e-Khaufpur—the Voice of Khaufpur
abba—father
achchha—okay
aghori—ascetic devotee of Siva, typically naked, whose meditation is death
alaap—slow opening exploration of a raga’s scale
Ambassador—Morris Oxford car, made in India under licence
Amrika—America
anaar—pomegranate
arré—an exclamation, like “hey!”
Ashara Mubarak—the eve of the 10th of Muharram
asteen ka saamp—literally the snake up your sleeve, traitor
baar sau chees—Animal’s nonsense inversion of chaar sau bees (q.v.)
bada batola—a braggart, big mouth
badmaash—rascal
baingan—aubergine
baingan bharta—aubergine baked on coals, peeled, mashed and spiced
bakra banaana—to scapegoat
bakwaas—nonsense
barfi—milky sweets, of a fudge-like texture
basti—literally village, but in Khaufpur means a poor community
battameez kutté, main tumhe nasht kar doonga—Shameless dog, I’ll destroy you.
beedi—leaf-rolled cigarette
behanchod—sisterfucker
bhai, bhaiya—brother, often used as a term of affection as in Zafar bhai
bhang—intoxicating drink made from cannabis leaves
bhatt-bhatt sooar—bhutt-bhutt-pig. A large three-wheel vehicle, it can carry thirty people and gets its name from the noise it makes and its ugly upturned snout above the front wheel.
bhayaanak rasa—the emotion of dread, terror
bhel-puri—a popular street snack
Bhimpalashri—afternoon raga, 
bhonsdi-ka—fart-born
Bilaval—raga whose scale is almost identical with western C major scale
biryani—a dish of meat in rice
Brahma—in Hinduism the Creator god
burqa—the black head-to-toe robe with eyegrill of some Muslim women
chaar sau bees—420, refers to section 420 of the Indian Penal Code which deals with cheating
cha-hussain—a gullible fool, someone who’s taken for a ride
chai—tea
chai chappa chai—a song from the film HuTu Tu, 1998
chakra—circle
channa—chickpeas
chapaat-zapaat—nonsense phrase made up by Animal to signify excitement
chappati—flat bread, roti
chataka—a kind of swallow, said to drink only raindrops
chuna lagaana—to deceive someone, to make an idiot of them
daal—lentils
dada—godfather, criminal ganglord
dadi—grandmother
daru—crudely distilled liquor
datura—Datura strammonium (Jimson weed), a highly poisonous plant
Deshkar—raga of scale 
dhaap—as the sound suggests, a heavy slap
dhaivat—sixth note of the Indian scale, equivalent of “la”
dha pa ga—notes of the Indian system, sa re ga ma pa dha ni sa
dholak—double-ended drum slung round the drummer’s neck
dikhlot—good looking
elaichi—betel nut, see supari
enteena ko strain karo—strain your antenna, i.e., think harder
fataak—bang! crack!
fillum khatam—lit. film over; you’ve missed it
frangipani—Plumeria rubra (indica), fragrant white or pink whorled flowers
galla mandi—vegetable market
gandhara—third note of the Indian scale, equivalent of “mi”
garooli—Animal’s nonsense word for a cigarette
gaya zamaana—past age
ghurr-ghurr—to stare
ghusspuss—usually whispering, but here means the beast with two backs
goonda—thug, heavy, muscle