While the new house is being built, Latif and his daughters are living in a makeshift tent in the compound, and I with them. While I sit reading in the bedroom, Poppy and her cousin Lilufar are watching television in the small living area behind the partition. Suddenly, both girls begin howling inconsolably, and I rush out to see what has caused it. They are completely overcome, and as the entire family gathers in the tiny space, it comes out that a month before, Mridula had been filmed giving a speech as part of a cable TV program on local politics. Unknown to the girls, this program is being repeated in honor of Mridula's death, on the very channel Latif's television is set to.
They have switched off the television. But on another evening, Latif takes me to a friend's house, where a CD of the event is played for me. I see a woman unaware of her impending departure. Mridula's speech is slurred, her eyes wander.