The earliest memory he could recall successfully is the feeling of his heavy head against a straw mat - coughs wracking his tiny frame, the hard ground pricking his sensitive flushed skin, shivering and burning, his parched throat and his mother's uncontrollable sobs.

"What will I do?" His mother wailed.

More whispers. The words were passing like an incomprehensible stream through his ears.

Another cough rattled his frame. A cool palm rubbed his back. Everything hurt. Kaseem let out a pitiful moan.

"Don't worry, Faiza. I'll ask Zamindar sahib to let you and your boy stay. There, if you plead, he will surely get those foreign healers to look at your boy," the words were spoken softly, almost piting. Jamal chacha was always kind to them.

"I'll do anything Bhai. I don't have anyone but my son left. He... How could he abandon us like this?" A muffled sob reached his ears.

He blearily opened his eyes. The ceiling was too high and made of red tiles.

"Water?" He wanted to ask but another cough chokes him. Hands were shushing him.

"Sleep, Kaseem, Sleep. Once the night passes, Allah will make everything better."

The ceiling was too high. The lamp was growing weaker. Kaseem didn't remember falling asleep.

Next time he found himself waking up was to an uncomfortable tight hold around him. A whimper left his throat. His skin hurt.

"I won't give you a reason to complain ever, Malkin," he wailed as his mother bent, abruptly bowing.

"Kaseem, shh. Don't cry," the usual tenderness was missing. Ammi was scared. Kaseem coughed and cried louder.

"Cease that child's crying at once. Oh Gods, I have a headache already," a sharp voice hissed nearby. The sound of horse drawn carriage moving away drew his attention.

He shifted in his mother's hold as Ammi bounced him, her hand wiping away his tears. Kaseem blinked, staring owlishly at the huge heavy doors before him with two snarling lionheads at the center of each. To the right, on a pillar, some strange shapes were scribbled over white stone.

A yawn passed his lips moulding into another cough. Ammi sent another prayer to Allah. "Ya Khuda, please watch over this devotee of yours. Please let things turn out for the better in Singha Bhaban."

Kaseem was lulled back to a fitful sleep from the rhythmic pats on his back as the doors parted revealing a huge mansion.

Ammi stepped over the threshold.