Born Behind Bars

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. Still, they follow him, just in case. For example, perhaps Kabir really does have an uncle.

Kabir and Rani follow the stranger to his apartment building. They climb a tree to spy on him through his window. He, his wife, and his son are smiling and feeding their toddler. Kabir thinks this must be a “home” like what Amma described. He starts to hope that this man is really his uncle but then decides this is a silly hope.

The man and his family speak Tamil, not Kannada, so Kabir assumes that they can’t be related to him. However, Rani points out that Kamir and Amma speak both languages. The older son says that a man came on their school bus with a large stick that day and threatened to kill anyone who was from Chennai. The driver told the man none of the kids were from Chennai. The mom doesn’t want to send him back to school tomorrow, but the dad says it’s fine and that there are tensions every year but they always go away. They argue, and the toddler cries. Kabir and Rani leave, not wanting to watch anymore.

Rani selects a tree, near the family’s apartment building and near a lake, as their Bengaluru home. They buy roasted peanuts for dinner. Rani says they should speak to the man they spied on the next day, because even if he’s not Kabir’s relative, he might know Kabir’s grandfather if they worship at the same mosque. Also, he at least seems like a decent person who won’t ignore them or try to hurt them just because they’re from Chennai.

In the morning, the kids walk to the man’s building and see him leaving for work. They follow him to a store, where he opens the gate. Kabir asks if the man’s name is Khan, which it’s not. He asks if the man knows his grandfather, who worships at the same mosque. He doesn’t, and he wants to know how Kabir knows where he worships and why he’s alone. Rani then comes running toward them, with an angry mob behind her.

The angry mob is chanting “Tamils, get out!” (172). Rani and Kabir tell the man to get in his shop and lock it. He tells the kids to come inside too, but Rani wants to hide on the roof because she hates enclosed spaces. Kabir follows her. The mob stops in front of the store because they know the owner is Tamil and one of the mob members saw him go inside. They see the kids on the roof too.

Kabir, thinking quickly, decides to play off the mob’s fear of Roma people. He instructs Rani to stand and repeat the words he whispers in Kannada. Although she doesn’t understand the language, she repeats his words perfectly so that the mob understands. The words she speaks imply that her ancestors will curse the mob unless they go away and stop their riot. Jay the parrot also contributes, adding dramatic effect. At first the men are scared, but then they spot Kabir and realize it’s just kids playing a trick. However, a police car pulls up just then.

The kids hear police officers beating a person downstairs, but another officer takes them off the roof and into his car without hurting them. The shopkeeper also accompanies them. The shopkeeper, Mr. Faisal, thanks the kids because they warned him about the mob just in time and distracted the men so that he could call the police. He takes their pictures.

At the station, a police officer questions the children. Although Kabir has been warned not to trust police and that they might try to lock him up just because of his caste, he analyzes this particular officer’s gentle behavior and decides he can trust him. Therefore, he tells him the full truth about what he’s doing in Bengaluru.

The police officer wants to help find Kabir’s grandparents, but until they do, he says the kids need another place to stay. A woman he knows runs a residential school that, according to the officer, isn’t an orphanage. He shows them pictures of kids there, laughing and talking. The kids agree to meet the headmistress, Viji Aunty. She says they can stay as long as they want and leave when they want, although no other kids ever want to leave. Rani can even sleep outside in a tent. She argues that learning will increase their independence, not decrease it, and that with education, Rani can help fight injustice against Roma people when she grows up. The kids nap in the police station courtyard while the police handle phone calls.

Kabir awakens to find two strangers looking at him; they’re his grandparents, ajja and ajji (or Thatha and Patti).

The police found Kabir’s grandparents quickly because the shopkeeper, Mr. Faisal, put the kids’ photographs on the internet, along with the last name Khan, and the grandparents saw it and called the police. They’d been alerted of Kabir’s possible existence by the woman who offered Kabir a snack at the house where Fake Uncle worked. She sensed that the man was doing something shady with Kabir, so tried to find Kabir’s father and instead located his grandparents. Kabir will live with his grandparents, and Rani will live at Viji Aunty’s school. Rani’s mom always wanted her to attend school, after all. Kabir and Rani are sad to part ways but plan to stay in touch, since they’ll still be living in the same city.

Kabir asks ajja and ajji where his father is. They tell him the sad news that his father died years ago in a plane crash, which is why he stopped writing letters to Amma. Ajja and ajji never ever knew about Amma, or Kabir until they got the call from the cook woman recently. Losing their son changed ajja and ajji. They say it’s true they wouldn’t have reacted well to Appa marrying a Hindu woman when they were younger. However, they now view it as a miracle that their family is getting bigger, regardless of religion. Although they can’t get their son back, they want to be the best grandparents possible.

Kabir is thrilled with his grandparents’ apartment, which has its own bathroom, kitchen, and two other big rooms (even though Patti calls it “small”). They give him grooming supplies and teach him to brush his teeth.