I enter the 255-year-old, ochre-coloured stone building opposite Sterling Cinema at Fort and conjecture about the goings-on inside. It is, after all, Grand Lodge of Western India of the Freemasons, the world’s largest fraternity. Even if one believes half of the bizarre urban legends and controversies which abound about Freemasons around the world, it would mean that this building has seen things more eye-popping than that sensational blockbuster playing across the hall. Some call them a cult or a secret society, but Freemasons identify themselves as a “secular society with secrets, who simply practice philanthropy and takes up causes in health, education and other social good.” u00a0I have blood on my mind -- more like a posse of grim-looking men drinking blood from skulls, unflinching (blame it on author Dan Brown’s description of the Freemasons in his book, The Lost Symbol). I take the large, carpeted staircase and surreptitiously look for signs. Obviously, there are none.

(L-R) Grand Secretary Meher Gimi, Grand Master Vasudeo Masurekar and Masons Gaurav Kalia, Hormuz Jal and Amol Deshmukh. Pics/Sameer Markande