Haji Ali Dargah, referred to in the novel as the floating mosque, is a landmark near Tardeo that carries a sentimental connection for Lin. He chooses Tardeo for the site of a new criminal operation in part because it is close to the dargah, making the location both a practical choice and a personal one.

Setting and Personal Significance

When asked why he prefers Tardeo, Lin describes it as clean and quiet, and points to its proximity to Haji Ali Dargah. His explanation adds an intimate dimension to what might otherwise be a logistical decision: the place matters to him because of his own connection to it, though the novel does not specify the memory behind that attachment.

A Landmark in the New Operation

After a meeting at the Mocambo, Lin’s associates arrange premises in Tardeo. Farid finds a two-story building that had served as a records office for a branch of the Bombay Municipal Corporation, a short walk from the floating mosque. Lin supervises cleaners and labourers as they prepare the rooms, retaining the old office furniture while making space for equipment transferred from Abdul Ghani’s basement. The nearby dargah thus helps locate a site that becomes the group’s new factory.

Bombay as a Beloved Place

Elsewhere, Lin tells Salman Mustaan that walking from Colaba Causeway to Victoria Terminus and back is one of his favourite walks in the city. The passage does not say that the route passes Haji Ali Dargah, but it reinforces the attachment that informs his choice of Tardeo: the dargah is one expression of a wider, openly acknowledged love for Bombay.