The lights went out just as Ammi lifted the biryani pot. For a moment nobody moved. The ceiling fan sighed to a stop, and the heat crept back into the room like a cat that had only pretended to leave.
Outside, the generators of the whole street started one by one, they were very loud and very noisy. Dadi began to recite something under her breath. My little brother found the torch and shone it straight into my eyes, delighted.
"Somebody check the meter," Abbu said, in the voice he used for things that were definitely somebody else's job.
That was when we heard the knock. Three slow knocks, then nothing, then three more. Nobody we knew knocked like that.