Shirin narrates the story of her daughter Faith's disappearance to the police inspector in Jaisalmer. Faith was born in 1990 in Mumbai after Shirin suffered multiple miscarriages. Faith was quiet and studious, though Prakash (Shirin's husband) and his mother were disappointed she was a girl. Faith was close with Amit and Rima. Their family regularly took trips together until this time, when Faith was reluctant to visit Jaisalmer but Amit convinced them to go. Faith has now gone missing during the trip.

1. Shailaza 7
Prologue
March 2015,
Hanuman Chauraha Police Station,
Jaisalmer
How many times do I have to tell you that I have a
daughter but she has gone missing? Why don’t
you understand?’ The speaker was a fifty-year old woman
named Shirin who was dressed in a white T-shirt and blue
jeans.
‘How many times do I have to tell you there is no
record of such a person, there is no such fort, no such
palace in Jaisalmer or in the entire state of Rajasthan. We
have visited the area and there are just sand dunes there.
Now, if you will excuse me madam, I have a lot of other
pressing issues I need to attend to,’ replied the inspector
whose name plate said ‘Kewal Singh’.
She took out a diamond ring from her bag. ‘All right!
Then please tell me how I have the ring he gave her. Where
did this come from? I found it in the desert, didn’t I?
Right where I said the fort would be,’ said Shirin as she
put the ring on the inspector’s table.
‘

2. 8 Faith : The Mystery of the Missing Girl–Book I
The inspector pushed the ring in Shirin’s direction.
‘Madam, this ring is broken. One of the diamonds has
come off. Engagement rings are generally new. Moreover,
I have already told you that there are many things you can
find in the desert- little trinkets and rings. You may have
even picked it up from one of your old rings. Besides, I
don’t even know if this is a real diamond ring.’
‘Of course it is real! He gave it to her. You can get it
checked by a jeweller. Moreover, why would I show you
an old ring? Why will I do such a thing?’
‘I don’t know madam,’ said the inspector wiping his
face with his handkerchief. ‘We have done everything we
could. We filed a missing person’s report without even a
photograph, purely based on your description. We
contacted our agents in that area who went to check. There
was nothing there.’
He looked at a dark man and a fair woman who were
sitting on a sofa and said, ‘Even this boy and this girl, say
that you had no such daughter. You don’t have any school
or college certificate, aadhar card; PAN card or even birth
certificate or any other documentation to prove that you
have a daughter.’
‘I am telling you, all that has been taken by him and
he has put my entire family under some kind of spell,’
said Shirin.
‘Okay, so everyone is under some spell according to
you? Your husband, your mother-in-law, this boy, and
this girl? And they can forget your daughter?’
The dark man, Amit wiped his goggles on his T-shirt
and said, ‘Aunty honestly, I do not know any girl named

3. Shailaza 9
Faith and nor does Rima. I know how badly you wanted
a child, but that did not happen. Since the last week,
you’ve been talking about Faith, a person we haven’t even
heard about in all our twenty-four years with you.’
Shirin was livid. ‘Quiet Amit! You are denying the
very existence of my daughter Faith! How dare you!’
‘Aunty, we have searched for Faith on the internet, in
your house, in the birth and death records; there is no
record of such a person. Moreover, let us just say that the
records have been tampered with; then why don’t Amit
or I remember Faith? We have been with you ever since
we were children,’ said Rima, a petite girl clad in a maroon
kurta and jeans.
‘I agree with Rima, Aunty,’ said Amit. ‘We have come
all the way from Mumbai to Jaisalmer to look for Faith
just because you insisted. Faith is someone I do not even
know. Moreover, you do not have any photograph or even
a sketch in the house. At least you would have something.’
‘I don’t know why everything went missing. There has
to be a conspiracy,’ said Shirin twisting the straps of her
purse.
‘Madam, why would anyone conspire against you?’
asked the inspector wearily.
‘I don’t know. All I know is that I have a 25-year-old
daughter who was with me until the last week. But now
she is missing,’ said Shirin and started crying. ‘Everyone
is saying that I am mad but I am not.’ She looked at the
inspector. ‘If your daughter goes missing, what would you
do?’

4. 10 Faith : The Mystery of the Missing Girl–Book I
The inspector sighed and held out his handkerchief.
‘Please take this madam and please don’t cry. I too have a
daughter and I know what you mean,’ he said and got up
from his desk. ‘Okay, let us sit in my cabin and please tell
me your story, again, every bit of it. Let me see if I can do
something then.’
‘Thank you inspector,’ said Shirin wiping her tears with
his handkerchief.
‘It is okay madam,’ said the inspector, ‘we are here to
help people. I hope I can help you.’
They all got up and went inside the inspector’s cabin.
He rang a bell.
A constable appeared. ‘Yes sir.’
‘Get that extra table fan from the store and get water
for everyone.’
‘Yes sir.’
The inspector sat down and ran a hand over his face.
‘March is the beginning of heat in this area. By June, this
place turns into a hot furnace.’
‘So, how do you survive here?’ asked Amit.
‘As of now we have table fans to help us. We have put
in an application in the headquarters for coolers. Let’s
see when that happens.’
The constable got water for everyone. They drank the
water and thanked him. The inspector took out a pen
and pad. ‘Now madam, please tell me your story from
the very beginning.’
Shirin took a deep breath and started narrating her
story.

5. Shailaza 11
Faith was born in Mumbai, on 14 February 1990. My
husband Prakash and I had been trying hard for a child. Prakash
and his mother wanted a son; I just wanted a healthy baby. I had
three miscarriages. Strangely, all of them were boys. Prakash blamed
the death of his sons on me, but everyone knew he was an alcoholic
and a chain smoker. This time too, the doctor said the baby
might not survive. I prayed and after a long night, she was born.
Though Prakash and his mother were very disappointed,
I was ecstatic. Finally, I had a child I had always wanted.
I named her Faith.
Faith was a very quiet child. She was always in her own
world, reading or studying or painting. She wasn’t beautiful in
the conventional sense; she was dark and struggled with her weight.
But she had a gorgeous smile and looked very pretty when she
dressed up. She was very fond of her father, but Prakash did not
pay any attention to her and ridiculed her most of the times.
Prakash’s mother or ‘Ma’ as I addressed her, liked Faith
because she was her only grandchild (Prakash is the only child of
his parents) but was disappointed that she was a girl. For me,
Faith was one in a million. She did not have any friends except
for Amit, who is the son of Prakash’s best friend Kumar and
Rima, who is my brother’s daughter. After his father’s death,
Amit moved in with us. Rima too has always lived with us.
Prakash, Ma, Amit, Faith, Rima and I loved visiting different
parts of the country in our annual holidays. Initially Prakash
made these arrangements and he was good at it. With time,
Amit took over. This time, he convinced us to visit Jaisalmer in
Rajasthan. But, for the first time in all these years, Faith was
against the idea.
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