See, it’s not like my dad started Lashkar-e-Taiba or anything. In fact, he was not in this terrorist line only. He had a simple boring job. For 30 years he was the hangman in our local jail. He would tie the noose, pull the lever, wait for the body to stop shaking then come and put me and my bro to sleep. Where’s the talent in that? Same routine job for so many years. I’ve never had a godfather to launch me in the terrorist biz, like they have in Bollywood.

Illustration/Uday Mohite