“Since when have you been running this tandoor?” I ask the woman who owns and operates this tandoor that provides me with rotian for lunch and dinner here in Pakpattan.
“I have been here for decades, you are the newcomer, introduce yourself,” she says.
“Oh, I am a writer and, for the time being, living just two streets away from you.”
“That’s not an introduction, kaka. Name someone from the family.”
I tell her my mamu’s name who heads a government school in one of the villages outside the city.
“Oh, you are Rasheed’s nephew? Suleman’s grandson?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“How’s your grandfather? He now lives in Kasur, no? And what about your other mamu — the doctor in Lahore?”
“Oh you know them all.”
“Of course, I do. You are the new one here, not I,” she smiles.