Published in Words Without Borders, January 2013.

 

Everyone in the ganj knew there was nothing behind Keramot Ali’s Hessian curtain that could astonish. There were chisels and a hammer, a saw, some old ripped cloth, wax, sealing wax, matchboxes, and a temi with a wick, because electricity had not reached this area and there was no hope that it ever would.

Keramot Ali’s repair work was a thing of wonder. The things he could mend! From jewelry to shoe soles, from punctured tires to bent bicycle spokes – he fixed it all.