Born Behind Bars

When Kabir wakes up, Aunty Silver shares sweets with him and explains that the droughts keep getting worse each year. She thinks that when people are thirsty and hungry and resources are scarce, they become angry and fight with each other even though they shouldn’t actually be enemies. The train arrives in Bengaluru. Aunty Silver warns the children to be cautious and then leaves.

Kabir is excited that everyone here speaks his and Amma’s “secret language,” Kannada. (Rani doesn’t speak it, though.) They want to go to the mosque where Kabir’s father used to work, but they don’t know where it is, and everyone Kabir tries to speak to just ignores him. He finds a man asking for money and offers him some in exchange for directions to the mosque. Kabir feels proud to use his language skills to help himself and Rani.

The kids arrive at the mosque, and Rani thinks they can just watch people coming out of it until they see someone who resembles Kabir, and that person will probably be Kabir’s grandfather. She spots a man who looks like Kabir (in her opinion), but he’s too young to be Kabir’s grandfather.