CHARACTERS
VIJAY, a man in his late 40s
SHIVANI, his wife
MADHU, their daughter, in her mid-teens
SUDHIN, VIJAY’s friend, also in his late 40s, though he looks older and heavier
JAMAAL, a Pakistani pilot, similar age but much fitter than the rest
POLICEMAN 1
POLICEMAN 2
SETTING
The story takes place in a border village in India, a beautiful, mountainous region. Most of the action takes place indoors, but glimpses of the outside may be seen through windows.
The characters are dressed very simply in kurta-pyjama and woollen jackets. These are not city-folk. They live a content life far from the hustle-bustle. The furniture in the house should also reflect this.
Through the play, the focus of the audience will shift from one room to the other to follow the different conversations. The lights may be dimmed and heightened as required to guide the audience and assist the actors.
ACT 1, SCENE 1
A simple home, we can see two rooms, one on the left and one on the right.
The room on the left is the outer room, or drawing room. This is where VIJAY and SUDHIN are talking and MADHU is sitting and reading. There are some chairs for them to sit, one of which may have wheels.
The room on the right is the inner room, or bed room. There is a diwan where SHIVANI is sitting and knitting. A book shelf. A telephone. A table with some utensils. A window. There is a dusty portrait of an old man that hangs on the wall in this room. The man is moustachioed and turbaned like a typical 19th century Hindu nobleman.
VIJAY: [Excited, agitated.] This is more than my spirit can stand. Do you hear me?
SUDHIN: Calm down, Viju. Don’t give yourself a stroke.
VIJAY: Are we to just keep taking this insult and never respond? Have we all decided to wear bangles and clap on street corners?
SUDHIN: Wear bangles and clap? [Realises what he means, looks surprised.] Well, that was an unnecessary slur, in every way. No one’s saying that. But, raising your blood pressure isn’t solving anything. That’s just adding another number to the death toll.
VIJAY: That’s more than anyone else is willing to do at this time. I’d rather lay down my life in service of my Motherland.
SUDHIN: You think having a heart-attack at home is a fitting reply to what’s going on? [Sarcastically.] Well, that’s a cunning strategy.
VIJAY: They think they can do anything and we’ll just keep quiet and roll over?
SUDHIN: Sometimes reacting in anger is worse than not reacting. At least keep your voice down. [Lowers his voice so MADHU can’t hear.] Your daughter’s right here. So, I’m requesting you once again, please calm down.
VIJAY: Let her hear. Let her watch. I’m not saying anything wrong. Am I? The children need to know what’s going on. It’s what’s always gone on. They need to understand what their forebears fought for, and what I’m fighting for. And, God willing, one day they will fight for.
SUDHIN: She’s just a child. What need is there to involve her in all this madness? [Behaving like a clueless elder.] Madhu beti, you should go inside. Do your homework? Hm? Storybooks? Hm? Have you put your dolls to bed? Hm?
[MADHU gives him an exasperated look, then gets up and goes to the other room. Her mother, SHIVANI is there knitting. They can still hear the entire conversation from this room.]
VIJAY: Sudhin, I don’t think you’re getting how important this moment is. Their aeroplane shot down one of ours. On our soil. A pilot’s probably dead.
SUDHIN: Don’t you think I read WhatsApp? I knew it as soon as it happened. One of theirs got shot down too.
VIJAY: Their bloody pilot ejected and we haven’t even found him. I really, really wish that rascal didn’t have a chance to eject. Wish he had been blown up right then. How can you be so calm?
SUDHIN: Because, this has happened before. And it’ll happen again. It’s just the way of the world. Eternal strife. People of both sides are sending their pilots to be killed.
VIJAY: The way of the world! Eternal strife! Is that really what you just said? You think Pakistan dropping bombs on us is like mango season in May? Something that comes and goes cyclically?
SUDHIN: I mean, not mango season. More like cyclones on the east coast. They come every year, and we just need to be prepared each time.
VIJAY: This is no cyclone.
SUDHIN: Actually, it is.
VIJAY: What?
SUDHIN: Cyclone. You know, Cyclone 21’s. Best aeroplane built in 1979. Still flying high, sometimes low.
VIJAY: God help you, Sudhin! You’re missing the point. This is no cyclone. This is a rogue state that can’t stop envying us for our land and wealth. They positively burn at the sight of our traditions and our happiness. They know they can’t have their own, damn infidels, so they want to capture ours. Well I won’t let them.
SUDHIN: The governments of both countries are negotiating. That’s their job, not ours.
VIJAY: Negotiating? Over what? What we’ll give them to stop attacking us? That’s ransom, not negotiations. We can’t let them get away with it.
SUDHIN: Well if it saves lives then what’s the harm. No more lives should be lost. That’s the important thing.
VIJAY: No, that’s not the important thing. That’s not it at all. It’s about getting them to agree, once and for all time, that they were the invaders, they took our country away, and even now they threaten our way of life. It doesn’t matter how many lives are lost, we are fighting what amounts to a holy war for our way of life.
SUDHIN: Holy war? Holy war! Viju, we have much more in common with the people there than we have differences. [Sarcastically, an aside.] But, when have similarities ever gotten in the way of a good fight?
[VIJAY and SUDHIN settle into thoughtful poses. Thinking about the weight of what they’re discussing. Our attention shifts to the other room, where MADHU and SHIVANI start to talk.]
MADHU: Ma?
SHIVANI: Yes, Madhu.
MADHU: Isn’t a holy war what the terrorists also talk about?
SHIVANI: It’s not the same thing, Madhu. They’re killing innocent people to spread fear in their enemies.
MADHU: But, didn’t Papa also say it doesn’t matter how many innocent lives are lost?
SHIVANI: That’s not what he meant. He meant that giving in to such terror tactics is going to embolden them. They’ll continue such atrocities. In a battlefield you have to be ready to sacrifice lives to establish victory.
[MADHU is thoughtful. She wants to agree with her mother, but the logic doesn’t convince her.]
MADHU: Ma, isn’t there some way to do all this without any killing?
SHIVANI: We all wish there were. But, sadly the anger on both sides is too high. Non-violence has failed.
MADHU: But, weren’t our freedom fighters able to get independence from the British with non-violence?
SHIVANI: Child, what do you know about those times? There was bloodshed even in non-violence. Thousands had to face sticks and bullets from the British in the non-violent struggle as well. And not to speak of the appeasement.
MADHU: Appeasement?
SHIVANI: That’s right. Gandhiji went out of his way to give the Muslims everything they wanted, including the Prime Minister’s seat. Why should all of us give up our claim to those ungrateful people?
MADHU: But, Ma, isn’t a Prime Minister the leader of all the people, not just his people? So wouldn’t a Muslim Prime Minister also work for the other religions?
SHIVANI: Madhu, you have the innocent opinions of a child, and those are like milk teeth. That’s not how the world works.
[VIJAY calls out from the other room.]
VIJAY: Bitiya, Bitiya! [Getting annoyed.] Hey, Madhu! [MADHU enters the room.]
MADHU: Yes, baba?
VIJAY: That painting…portrait…that one in the bedroom. Bring it out here.
MADHU: Which one? The old moustachioed grandpa?
VIJAY: [Annoyed.] Do we live in some art gallery that you need to ask “which one”? Yes, that one. There is only one painting in this house.
[MADHU goes in and struggles with her mother to get the painting down.]
VIJAY: Wait till you see this. Oh, what a grand portrait of my ancestor. Now that was a great man, a true warrior and patriot. It’s said that he had once, all by himself, bashed up a gang of those marauders for ogling his sister. Those were times when men were men of action. Not these sissy timid [uses air quotes] diplomats, with their words, and their suggestions. Somebody crossed your path, you cut him down. He’d never try it again.
SUDHIN: Sounds a little disproportionate.
VIJAY: [Ignores him and carries on.] I should never have let that portrait gather dust inside. It’s like I’ve forgotten my past and that’s what’s made me so timid. From today it’s going to be right there. The first thing someone sees when they enter my house. My spirit is awakened. Jaago re jaago, before all is lost!
[MADHU brings out the painting. She is clearly struggling with its size and weight but VIJAY doesn’t seem to notice.]
VIJAY: There, you see. The glory of my ancestry.
SUDHIN: Quite remarkable. A very proud visage. [Goes close and looks at it quite intently.] There’s something about it …
VIJAY: Proud, indeed. That’s a man who knew his destiny, who didn’t quiver in the face of his times. He looked destiny in the eye, and grabbed it by its horns, and rode it till it accepted his superiority.
SUDHIN: Ouch, that sounds like animal cruelty. I hope it wasn’t a cow.
VIJAY: The world is cruel, Sudhin, and only the brave can leave their mark. As a child I used to look at this portrait and I had only one desire in my heart – to join the army. To fight for my country. There could be no nobler death, in my books, than to die a martyr for my nation.
SUDHIN: Imagine, I’d forgotten all about that. You used to go on and on about it at one time. Whatever happened to that dream?
VIJAY: What else. My parents got me married. And ever since I’ve been stuck in this domestic drudgery, unable to live up to my larger potential, my manifest destiny. [Pause.] But, isn’t being an unpaid soldier of the country even more glorious? I don’t ask for pension or pay commission. I don’t care about my rank. I just want to serve. I don’t think it’s unfair to say I’m even more patriotic than those that draw a salary for all this.
MADHU: [Struggling and about to collapse.] Papa, can I put it away? The weight is just too much for me.
VIJAY: There, you see? That’s the problem. Our children have no interest in the past, or present. They just want their entertainment and dance videos. The slightest demand made on them and they want to drop the painting… I mean the ball. [To MADHU.] Go, put it down on that chair. This painting is not going out of sight again. I’m going to put it up right here. [Points to the wall. MADHU puts it on a chair and goes back indoors.]
SUDHIN: [Thoughtfully.] There’s something familiar about this face. Like I’ve seen it somewhere before.
VIJAY: It used to be in the outer room in my old childhood house. You must have seen it when you’d come over to play. Those were good old days. I remember how we used to sword fight with sticks. My father would always make me bow before this very painting to seek blessings before I picked up my stick.
SUDHIN: And I remember how you hated doing that.
VIJAY: [Shocked.] Hated? Have you lost your mind? It’s one of my fondest memories. My father would say to me, “Vijay, you have the blood of warriors in your veins. Before every fight you must call on your ancestors for their blessings and they will give you the strength to win every fight.” I haven’t forgotten that.
SUDHIN: That part I remember. But, I also remember how you used to get beaten black and blue by that sadistic scoundrel Rajan, the man your father had entrusted to teach you fighting.
VIJAY: Rajan? Oh, Good Lord, I had forgotten about him. That man was a demon, wasn’t he? Always attacking the knuckles. No rules for him.
SUDHIN: I remember him well. It used to be fun when we’d pretend-fight each other. But, with him, there was never any pretending. He’d actually attack you even though you were half his size.
VIJAY: That must have been his method. I don’t question it now. I may have cried as a child but today I’m ready to pick up arms if needed. That’s the kind of no-nonsense training we need more of now. Children today are too soft.
SUDHIN: You’ve clearly made it a very glossy memory. Even today I wince when I hear a fly-swatter. I can’t believe your father had unleashed such a man on you. You were just a child too, probably the same age as Madhu.
VIJAY: My father knew what was coming. He knew that we would be locked in this battle for years. He saw their young men go for training to those camps, so we had to go to ours.
SUDHIN: I suppose so. [Pauses thoughtfully.] But, sometimes I wonder if all of it worked out. Or any of it.
VIJAY: What do you mean?
SUDHIN: I mean for all the stick-fighting and gun-fighting, things don’t seem to be much better.
VIJAY: We haven’t tried enough. Remember what USA did to Hiroshima? That’s how you finish a fight.
SUDHIN: [Aghast.] What are you saying? So many people killed.
VIJAY: But lasting peace thereafter.
SUDHIN: I don’t know how you can talk like that, so casually, about mass-scale death. I couldn’t even bear one.
VIJAY: One? Which one?
SUDHIN: Remember Roshan? That boy from school?
VIJAY: Of course, I remember him. The one who went to join his brother and got killed by a bomb explosion.
SUDHIN: He was the first person I knew who died like that. From the violence.
VIJAY: I hardly knew him.
SUDHIN: But, I did.
VIJAY: What are you saying? You had one of them as a friend?
SUDHIN: Well, not a friend really. His mother and mine used to work together at the post office. They were the only women working there back in those days, so they really bonded. I had once gone to Roshan’s house for his birthday, so long ago, maybe when I was six or seven. I don’t remember much, obviously, but it was fun. And that’s all that mattered back then. We played games, ate greedily, and then ran around playing pakdum-pakdi. What all kids do at that age. My mother told me many years later that I had even called Roshan my best friend. Imagine, the first time I’d met him and I said that.
VIJAY: This doesn’t make me very happy to hear, but I suppose you were too young then to know any better.
SUDHIN: Or, I was not old enough to know any worse.
VIJAY: [Annoyed.] What did you say?
SUDHIN: Nothing, nothing. [Lies to pacify him.] I was agreeing with you. Anyway, After Roshan went missing his mother had come to meet my mother. She knew that my uncle worked at the police station and maybe they could help find Roshan.
VIJAY: If she couldn’t keep her children in check then why should others bother?
SUDHIN: Not children, just one child was unchecked. Roshan didn’t go to join his brother. He went to bring him back. Roshan thought his brother would listen to him and think of his parents’ sorrow and return. But, instead he wandered into the wrong places and got himself killed. [Long silence] He hated how some of the other children at school had been calling him a terrorist’s brother and a traitor. He used to really look up to his brother and couldn’t bear how others spoke about them.
VIJAY: Even I had said the same.
SUDHIN: And you didn’t regret it for one bit?
VIJAY: Frankly, the burden is his brother’s. Why should we need to feel apologetic about it?
SUDHIN: That’s exactly right. The burden was his brother’s. It wasn’t Roshan’s. Yet he’s the one who died.
VIJAY: We didn’t kill him. Their own people did.
SUDHIN: He stepped on a landmine. So technically they didn’t either. And yet, we all have his blood on our hands. Especially me.
VIJAY: You? How?
SUDHIN: Even when I saw him being tormented in school, I never said a word. I could have been a friend. Just a friend, not even a best friend, and talked to him and been kinder than the others. That wouldn’t have taken much. Instead, I decided not to get involved and quietly stayed away. I was probably in a better position than anyone else to help him, but I didn’t. And that haunts me forever. Even now I find myself staying away.
[He goes silent.]
MADHU: Ma?
SHIVANI: Yes?
MADHU: Did you know?
SHIVANI: Know what?
MADHU: About Roshan?
SHIVANI: Yes. I knew him.
MADHU: [Realises her mother answered more than she was asked.] Oh, you actually knew him?
SHIVANI: He was my neighbour. We grew up side by side. He was a couple of years older.
MADHU: Did you know his brother too then? The one who went away?
SHAVANI: [Starts reminiscing.] Gulshan. That was his name. He was almost a whole ten years older than me. But, yes, I knew him. As a young girl I was in awe of him. I would watch him from our rooftop, riding his cycle, playing cricket with the others. He was the best batsman. Others would have to keep running around to fetch the balls he’d hit off into the bushes. Back then I always thought he was the most wonderful person I’d ever seen.
MADHU: [Teases.] Oh my God, Ma. You sound like you had a crush on him.
SHIVANI: Why must you say such weird things? I was just a child. I looked up to him, that’s all. We didn’t have these silly crushes back then.
MADHU: Say what you will, Ma, schoolgirl crushes are a real thing. But forget about that. He sounds like he was a normal, happy boy. What do you think made him go away?
SHIVANI: Child, it’s not like he told me. All I know is that for the longest time I couldn’t believe it. I always thought he must have gone on a trip with friends without telling his family. He was the kind to do that. I believed he’d be back soon. It’s only when…
MADHU: When what, ma?
SHIVANI: [Struggles to get the words out.] …when we heard about Roshan, that’s when the truth finally hit home. When I saw how broken their parents were, how even my parents were crushed, that’s when I realised nothing would be the same. I had to grow up.
CURTAIN
ACT 1 SCENE 2
The stage is dark, only SUDHIN is on stage, spotlight on him.
SUDHIN: Silence, for me, has always been that cloak of invisibility that keeps me safe. It keeps me from getting involved, saves me from being disliked. But, the funny thing is that silence is anything but silent. It yells at me, torments me. Sometimes it screams right in my face when I close my eyes. When I see my own son, who is at that same tender young age as Roshan, that silence threatens to take him away from me. It taunts me saying, “What if the same thing ever happens to him?” I have never been left in peace by it. Why didn’t I go to Roshan when I saw how hurt he was? I didn’t agree with the others, so why couldn’t I tell him that? He had a right to know he hadn’t been abandoned by everyone. How cruel! How cruel for a child to face that. Sometimes I try to console myself by saying it wouldn’t have mattered even if I had gone back and said something. He would still have gone to his brother. After all he wanted to bring him back. It wasn’t that he went only because the others shouted at him, he went because he wanted his big brother safe. But, that thought doesn’t really hold up. Yet again I end up imagining my own child in that situation. It rips my heart to shreds to think he may, even for a minute, feel so alone and cornered, without me to shelter him in my arms. If suddenly, the child who threw a birthday party for all his friends could become the other, if the nice aunty who was a work-sister to my mother could become the mother of terrorists, if suddenly silence could become murder, well then the world starts looking a lot more fearsome. I have been crippled by my fears, so even now whenever I refuse to take sides, I feel I’m abandoning Roshan. I don’t know what I can do to set things right anymore. But, that’s why I pray that that my son has good friends all his life, friends who like him for who he is and who won’t abandon him because of hysteria. [Crestfallen.] Because I cannot always be there for him. I cannot always be there for him. I was not there for my friend. [Repeats but sound fading out.] I cannot always be there for him. I was not there for my friend.
CURTAIN
ACT 2, SCENE 1
Next day. Outdoors in hilly terrain. In the background we see mountains, in the foreground we see trees. It’s a peaceful, natural setting. Slumped on the ground against one tree we partially see someone wearing heavy boots and military patterns. He appears unconscious and his torso is turned away from the audience so they can’t see his face or uniform clearly. From the other side Vijay saunters in talking to himself.
VIJAY: That simple fool Sudhin had no reason to lecture me so much yesterday. Am I the only one willing to call a spade a spade? We cannot avoid facing facts anymore. It’s a sin to see what’s going on and do nothing about it. So, why are they acting like I’m the villain here? We need to be decisive to end the constant fighting. They have their land there [points straight, off-stage] and we have ours here [points to the ground], nothing simpler. Leave ours [points again to the ground] and go to yours [points off-stage], or else we’ll be forced to [tone of his voice becomes menacing and he turns his pointing finger into a gun and mimics shooting]. Like my father used to say – the price of peace is eternal violence, or something like that. [He suddenly sees the man’s legs and pauses. His entire body becomes alert.] That’s a new bloom. I didn’t know military boots were in season. [Calls out to the man.] Hey Jawan, no sleeping on the job. It’s been less than a day since the shoot-out in the blue sky. There could be more action any time now. This could be your chance to leave a mark in history. [Walks closer to the man.] You really are a sleeper. Alert, soldier. [Tries kicking him awake.] Come on, up, up! [As VIJAY shakes the man’s body he stirs a little and turns his body towards the audience. His arm slumps to the ground and VIJAY crouches for a closer look.] Not so young, are we? Overlooked for a promotion or two perhaps. Let’s have a look at your name … let’s see Squadron Leader Jamaal Chaudhry … [look of shock] Pakistan Air Force. [VIJAY stumbles and falls backwards, he scrambles to put some distance between them.] This man … he’s the … last night [Looks around to see if there’s anyone who can help and starts shouting.] Is anybody there? [Walks around the stage.] Look, here’s the pilot. Hey Army! Hey Jawan! Can anybody hear me? [Realises he’s alone.] Where is everyone? We need a patrol right here and now. They need to take this scoundrel for questioning. He needs to be hanged. [He becomes enraged and shouts at the unconscious man.] You need to be hanged! You came here to attack us. To destroy us, the ones you took everything from, and that still isn’t enough? [Picks up a pebbles and throws it at the man.] That’s for you. [Picks up another and throws it.] And another. [The man begins to stir. VIJAY’s rage leaves him and he becomes worried again.] Oh no no no, don’t wake up now. Oh damnation, this is not good. He’ll escape if I don’t do something. What now? What can I do? Rope? Yes, rope. In the jeep. I need to tie him up. [He runs off stage and returns with a rope.] Here boy, let’s show you we mean business. [Struggles with the unconscious body as he ties him up with the rope.] That’s done. Now I should go get the Army. They’ll know what to do. But, where are they? They’re actually less visible today. They must have all gone somewhere else searching for this chap. Maybe a fake tip-off. [Looks at the unconscious man and sneers.] Typical. Listen you thieving so-and-so, you stay here. I’ll go get someone. Don’t move. [Starts to leave, but then stops.] But what if he’s gone by the time I’m back? Can’t risk that. He’ll crawl back home and return in another plane by the time I bring help. That’s no good. No, I have to take him with me. For the Motherland, I need to step up. [Patriotism is aroused in him.] Bharat Mata ki Jai! Jai Hind! [becomes comical] Kalkatte wali Ma Kali ki Jai! [Goes to pick the man up.] You’re coming with me, boy.
CURTAIN
ACT 2, SCENE 2
Back in VIJAY’s home. MADHU and SHIVANI are in the outer room. SHIVANI is reading this time and MADHU is up on a stool dusting the portrait. Somewhere on the floor is MADHU’s school-bag.
MADHU: Who was this grandpa, Ma? Have we ever met him?
SHIVANI: He was your father’s grand-uncle, but no, we’ve never met him. He died quite a long time ago, before our marriage. I heard some stories about him in the early days. Once he’d sprinkled crushed pepper in the eyes of some soldiers who were ogling his wife.
MADHU: I thought Papa said he bashed up thugs who were ogling his sister.
SHIVANI: [Pauses to think, even she appears confused.] Well, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe that was someone else then. Either way, you’ll hear stories of his bravery at every family reunion. Everyone’s really proud of him.
MADHU: Was he some kind of zamindar? He looks very aristocratic in the painting.
SHIVANI: Even bigger than a zamindar. He was an accountant during the Raj, at a very senior post. People had a lot of respect for him in those days. Zamindars used to come to him to settle taxes. Everybody needed to be on his good side.
MADHU: So, he worked for the firangis?
SHIVANI: At a very senior post.
MADHU: Then why would he have to pepper spray them? Surely he had administrative powers.
SHIVANI: Sometimes you take matters into your own hands, if that’s what the occasion calls for.
MADHU: But, he still worked for them, though.
SHIVANI: [Defensive.] So, what’s wrong with that? Good people like him should be in influential positions.
MADHU: No, Ma, nothing wrong with that. I was just thinking how right and wrong changes depending on the situation. There was a time when working for the British was high honour, but the very next day it could be seen as anti-national. Just like that, one day the Muslim rulers were the invaders, but when the British unseated them, suddenly we wanted them back. Makes you think whether there is any ultimate truth in human matters.
[SHIVANI has been listening intently to her child. We see how the younger generation can sometimes make us re-evaluate our own thoughts. All of a sudden VIJAY’s voice is heard from off-stage.]
VIJAY: Shivani! Madhu! [As soon as SHIVANI hears VIJAY’s voice she quickly hides her book under a cushion.] Come out quickly and help me. [They realise something’s wrong and run off-stage.]
SHIVANI: [Loud gasps from off-stage.] Hey Bhagwan, what have you done?
MADHU: [Off-stage.] Who is he, Papa? What’s wrong with him?
VIJAY: [Off-stage, angry.] Keep your questions. Help me take him inside.
[They all return to the stage, carrying the bound pilot.]
SHIVANI: Who is this?
MADHU: Is he alive?
VIJAY: Both of you, shut up! [Arrogantly directs his family.] Girl, get me that chair. Wife, bring me more rope. [They do as they’re told, and proceed to tie him up to the chair (with wheels) facing the crowd.]
SHIVANI: [Speaks to VIJAY with force.] Now, husband, you better start talking.
VIJAY: [Stung by her words, but realises he has a lot to explain.] He’s the pilot. The plane that crashed yesterday, the Pakistani we shot down. He’s that one. After he ejected, the coward, he must have landed in the forest where I happened to find him unconscious. I hope no Indian pilot ever hides like a worm like this. Better to die in the line of duty than to let the rats on the other side catch you. God knows what they’d do to such a man.
SHIVANI: And, what will you do to such a man?
VIJAY: [Searches for the right words.] I? Why, if I could I’d hang him right where I found him, but… you see… this is an international matter. I don’t want to embarrass our leaders. After all we aren’t savages.
SHIVANI: Well I’m glad you said that. We definitely shouldn’t get involved in all this. Let’s call the Police and hand him over.
VIJAY: Police? Why the Police? Let’s hand him over to the Army. They’ll make a fine show of him. Maybe they can tie him to a jeep.
SHIVANI: [Exasperated by her husband’s impracticality.] Vijay, what number exactly do you dial for the Army? [VIJAY looks unsure.] I thought so. The Police has a number, so please try that.
[VIJAY goes to the other room and we see him trying the phone. It doesn’t work. He comes back.]
VIJAY: The line is out again. I’ll have to go to the neighbour’s place and try from there.
SHIVANI: You can’t just leave him here and go.
VIJAY: He’s out cold and I’ll be back soon. Keep an eye on him … [with seriousness] at all times. We know his kind.
[VIJAY exits.]
MADHU: Ma, do you think he’ll be okay?
SHIVANI: I hope so. And I really hope that if he has to die it isn’t here. There’ll be too many questions then.
MADHU: His lips look like charcoal. We need to give him some water.
SHIVANI: I don’t know if we should. Let him stay like that till the Police come to take him away.
MADHU: He needs water, Ma. And, you just said it’ll be trouble if he dies here.
[She goes to her school-bag and brings out her water-bottle. It has a built-in straw. She tries to poke at his mouth a bit with the straw but there’s no response. Then she pours a bit of water in her hand and sprinkles it on his face. This makes him stir a bit.]
SHIVANI: That’s done it. Give him the water now, quickly.
[MADHU holds the bottle with the straw to his mouth again. This time he reacts and starts drinking it up. He starts getting his strength back. Drinks more and more. His eyes remain closed like a baby who just wants nourishment and nothing else. MADHU and SHIVANI look at each other in silence. JAMAAL starts to sit up but is restrained by the ropes. When he realises this his body tenses again and he slowly opens his eyes. MADHU and SHIVANI move a few steps back.]
JAMAAL: [Struggles with the ropes.] Where am I? Who are you?
SHIVANI: [Scared, but tries to maintain her composure.] My husband found you. You were lying unconscious in the jungle and he brought you home.
JAMAAL: Untie me right now.
SHIVANI: Listen, it’s for your own good. You would have been dead if my husband hadn’t rescued you.
JAMAAL: Rescued me with a rope? Like a hangman rescues people? Listen I am an officer. You have no right to treat me like this.
SHIVANI: [Annoyed by his arrogance.] No right? You flew over here to attack our country. You shot down one of our pilots who’s battling for his life. And then you say we have no right?
JAMAAL: [Relieved.] So, he didn’t die. That’s a relief. I didn’t see his parachute so I was worried he went down with his plane.
MADHU: You were worried?
JAMAAL: Yes, I was worried. I’m an Officer, not a cold-blooded killer. Every time I’ve had to shoot down another aircraft I have said a silent prayer.
SHIVANI: An Officer? For whom, your corrupt government? The ones who cannot focus on their people and only consume every moment planning ways to devastate their neighbour’s happiness?
JAMAAL: [Genuinely confused.] Madam, are you talking about my government or yours?
MADHU: [Seizes the moment of confusion to change the subject.] Do you want some more water? Or maybe something to eat?
JAMAAL: If you can arrange it then a bit of both. I normally wouldn’t impose on my hosts, but my body really needs some strength. I’ll need my hands free though.
MADHU: Uncle … er … Sir, that we cannot do. But, I can give you food by the spoonful till you’re done.
SHIVANI: Have you lost your mind, girl? Don’t go close to him.
MADHU: Ma, he’s not going to bite. [Laughs. SHIVANI doesn’t look convinced.]
JAMAAL: Madam, I may break the sound barrier twice in one day, and I may be the best at high-g barrel rolls. But, I assure you, I don’t bite.
[SHIVANI gives him a scowl, and takes MADHU by the hand and they go to the other room.]
SHIVANI: What are you getting us into? We have to feed him now.
MADHU: Ma, he’s going to be handed over to the Police. He’s in a different country, alone surrounded by people who are hostile to him. At least let him eat a bit.
SHIVANI: [Reluctantly starts putting food on a plate.] You talk like he’s some saint dropped out of the sky for us. He’s a terrorist, Madhu, an enemy.
MADHU: [Corrects her.] Not a terrorist, Ma.
SHIVANI: Who cares? He was here to kill us.
MADHU: But, he said he didn’t want anyone to die.
SHIVANI: And you believed him? You really are too naïve for your age, girl. Open your eyes.
MADHU: Ma, I’m using my eyes, and my ears, and my brain. Something tells me he’s not a murderer. And anyway, I’m not asking you to set him free, just to feed him a little. Wouldn’t we want our pilots treated like that if they ever get captured? It’s just basic humanity.
SHIVANI: [Thrusts the plate in her hand.] Here, do what you want. You answer to your father when he sees you coddling this dangerous man.
MADHU: If he gets angry with me, I’ll just deflect by telling him what you were reading. [Giggles, picks up a napkin, and runs to the other room.]
[In the other room MADHU gives JAMAAL some more water from the bottle and wipes his mouth.]
JAMAAL: Please, child, wipe my face too. The water feels like a gift from the heavens.
MADHU: [She pours some water on the napkin and proceeds to wipe his face.] Water is a gift, no matter where it flows. [After she’s done she takes the plate and proceeds to offer him a spoonful of the food.] Here, try some of my mother’s kadi.
JAMAAL: [Eats and appears delighted by the taste.] It’s outstanding. She has a fine hand, your mother. [Quickly eats another spoonful.] It’s so delicious that I can’t tell if I’m your prisoner or your guest.
MADHU: I love the way my mother makes her kadi. There’s something about it. It’s not a traditional recipe, I think, because it’s a little sweeter than how others make it.
JAMAAL: By all means this should be the new tradition. Sweet and delicate. My sister-in-law had once tried making it like that once. Her family originally comes from Bengal, so they had a bent towards the sweeter things. But, at our house they didn’t like it that way, it wasn’t how it was supposed to taste, they said. So she never made it like that again. Which is something I always regretted because I secretly enjoyed it a lot.
MADHU: Life is for trying new things, I always say. Tradition should never be a barrier. It should be like a warm cosy bed that one gets out of, explores the world, and returns to at the end of the day. Otherwise, if you spend too much time in it you’ll get bed sores.
JAMAL: [Quite astounded by this young girl.] You really are the most remarkable young person I think I’ve met. You are wise beyond your years, and yet innocent.
MADHU: My mother thinks I’m naïve. My father too. They don’t like that I look at the world as an idealist. They warn me [imitates her father] “Daughter, you can’t give everyone a clean chit so easily. It’s better to be safe than sorry.”
JAMAAL: I don’t blame them. The things I’ve seen make me lose my faith in humanity too. But, then I remember that as a military man I live by a code of conduct. So, I do what I have to do, but never crossing the line of necessary action into brutality. And because I know the men and women of the forces all over the world follow this code of conduct, I feel safer, more trustful. It’s like I heard in an interview with a racing-car driver. He said he felt safer on the race-tracks, where the others were trained professionals, than when he would drive on the streets.
MADHU: Unfortunately, civilians don’t have a code. They’ve stopped thinking of consequences and repercussions. [Changes the subject.] Do you have any children?
JAMAAL: I’m not married. To put it dramatically, I serve only my motherland.
MADHU: That must be lonely sometimes.
JAMAAL: [Sighs.] Honestly, it is. But I decided early on in my career that I couldn’t be fair to any woman I marry while also dedicating my life to my service. The travel, the uncertainty, it takes its toll. So many of my colleagues miss the best years of their children’s lives. So, I gave up early on.
MADHU: I wish we didn’t even need a military. No one should have to sacrifice this much for their country’s safety. Safety should come from cooperation, not aggression.
JAMAAL: I don’t think there’s anyone in the military who’d disagree with you. Even in the worst of times we should be the last line of defence. But, in these times we are becoming the first line of offence. People who live hundreds of kilometres away from our border are trying to load us like bullets into their propaganda machine guns. This is not what 21st century thinking should have been.
SHIVANI: [Enters the room looking annoyed.] What’s taking so long? Isn’t he done?
MADHU: Sorry, Ma. We were talking.
SHIVANI: It’s not safe. This man could be trying to steal national secrets.
MADHU: [Incredulous.] From me?
SHIVANI: They are wily, these spies. Don’t trust anything he says.
JAMAAL: Bibi, your food was truly excellent. The best kadi I’ve ever eaten.
SHIVANI: [Her tone changes instantly.] Oh…ah…heheh…it’s just an old family recipe. [MADHU giggles.]
JAMAAL: A recipe is nothing without an experienced chef’s touch. Please, can I have just a little more?
SHIVANI: Of course, of course. Madhu, please bring one more bowlful. You like the badi? Put a large piece of badi in it too. A badi badi in the kadi…ha ha! [She laughs at her own joke.]
[MADHU exchanges a smile with JAMAAL and goes to the other room.]
JAMAAL: You have an extraordinary child. She must bring you great pride.
SHIVANI: [Sits down. Jamaal’s politeness has put her at ease.] She is so intelligent that sometimes I wonder where she gets it from. Her father and I never did as well at our studies.
JAMAAL: Children should outdo us. That’s progress.
SHIVANI: But, I worry for her. She’s too trusting of the world. It’s only a matter of time till she finds herself duped in some way. She seems doomed to find out the hard way how harsh this world is.
[VIJAY’s voice is heard from off-stage. SHIVANI jumps up from her seat.]
VIJAY: I’m back. Even their phone was not working, so we had to go and look for the damage and fix it ourselves. [Enters the room] The politicians are much busier fighting elections all the time than fixing actual problems. [Sees JAMAAL.] I see he’s awake. [To JAMAAL.] How are you enjoying our hospitality?
JAMAAL: [Sarcastically.] No stone has been left unturned. It makes me feel right at home. But, for these ropes.
VIJAY: [Menacingly.] Those ropes will never release you now. You’re a prisoner. You will never be free again.
JAMAAL: [Changes his tone to be more menacing as well, but still very suave.] I hope you are not threatening a military officer, sir. Because, if you are, then you will not escape the scrutiny of the free world for your actions. There is a law to be followed on how to treat captured soldiers.
VIJAY: [Backs down.] Nobody is threatening anyone here. It’s not even for me to decide what happens to you. But, I assure you it won’t feel like home for much longer.
[MADHU enters with the bowl of kadi. She doesn’t realise her father’s back.]
MADHU: [Cheerfully.] Here is a big bowl of kadi… Papa!
VIJAY: [Pleased.] That’s like a good girl. How did you know I’m famished? Give it here.
MADHU: [Hesitates.] No, actually…
SHIVANI: It’s just that…silly girl, you went and used the bowl I just ate from. Get a fresh bowl for your father.
VIJAY: Don’t be silly. Where’s the need for that. Why can’t I eat from your bowl. Bring it here.
[MADHU hesitates. She looks at her mother, then at JAMAAL. This annoys VIJAY.]
VIJAY: What’s gotten into you? Bring it here. [MADHU does as she’s told.] That’s more like it. [He takes a spoonful.] Ah, that’s exactly what I needed today. It’s perfect. I can’t believe there was a time I didn’t like your recipe. I’m so glad I gave it a chance.
JAMAAL: Your wife is an excellent cook.
[Everybody in the room is shocked. They look at each other, VIJAY looks angry while SHIVANI and MADHU look worried and guilty.]
VIJAY: Pray, tell, how do you know my wife’s cooking?
JAMAAL: [Calmly.] If a husband comes home and is so delighted by what he’s given to eat, then he is truly lucky and sheis truly accomplished. [Pauses.] You cannot imagine how much I envy you for that.
VIJAY: [Softens.] I’m sure after all this is over you will also go home to a hot meal with your family.
JAMAAL: So, all of a sudden you aren’t expecting me to be locked up in your jails forever?
VIJAY: [Tries to laugh it off.] That’s just something I said in the heat of the moment. It seemed appropriate.
JAMAAL: [Laughs.] We are all just playing games in the heat of the moment, trying to be appropriate. Not just you. All of us. Nobody knows the rules … or the objective.
SHIVANI: Well I’m glad the heat has passed for now. [Pauses] What did the Police say?
[Everyone becomes sombre.]
VIJAY: They are sending patrol officers as soon as they can. All the available staff were redirected to the crash site. It would appear you had outwitted them all, Mr Pilot, by landing up where you did.
JAMAAL: The wind favoured me. But, it only takes one sharp pair of eyes like yours…
MADHU: [Goes up to VIJAY and asks softly so JAMAAL can’t hear.] Papa, will they treat him fairly?
VIJAY: What do you mean?
MADHU: They won’t hurt him or beat him, will they?
VIJAY: That depends on whether he cooperates with them or not.
MADHU: I hope he does. He doesn’t seem like a bad man.
VIJAY: He’ll pay the price for what he’s done.
MADHU: But, he’s a soldier.
VIJAY: If he has blood on his hands…
MADHU: Even you could have been a soldier, Papa.
VIJAY: [Quiet for a bit.] I’m sure he’ll be treated fairly.
CURTAIN
ACT 2 SCENE 3
The stage is dark, only MADHU is on stage, spotlight on her.
MADHU: Youngsters love mythology. But, not necessarily the way their parents think. Grown-ups want us to learn how to respect our elders, how to pray to our gods, how to respect traditions. But instead we love them for the action, the thrills, and the unbelievable characters. Why would I be interested in Bhishma, when there is Ghatotkach? Why Lakshman when there is Garuda? And why Vishnu when there is Ma Kali? Yes, Ma Kali. I love her. You might wonder what reason a child had to like such a fierce manifestation of the divine, but really, it’s exactly why I said – entertainment. I loved that she could defeat all the asurs single-handedly and no man dared cross her path when she went on her rampage. When I pray, I secretly pray for her strength to one day be able to just pick up and throw out anyone who tries to obstruct me. But, even Kali once appeared to meet her match with one [pauses to find the right word] resilient adversary. Raktabij had the power that wherever any of his blood would spill, another one of him would sprout up. Effectively that made it impossible to kill him. No one knew what to do and so they called upon Kali. Kali’s method of attack was pure fury, just ripping and slashing, an unstoppable force. But, Raktabij was designed for such an attack. He would multiply a thousand-fold if she tried this, so she had to come up with an alternative. The method she came up with is, in my opinion, the single greatest moment in any mythology ever. Kali knew she had to stop his blood from falling on the ground, so she started drinking the blood before even a drop could fall. Eventually Raktabij was wiped out. This grisly image has stayed with me throughout my life. Nowadays when talk invariably turns to the battle between communities, I am reminded of Kali and how her methods of blind fury wouldn’t work with Raktabij. I had my doubts that any mythology had solutions to real-world problems, they only seem to work in fiction. Then one day, I had a sudden thought. Wouldn’t Kali drinking the demon’s blood turn her into a demon? Why did this solution work? After all blood is so closely related to our identities, so why would the story talk about a goddess polluting herself with her enemy’s blood. And then it struck me – it didn’t pollute her. Instead it became one with her. The mingling of the blood brought peace because the demon and she were no longer others, they were the same. No more differences. They were one. And we are one, we have the same blood, don’t believe anyone who tries to deny it. You may think my reading is immature, but is it? We believe holy books ask us to shed blood, I believe they ask us to share blood. We have lived and grown on the same soil, under the same sun, drinking the same water. That binds us stronger than anything that can break us. We don’t solve our problems by trying to cut each other’s heads off, we overcome them once we accept that we have the same blood in our veins. Nothing else matters. Nothing else can matter, and nothing else should matter. Our blood is the same.
CURTAIN
ACT 3 SCENE 1
The family is sitting around JAMAAL, each of them with a heavy expression. JAMAAL tries to stretch his body after being tied up for so long. VIJAY immediately gets up thinking there’s going to be a struggle.
VIJAY: Don’t try any funny stuff. I’ll pounce on you in a second.
JAMAAL: [Smiles.] I have no doubt of that.
MADHU: [Again tries to diffuse the tension.] Do you want any more water?
VIJAY: Whose daughter are you? You haven’t offered me any water.
MADHU: But, you’re not tied up, Papa.
JAMAAL: No. Thank you, child.
VIJAY: [Sits down.] Why do only enemies of the nation get all the sympathy in my own house?
SHIVANI: [To VIJAY] I’ll get you some. [Goes to get water.]
VIJAY: [To JAMAAL.] You see? You see the people you are here to destroy.
JAMAAL: I see, and I acknowledge. And I pray that if one of your soldiers ever finds himself in this position on my land, he too shall be treated as decently as I have been. [SHIVANI returns and gives VIJAY the water]
VIJAY: There, some more sarcasm.
JAMAAL: That was completely sincere.
VIJAY: Anything that comes out of your mouth sounds like sarcasm.
JAMAAL: And anything that comes out of your mouth sounds like a threat.
[A voice is heard from outside.]
SUDHIN: [From off-stage.] Viju, are you home. I’ve got something to show you. [Enters carrying a large, square, flat object wrapped in brown paper. Sees JAMAAL and is shocked.] Oh Lord, what’s going on here!
VIJAY: I caught a rat. A prized catch.
JAMAAL: I thought I was a worm.
SUDHIN: Who’s he? Why have you tied him up?
MADHU: Squadron Leader Jamaal Chaudhry.
SUDHIN: [Squaks like a chicken.] Pak…Pak…Pak –
JAMAAL: [Interrupts.] And now we have a chicken.
SUDHIN: – Pakistan?
VIJAY: One and the same. Wanted for waging war on India.
SUDHIN: Where did you find him?
VIJAY: I’ll explain all that later. We are waiting for the Police. They should be arriving anytime now.
SUDHIN: That’s good. Whew, they’ll know what to do.
VIJAY: [Machismo returning.] Even I know very well what to do. It’s just that we don’t have it in our culture to be violent.
SUDHIN: Well, I’m glad to hear you say that. It was a different tune yesterday.
VIJAY: Never mind all that. What do you have got there?
SUDHIN: [Suddenly remembers the object he’s carrying.] Oh yes, that’s right. Well, when you were showing me the portrait of your grandfather…
VIJAY: [Interrupts.] Great-grand-uncle.
SUDHIN: That’s right. Anyway, when I saw that I couldn’t stop thinking about how it looked so familiar to me. That expression, that moustache. It’s not the kind one forgets entirely.
VIJAY: You’re damn right. It’s a piercing look, enough to make anyone tremble.
SUDHIN: So, after going home I spoke to my wife about it. And she said that her sister also has a painting like that in her home. This one was also old and dusty and locked away in a storeroom. I hadn’t seen it since my wedding day. So I went to their place and asked to borrow it. After that I cleaned it up and came straight here.
VIJAY: [Impatient and curious.] Get to the point.
SUDHIN: I’ll let the painting speak for itself.
[As he holds it with one hand, SUDHIN tears off the brown paper with the other. VIJAY, SHIVANI, MADHU all gasp. JAMAAL, because of his angle can’t see either painting. The painting is just like VIJAY’s, except instead of a turban the subject is wearing a Sola Topi, or Pith Helmet, making him look much more anglicised. After giving everyone a good look, he places it on the sofa.]
SHIVANI: It’s the same person.
MADHU: Is it a copy?
VIJAY: It’s a forgery.
SUDHIN: It’s no forgery.
VIJAY: How do you know?
SUDHIN: Because my sister-in-law told me it’s a painting of her husband’s great-grand-something. The one who built the house they live in.
VIJAY: They’re lying.
SUDHIN: When I told them about your painting, they said the same thing – “he’s lying”.
VIJAY: [Outraged.] How dare they?
SUDHIN: How dare anyone?
SHIVANI: There must be some explanation.
MADHU: Maybe the same man is great-grand to both our families.
SHIVANI: [Shocked.] Shut your mouth, girl. Do you even know what you’re saying?
[JAMAAL in this chaos struggles and manages to turn his chair around enough to be able to see the paintings that have been out of his sight till this time.]
VIJAY: They are trying to desecrate a great man’s name. You know they’re only doing this to pretend they have some kind of illustrious lineage.
SUDHIN: How would they do that by locking it away in a storeroom for some twenty years?
JAMAAL: What in the world is this painting…these paintings…doing here?
[Everyone pauses.]
VIJAY: Who asked you, stranger? This is a family matter. It does not involve you.
JAMAAL: Indeed, it does. That’s my great-great-grand-father, patriarch of my entire family.
[Shock on the faces of all, their jaws drop. This was not anticipated by anyone. Long pause.]
MADHU: Yours too?
SHIVANI: [Slaps her hand to her forehead.] Who was this philandering old goat?
JAMAAL: Watch your tongue, bibi.
VIJAY: Yes, Shivani, watch your tongue.
SUDHIN: Is there no house in seven continents that doesn’t have this painting?
JAMAAL: In fairness, these are poor reproductions of my painting.
VIJAY: I know why he’s doing this. He feels if he couldn’t kill any of our pilots, he at least wants to destroy our family name.
JAMAAL: Sure, seventeen years of service and thousands of hours of flying time was all worth it to destroy a family… whose name I don’t even know.
[They blurt out simultaneously.]
VIJAY: Kichloo. SUDHIN: Bhatt
[They look at each other angrily]
JAMAAL: Thanks boys, for proving my point. But, this man is responsible for renewing our family’s fortunes after Partition, after we lost everything in that turmoil.
VIJAY: And we’re just supposed to believe you?
JAMAAL: You don’t have to take my word for it. There’s a photograph of my parents I always carry with me. You can see this painting in the background.
SUDHIN: Where is the photograph?
JAMAAL: Inside my suit, in a zippered pocket at my left breast.
VIJAY: Let’s take a look then.
SUDHIN: [Alarmed.] Viju, wait.
VIJAY: What happened?
SUDHIN: What if it’s booby-trapped?
VIJAY: What if his booby is trapped? … I mean his suit is booby-trapped? Are you out of your mind?
SUDHIN: Mr Pilot, do you promise there’s no explosive attached to your pocket meant to kill us?
JAMAAL: [Plays along.] Typically, we use cyanide for emergencies. A bomb is too messy. It wouldn’t make much sense.
SUDHIN: [With total seriousness.] Well, then you may proceed, Viju.
VIJAY: [Who has been looking irritated with SUDHIN’s thinking.] Oh, really? May I proceed, Sudhin? Thanks for your quick thinking. [SUDHIN gives him a thumbs-up.]
[VIJAY tries to reach inside the suit. The ropes are too tight.]
MADHU: Loosen it a little, Papa.
[VIJAY nods and pulls at the ropes a little till he can get his hand inside. He feels about a little but then looks alarmed.]
VIJAY: There’s something ticking in there!
[Loud gasps from everyone except JAMAAL. VIJAY shuts his eyes tight, his hand still inside the suit. SUDHIN picks up his painting and holds it up like a shield. SHIVANI pulls MADHU behind her. JAMAAL looks unperturbed.]
JAMAAL: [After a few moments.] I think what you’re referring to is my heartbeat.
VIJAY: [Embarrassed.] What do you know…that’s what it is. [Laughs nervously. Everyone else sighs with relief.]
JAMAAL: [Smiles.] I suppose you weren’t expecting me to have one.
VIJAY: I didn’t expect it to be pounding so quickly.
JAMAAL: Well, despite how kind you all have been, the past twenty-four hours haven’t exactly been stress-free for me. I think my ticker is just a little panicked. Plus, you’ve had your hand in my suit for an awfully long time now.
VIJAY: [Embarrassed.] Oh …
[VIJAY carries on looking until he finds the photograph and pulls it out and holds it up. Everyone gathers around him to squint at it.]
MADHU: There’s one more.
SHIVANI: But, it’s not the same.
SUDHIN: It’s the eyes.
VIJAY: It’s the moustache.
MADHU: He looks like a Nawabi version of the same man.
SHIVANI: The rose…
SUDHIN: The pearls…
VIJAY: The smugness.
JAMAAL: Now that you’ve all had a look, you’ll agree that’s the original.
VIJAY: We agree to no such thing.
JAMAAL: It’s obviously older.
VIJAY: Mine’s much older. Yours looks freshly painted.
JAMAAL: That’s because we didn’t keep ours in a storeroom.
SUDHIN: Mine’s so old that we don’t know how old it is.
MADHU: Jamaal uncle?
JAMAAL: Yes, child?
MADHU: You said that this ancestor helped your family back on its feet after partition?
JAMAAL: Yes, if it wasn’t for him we would well have been wiped out.
MADHU: But, then aren’t the clothes too ancient-looking for that? Plus as he was your great-great-grand-father wouldn’t he have been too old, or perhaps dead, in 1947?
JAMAAL: [Uncertain.] Well, you know … maybe this was a suit for special occasions … the age … sometimes … [Accepts the possibilities.] I actually never thought of all that. I believed what I was told.
VIJAY: So there it is. Yours is the forgery. The girl finally remembers whose daughter she is.
SHIVANI: That hasn’t been proven.
VIJAY: [Shocked.] What?
SHIVANI: No, no, I mean it still hasn’t been proved that that’s a forgery.
SUDHIN: True. I still think mine looks the oldest.
SHIVANI: But, it’s also the most far removed from your own life. So you cannot know the true age for sure.
MADHU: I still think it’s possible that these may all be the same person. Why would anyone forge a painting of an unknown man? Maybe we were all part of the same family.
VIJAY: As disgusting as that sounds, at least it would mean [gestures to JAMAAL] this Godless man is a convert. He’s just a lost soul who’s forgotten where he’s come from.
JAMAAL: Excuse me, sir, but this village where you currently live used to be an entirely Muslim one. Just like mine. After Partition it’s more likely that you converted from Islam and chose a God just for convenience.
SUDHIN: [Gets very agitated and gestures angrily with his hands.] How dare you? Yes, this was a Muslim village, but we settled here only after your people left and went.
JAMAAL: But, my family never moved, so we have never had to change to fit in.
VIJAY: [Getting angrier.] Well, us neither. We had no reason to convert, it’s our land. You’re the traitor.
JAMAAL: I can say the exact same thing about you – you’re the traitor. At least we know who’s house we live in.
VIJAY: [Shouts.] You son of a pig [slaps JAMAAL resoundingly], you traitor to your mother [slaps him again], I’ll kill you [grabs him by the collar and shakes him violently].
[All the others intervene to pull him away. They pull him off even as he continues to swing his limbs wildly. SUDHIN holds him around the waist while SHIVANI and MADHU grab his arms, both yelling. JAMAAL is almost knocked out.]
MADHU: Papa, please stop.
SHIVANI: Don’t lose your senses, Vijay. Stop it. Stop it!
SUDHIN: Listen to them Viju, this is not right. You have to control yourself. [VIJAY starts to lose his energy.] Quickly, you two, go and move the pilot to the other room and bolt the door. I’ll hold on to him.
[SHIVANI and MADHU drag JAMAAL away to the other room and close it from the inside. They sprinkle water on his face and try to revive him. SUDHIN manages to get VIJAY to sit down.]
MADHU: Uncle, uncle, please say something.
SHIVANI: He was already weak, that beating was too much for him to take.
CURTAIN
ACT 3, SCENE 2
SHIVANI: The line between trust and naiveté is too thin for our logical minds to understand. That’s why we often find ourselves blindsided by an act of betrayal. And, once you’ve lost faith, you never get it back. Like a stunt-performer walking a tightrope high above the streets. Once you fall… Yes, I knew Gulshan, more than just from afar. He used to be in my dreams, in my school notebooks. I used to draw flowers in the back pages, which no one knew was my code for Gulshan. If they had looked closely they would have seen that at the centre of every flower I used to draw a bee. A bee that hid him from the world while revealing him to me. These were childish infatuations, never anything serious. I never expected to marry him, I never thought he even looked at me. It was just something… nice. A past-time, a secret world. But, there is a much bigger secret world outside me than inside, and it was there that everything changed forever. After Gulshan went away a pall of gloom had settled on our street. My parents were almost as distraught as his own. No one knew why this had happened, and who’s turn would be next. One day when I was walking by the lake, returning from school, a man in a hooded jacket crossed my path. It was Gulshan. He needed me to give a letter to his brother. It was in a sealed envelope. After he had gone, I considered tearing it open to see what it said. After all, I could have put it in another envelope and no one would have known. But, I didn’t. I knew that I would be violating his trust if I had. After all, he had chosen me for this task, none of Roshan’s other friends, so it meant he trusted me more. I did as needed and gave the letter to Roshan. He didn’t read it in front of me. Two days later he too was gone. It was the letter. I knew it had to be. It could have said anything – “come and join me” or “don’t try to find me”, the effect on that doting child would have been the same. He had to go to his brother to try and bring him back. And when Roshan was killed, a part of me died with him. I don’t have any memory of those days apart from the fact that the distress of my involvement nearly drove me mad. I was the only person who knew about the letter, about Gulshan’s visit. Their parents made no mention of it, so clearly they had no idea. I couldn’t come to terms with the fact that I might have sent off their second child to his death. That I betrayed them, and my parents, by getting involved. But, I didn’t ask to get involved. I didn’t ask for it. No matter what I had done with the letter, given it, read it, torn it, given it to the parents or the Police, everything would have a repercussion, everything would have a cost. I was helpless in all this. I was betrayed! My childhood was betrayed. My home, my memories, my life… everything was betrayed. Betrayed by a bee. A bee hidden in the heart of a flower.
CURTAIN
ACT 3, SCENE 3
SUDHIN: What got into you, Viju? I’ve never seen you like that.
[VIJAY is panting like an animal, but gradually his breathing slows down and he sobers up.]
VIJAY: It was like [gasps for air] I had no control of my body. My brain watched while my hands [holds up his hands] acted on their own.
SUDHIN: You were like a beast. It took all three of us to get you off him.
VIJAY: The line between my brain and my body was severed. It felt… I felt… helpless.
SUDHIN: Helpless? You were the one who pounced on him.
VIJAY: That’s just it. I didn’t. It was all those years of anger in me that took over the wheel. All those years that I imagined what it would be like to thrash one of them, that was the force that made me pounce.
SUDHIN: So?
VIJAY: So what?
SUDHIN: Was it worth it? Did it make you feel better?
VIJAY: [Remorsefully] No. [Pause.] That feeling of losing control, I never thought it would feel like that. The feeling of hitting his flesh, of hitting his bone… [wails] oh God, why did I do that?
SUDHIN: You’ve been dreaming of it for years. You surrendered yourself willingly to such thoughts. Any civilised person should feel the way you are feeling right now. You aren’t loathsome like some of the others. You have a good heart [jokingly] despite your macho-man attitude.
VIJAY: [Looks imploringly at SUDHIN, like he is trying to understand why all this happened.] You heard what he said? He called me a traitor.
SUDHIN: That was just in rage. You said the same to him.
VIJAY: But, me? Me a traitor? [Speaks emotionally.] I have spent my entire life teaching people how to be proud of our country. I used to tell you not to skip Independence Day at school. I taught my daughter the anthem and the song. I have fought with anyone who criticised our leaders. I have spent my entire life serving my country. And he called me a traitor?
SUDHIN: That was wrong of him. But you called a soldier a traitor. Whichever way you look at it he has given much more to his country than we have to ours.
VIJAY: [Speaks in a choked voice.] His country? They tore up our country and took it. What’s patriotic about that?
SUDHIN: Now give it up, Viju. A century has turned since then and you’re still losing sleep over it. Both sides caught one end each and tore it.
VIJAY: All my life I tried to be the best son of the soil that I could, like my parents always wanted. The very core of my identity is my patriotism.
SUDHIN: I disagree.
VIJAY: [Surprised.] What?
SUDHIN: That’s not the centre of your identity. Your identity is as a husband and father, as a productive member of society, as my friend. Patriotism is the least role any of us need to play.
VIJAY: You’re speaking like a child. You know what times we are going through.
SUDHIN: For once I am not speaking like a child. If I were, I would be trying to avoid conflict. But, this is one fight I am taking a side on. Trying to be a patriot is what made you lose control, it’s what made you attack a soldier. Trying to be patriots is what has brought both countries to this time we are going through. By trying to be a patriot of this order you are just becoming a hammer looking for nails everywhere. If you must be so nationalistic why don’t you try being the patriot who fights for peace and prosperity, for understanding and dignity. That’s far more valuable than beating up a bound prisoner.
VIJAY: [Remorseful.] I shouldn’t have attacked him like that. He was tied down and I just let loose on him. Do you think he’s too badly hurt?
SUDHIN: I’m sure Shivani and Madhu will – [SHIVANI comes back to this room] – there she is. [To SHIVANI] Tell us.
VIJAY: How is he?
SHIVANI: [Clearly still angry with him.] After your brutish beating, as good as can be expected to be. Madhu will keep an eye on him until the Police arrive.
VIJAY: That’s good. I hope they take him away soon. I cannot wait for this day to end.
[They hear the sound of a jeep stopping. A moment later, someone raps on the door with a stick. Even MADHU hears it and presses her ear to the room’s door to listen.]
SUDHIN: Sounds like your prayer has been heard.
[VIJAY goes to open the door. Two Policemen come in with batons. Even though they are also uniformed officers, like JAMAAL, they have none of the dignity and admirable qualities.]
POLICEMAN 1: Were you the one who called?
VIJAY: Yes, that’s me. Thank you for coming.
POLICEMAN 2: You’ve caused quite a sensation. This is a very dangerous man.
VIJAY: I just want you to take him away from us.
POLICEMAN 1: He’s been giving you a tough time, has he?
POLICEMAN 2: We’ll give him a couple of extra whips for you. [Both Policemen laugh.]
[While the others speak in the outer room, MADHU is scared. She wonders what to do and decides to untie JAMAAL. He is taken aback. MADHU gestures to him to escape from the window.]
SHIVANI: Please don’t hurt him. He’s been through enough.
POLICEMAN 1: Oh, so he’s managed to sweet-talk your wife?
POLICEMAN 2: They are masters at seduction. They’re taught from birth how to steal our women away. [To VIJAY.] Take my suggestion, keep an eye on yours. [SHIVANI looks disgusted.]
POLICEMAN 1: [Looks at SUDHIN.] Well, let’s go. [Steps towards him with handcuffs.]
SUDHIN: [Almost whimpering] It’s not me, it’s not me. Tell them, Viju.
VIJAY: That’s my friend.
POLICEMAN 1: Are you sure? He looks shady to me.
SUDHIN: [Closes his eyes tightly] That’s just because of my eyes. It’s just how I was born. I’m not the pilot.
POLICEMAN 2: Well, where is he then?
SHIVANI: He’s in the other room.
VIJAY: Our daughter’s keeping an eye on him.
[JAMAAL climbs out of the window and escapes. MADHU looks out after him, waves, and then paces about the room with worry about what will happen to her.]
POLICEMAN 1: Your daughter?
POLICEMAN 2: [To POLICEMAN 1.] This man doesn’t sound like a responsible householder at all. [To SHIVANI.] Take us to him before it’s too late.
[They go to the inner room’s door, unlatch it and go through. They see MADHU sitting alone.]
POLICEMAN 1: Well, where is he?
VIJAY: Where’s the pilot, Madhu?
MADHU: He’s gone.
VIJAY: Gone? What do you mean?
[POLICEMAN 1 and 2 look around the room, and out the window.]
MADHU: He’s escaped from the window. He managed to get free…
SHIVANI: [Worried, clutches MADHU.] Oh, my child, are you okay?
MADHU: I’m fine.
POLICEMAN 2: Outside, quickly. [Both POLICEMEN run out of the house.]
VIJAY: I can’t believe he managed to escape. After everything that happened.
SUDHIN: At least he’s not our problem anymore.
MADHU: Ma, do you think he’ll be able to go back to his own country?
SHIVANI: I don’t know, after all every Policeman and the military will be looking for him. And we mustn’t forget, this entire affair is still a very serious matter, things are seldom simple.
VIJAY: [Thoughtfully.] Madhu?
MADHU: Yes, Papa.
VIJAY: In his weak and battered state, how did he manage to get free? And why didn’t you call out to us? [MADHU doesn’t answer.] Did you help him?
MADHU: [Quiet for some time.] I heard what they said they’ll do to him, Papa. I couldn’t let that happen. [Holds SHIVANI and cries.]
VIJAY: [Puts his hand on her shoulder.] It’s okay, Madhu. None of us knows what the right thing to do is anymore.
[The POLICEMEN return.]
POLICEMAN 1: Well, he’s gone.
POLICEMAN 2: We followed his footsteps till the grass, and then he’s disappeared.
POLICEMAN 1: We’ve alerted the forces on radio. There’s no way out for him. He’ll be caught soon.
POLICEMAN 2: But, till he is, we have some questions for you.
POLICEMAN 1: For the girl, specifically. How could you let him escape without any resistance?
POLICEMAN 2: Did you want him to get away? Did he promise you anything?
SHIVANI: What are you saying? She’s just a little girl.
POLICEMAN 1: Doesn’t look so little to me.
POLICEMAN 2: In fact, she looks just the right age to want some… [suggestively] adventure in her life.
VIJAY: [Steps up to POLICEMAN 2 aggressively.] How dare you speak like that to my daughter?
POLICEMAN 1: [Pushes him back with his baton.] You better watch yourself. You’re under suspicion too.
VIJAY: But what have I done? What have any of us done?
POLICEMAN 2: Now that there’s no prisoner to be found, you can be charged with harbouring a fugitive. It looks clear to us that your daughter helped him escape.
SUDHIN: All of us were nervous. How could she know any better?
POLICEMAN 1: Ah ha, so you admit she did something to help him escape.
SUDHIN: I … I … she never …
VIJAY: My daughter has no obligation to capture fugitives for you. When I found him there was no patrol around or else I’d have handed him over right then. We are civilians. This is not our job.
POLICEMAN 2: Not your job? Protecting your country is not your job? These are very anti-national sounding words.
POLICEMAN 1: I agree. You’re beginning to sound mighty similar to an enemy of the state. Seditious some might say.
SHIVANI: This man, my husband, is one of the most patriotic people you’ll ever meet. How can you accuse him of being anti-national? He was the first in the village to get an Aadhar card.
POLICEMAN 2: [Laughs.] Hah, Aadhar card. Sister, I don’t know your husband from Adam. All I know is what I heard him say. And to me that sounds like a traitor.
VIJAY: [Suddenly triggered.] What did you call me?
SUDHIN: Viju, no!
MADHU: Papa!
[With a yell VIJAY lunges at POLICEMAN 2. He tries to grab him but before that POLICEMAN 1 gives him a blow on the head with his baton. VIJAY yelps and drops to the floor.]
SHIVANI and SUDHIN: Vijay! MADHU: Papa!
[They all drop to the floor next to him.]
SHIVANI: [Rests his head on her lap.] He’s bleeding.
MADHU: [Shakes him.] Papa, open your eyes.
SUDHIN: What have you done? Vijay wake up.
[VIJAY groans. He’s alive.]
POLICEMAN 2: That dirty Pakistan-lover tried to attack a Policeman. He’ll pay for that.
POLICEMAN 1: Get him in the jeep and back to the station. We’ll make him tell us where the pilot is, or else…
SHIVANI: No, no, you can’t take him. He’s not done anything.
SUDHIN: He’s been under extreme stress all day. Don’t punish him for that.
MADHU: Please, uncle [folds her hands] I’m sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t stop the pilot, please don’t take my Papa.
[Everyone is crying and yelling, but the POLICEMEN don’t listen. They lift VIJAY up by his arms and begin to drag him away. But, just as they enter the outer room, JAMAAL enters.]
JAMAAL: Gentlemen, looks like you’ve got the wrong man.
[Everyone is stunned. POLICEMEN stop in their tracks. They recognise him by his suit.]
POLICEMAN 1 and 2, TOGETHER: The Pilot.
MADHU: [Runs to him.] Uncle, you’re still here?
JAMAAL: [Reassuringly puts his hand on her head.] I was right here, child, hiding on the roof. I had hoped to mislead them to go searching for me while I stayed back here. From up there I could hear everything that was going on. At the cost of rubbing it in, I must say your father appears to be an unusually volatile man. [Smiles.]
SHIVANI: Please explain to the Police how Vijay was trying to hold you until they came. Tell them he’s innocent.
JAMAAL: That is the truth, officers. For the first time in history, a prisoner is going to plead his captor’s innocence. He had nothing to do with my escape. None of them did. I acted alone.
[The POLICEMEN drop Vijay and leap over to JAMAAL. They grab and handcuff him.]
POLICEMAN 1: The whole lot is rotten. This girl is actually calling you Uncle.
POLICEMAN 2: I don’t know who we are supposed to be catching and who we are supposed to be protecting anymore.
JAMAAL: Did you ever? Maybe if you did your job well, I would lose mine.
POLICEMAN 2: Shut your mouth, you scoundrel. [Gestures to POLICEMAN 1] Get that one too. He’s also coming with us.
SUDHIN: Why do you need him? You’ve got who you came for.
POLICEMAN 2: That doesn’t change the fact that he tried to attack a Policeman.
[POLICEMAN 1 grabs VIJAY.]
SHIVANI: [Becomes fierce.] Let him go or I’ll scratch your eyes out.
POLICEMAN 1: Sister, do you want your daughter to be left parentless while you both rot in jail? [She backs down.] I thought so. Why is everyone here so hysterical?
JAMAAL: Bibi, be calm. I give you my word I will protect your husband.
POLICEMAN 2: You? [Laughs.] But, who will protect you?
JAMAAL: International law. I am a prisoner of war. If you break any law by trying to torture me, you will be thrown into a darker cell than mine. If you try to threaten this man, I will refuse to cooperate. You see, while in your little corner of the world you think you can get away by threatening civilians, once you’re in the eyes of the world you are accountable [points] to the uniform you wear. [The POLICEMEN look at each other. They are at a loss.] It’s funny that I have to say this to men of the law, but everything is not a street fight. As of the time you took me into custody, I am officially the responsibility of your state.
POLICEMAN 1: This is bogus. We’re supposed to treat a terrorist like a state guest?
JAMAAL: [Sternly.] I’m a soldier, not a terrorist.
POLICEMAN 2: [To POLICEMAN 1.] Forget it. Let’s go. [They start to take both JAMAAL and VIJAY.]
SHIVANI: Wait. [They stop. Speaks to JAMAAL.] Why are you doing this for us? Why did you sacrifice yourself for my husband?
JAMAAL: [Smiles.] I did it for your daughter. I didn’t want her to think her father went to jail because of an ungrateful guest.
[The POLICEMEN, JAMAAL, and VIJAY start to leave. Just before exiting POLICEMAN 1 speaks in a low voice.]
POLICEMAN 1: [To POLICEMAN 2] Did you notice? Don’t those paintings look familiar?
[POLICEMAN 2 thumps POLICEMAN 1 on the back and pushes him out the door and they leave.]
CURTAIN
ACT 3, SCENE 4
Two people on stage – VIJAY and JAMAAL. The stage is in darkness apart from two lights on them.
VIJAY: [Sings wistfully.] Nanha munna rahi hoon, desh ka sipahi hoon … that was the theme song for my growing up years. I used to think of myself as a soldier for my nation, even when I was five, when I was ten, when I was twenty. But, today? Today I don’t know what my country is, so what will I be a soldier for?
JAMAAL: I heard the same song, even though it was a song from another country. A country that was once us, but is now them. Before I joined the military, I used to think it is the soldier’s job to fight wars. After I joined it I realised that it’s the soldier’s job to maintain peace. It was a much harder job that I ever understood.
VIJAY: I used to think there were people in my own backyard who were a threat to the nation. Today I got dragged to jail in front of my wife and child, as a suspected enemy of the nation.
JAMAAL: A girl from the other side of the border showed me what it means to think without conditioning. I knew that my escape would have changed that family forever. By returning, I kept her faith. And a young person with faith will be more powerful tomorrow than any government.
VIJAY: My parents wanted me to commit to memory the injustices done to my people. I carried the anger of five or ten generations in my blood. How can anyone feel that much rage and adjust with the world anymore?
JAMAAL: I pledged my life to the nation, but I didn’t think people would take my life for granted. I am not a bomb to be hurled so people can clap when it explodes, to fulfil the prophecy of politicians or news anchors.
VIJAY: No one tells you when you’ve handed your decision-making over to others. There’s no dotted line where you sign, there’s no pledge you take with your hand on your heart. It just happens. I stopped being my own self, seeing what I saw, hearing what I heard. Instead I only saw and heard what others instructed me to. I wasn’t experiencing my life, instead I was validating theirs.
JAMAAL: No matter what people say, animosity and fighting solves nothing. Pain and shame linger forever. New enemies are born out of old resentments. Aggression has never led to tenable peace. Chest-thumping and ridiculing has only made everyone’s words hollow.
VIJAY: Nothing in my life resembled the stories I’d heard. Just because everyone had told me to blame others for my problems, I did that without questioning. My needs, my priorities were overwritten by theirs until I was no more than a puppet. One among millions of strung up citizens. And I was passing that burden on to my child.
JAMAAL: Peace has to come from within. No one can win it in a fight. Every soldier needs to feel they will return home after their service. You must pledge to protect our lives, just like we have pledged to protect yours.
[SHIVANI walks on to the stage.]
SHIVANI: I cannot remain trapped by my past any longer. I owe it to myself and my child to try to imagine a future that’s free from lies and suspicion.
[SUDHIN walks on to the stage.]
SUDHIN: I didn’t find peace in passivity. I stuck by my friends and refused to let maliciously constructed walls divide us. I will not let governments choose who my friends are.
[MADHU walks on to the stage.]
MADHU: I have a lot to contribute to our shared future, but I cannot also carry the burden of righting history’s wrongs for you. Please, just let me be the best version of myself, not society’s little wind-up toy soldier.
VIJAY: If you chain yourself to hatred, you’ll never know the relief of acceptance. [Pause.] That’s our bit anyway. Yours is up to you.
CURTAIN
END OF PLAY