Scene I. Friday night. A makeshift stage has been set up, in one of the back lanes of Bombay Central. Some tube lights are hastily tied together to dispel the darkness. Two men — one playing the harmonium (an instrument then banned on All India Radio) and the other playing the tabla — sit on the stage with a bored expression. The restive audience, mostly male, anxiously await the entry of the qawwali queen, Mahaafrid (one as pretty as the full moon), as advertised on shabby billboards. Upon a cue, the bored musicians play a tune and Mahaafrid’s rather tiny......