You could say that a Muzaffarnagar Muslim predicted my arrival. In winter 1976 my parents visited ‘Hari kurti wala’, a Sufi mystic who wandered around my mother’s family’s farm. Hindu or Muslim, if you wanted your fortune told, you went to him. When this couple—a military man and his memsahib—landed before him, they were told, to their surprise: “You will have a daughter next September. Then, your worries will disappear. You’ll become rich!”