Guru Power

The entrance to the house is a small doorway which opens directly into a lane which straddles an open sewer. The house itself is nondescript—one of the many small tenements built on 50 yards allotted to the Partition refugees in the city. We enter a small living-cum-bedroom which is cramped with a sofa set and a divan. A short, portly figure lies sprawled on the divan. My father promptly touches his feet and we take our place on the floor.

The gentleman on the divan is Guruji. His daytime job is pushing files as a lower-division government clerk. But my father has recently been convinced that he is a holy man with immense powers. I have been brought to him to witness some of these powers. Guruji’s spiritual prowess lies in curing people of incurable illnesses—not to mention helping them escape unemployment.