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Act 3, Scene 1 (CHAAND BAGH / THE VEIL)
Lights up.
Man: Is there a Mohammadan here?
(Everyone is silent. No one moves. Gulbadan is still asleep. Tyagi casually covers him with a blanket.)
Tyagi: Done? (Reaching for the scissors.)
(The Man pulls the scissors away. He is holding a large, folded object in his other hand.)
Man: I’ll keep that.
(Pause.)
What am I asking? Is there a— (bursts out laughing)
Saheb, I have to check, right?
Tyagi: What?
Man: Have you seen this? (Shows his phone, which is not a smartphone.)
Tyagi (reads the message from the phone): It’s bullsh*t. Go to sleep.
Man: Saheb, have you looked outside?
Four buses have already arrived. These Mohammadans are planning a big attack on us!
Tyagi: We have six buses of people ready, and they're the ones planning an attack?
Man: Saheb, we have one bus that's going for a Delhi tour from 8 AM to 11 AM. After lunch, we need to be here by 12.
DS: Come, sit.
Tyagi: No, you can leave.
DS: Come and sit here.
Tyagi: No.
(The Man is surprised.)
Man: Any problem, Saheb? Aren’t you from— (shows another message)
Tyagi: I’m not. He is.
(The Man immediately goes to DS and touches his feet.)
DS: What is it?
Man: They told us, Saheb, all arrangements will be done. Senior members are here. Feels like a pilgrimage in Hardwar.
So, Saheb, what do we have to do?
(Tyagi wakes Gulbadan. Gulbadan looks around in surprise, still in pain. Tyagi gestures for them to step out together. Gulbadan stands, holding onto Tyagi.)
Man: Where are you going, Saheb?
(Tyagi ignores him and keeps walking.)
Man: The bus is only at 8 AM! No one can get out of this lane before then!
(Tyagi continues walking.)
Man (to DS): Sir, tell your friend. (Pause.) What happened to the boy?
(DS stays silent. He looks at Tyagi. Tyagi pauses, hoping DS doesn’t say that Aftaab is Muslim.)
DS: Nothing. He’s feeling slightly unwell.
Man: Oh ho. Tell the police bhais, sir. They will help you. You’re lucky, you can come and go.
We’ve come for work. We can’t go anywhere, can’t even eat when we want.
(Tyagi and Aftaab reach the door.)
Man: They’ll just check for Muslims. Otherwise, all good. You can go in case of an emergency, sir.
Tyagi: There are no Muslims this side. What is there to check?
Man: Arre, sir, you don’t know these people. They’re everywhere. Especially city Muslims.
(Pause.)
Saheb, are you the area in charge?
(DS looks at Tyagi.)
DS: No, I’m just—
Man: Sir, please help us, sir.
DS: I’m no one. I’m just here.
Man: Sir, please, sir. Can you help us?
(Pause.)
DS: Food?
Man: No, no, Saheb. We can’t eat until tomorrow evening.
DS: Why?
Man: If we eat, then the fire goes down, Saheb. This work is all about fire. That’s why we have fasting in Hinduism. Mohammadans have Ramzan.
(Pause. He takes out the folded map from his hand.)
Man: Sir, you’re from Delhi. Please suggest some places to see between 8 AM and 12 PM.
DS: You want to go sightseeing?**Act 3, Scene 1 (continued)**
Man: We've come for the first time, Saheb. All the way from Western UP. And they gave us only 4 hours for sightseeing.
But thankfully, there's a bus arranged.
DS: How many have come from your village?
Man: Sir, from my district, about 4 buses.
More are coming. These Mohammadans, sir—they’re a real—
(Tyagi leaves with Gulbadan, but they can still be seen outside the door, tentatively looking around as if deciding whether they can leave.)
DS: Not all Muslims are bad, you know.
Man: Exactly, sir. Exactly my point.
(Pause.)
DS: ...
Man: In our village, we live together. No problem. We live next to each other.
DS: Then?
Man: But you people are suffering, no, Saheb? And for the country, what's more important than Delhi?
DS: We are suffering?
Man: See, sir, see— (He shows DS a bunch of messages. DS takes his phone and looks at them.)
Sir, do you think Qutub Minar will open that early?
DS: Since when have you been getting these messages?
Man: Sir?
DS: These messages?
Man: They keep coming, Saheb. The last 15 days, things have become clearer. They gave us a gas cylinder too. Our wives were dying with that coal stove.
DS: Listen, not all Muslims are actually doing anything wrong. These messages are—
Man: How many people does it take to destroy something, sir? How many were there in Ravan’s army? Just a handful, but what did they do? They took our mother and kept her captive for 14 years.
These Muslims are like that, sir. Always after our mothers and sisters.
DS: But you said—
Man: Not in my village, sir. There, we’ve lived together for years.
(Pause.)
DS: Qutub Minar can be seen from outside.
Man: Oh, good. So no problem. Sir, what else?
DS: If you start on that side of the city, you can go to...
Man: If we leave at 8, how long will it take to get there, sir?
DS: An hour. At least.
Man: Oh ho, that’s too far, sir. We have to come back, take a shower, then cross the Nullah. God knows when we'll get anything to eat once it all starts.
DS: ...
Man: Sir, what is that temple?
DS: Birla Mandir?
Man: Yes, sir.
DS: That’s closer. But it’ll still take at least half an hour.
Man: So we can see that on the way back?
DS: Yes.
Man: The other temple, sir.
DS: Which one?
Man: The one where you have to sit quietly?
DS: Lotus Temple.
Man: Yes, yes, sir. Some of us want to see that too.
DS: What will you do in the Lotus Temple? It’s not Hindu. And the ticket itself is—
Man: Our ticket is paid for, sir. We’re doing so much for the country, the country will do something for us too, no?
(DS continues to keep an eye on the outside.)
Man: Any market, sir?
DS: What market?
Man: Not too expensive, of course. But somewhere we can buy some things for home. I’ve come before, but for many, it’s their first time in Delhi. So if we could take something for our wives and families... You know how it is back home. (Laughs.)
DS: Sarojini Market. Opens at 10. You can go there, then to Lotus Temple, and return via Birla Mandir.
Man: 10? I was told Delhi never sleeps.
DS: That’s Bombay. Delhi sleeps—a lot.
(The Man laughs.)
Man: I liked your clothes, sir. Fish! (Laughs.)
(DS smiles awkwardly.)
Man: That boy—is he your son?
DS: Ah... yes, yes. Like my son.
Man: Oh. See, sir, both of us are getting messages. (Laughs.)
(DS looks at his messages.)
DS: F*ck!
Man: Sir?
DS: Nothing, nothing.
Man: See, sir, my message. They’ve arranged a visit to a fair on the way back! (Laughs.)
DS: You can go to a fair, but you can’t eat? (Laughs.)
Man: Stomach and mind are very closely connected, sir. It’s always the hungry who win a war.
(Pause.)
DS: When are you going back?
Man: Don’t know, Saheb. (Opens the map.) See, it’s a big area. Four or five lanes are completely Mohammadan. The first two nights are okay, but later they’ll get support from Pakistan. Then it takes time.
(Pause.)
This Pakistan, sir—what’s your opinion on it?
DS: Go to sleep.
Man: Sorry, sir, if I said something I shouldn’t have.
DS: No, no. It’s okay. Go.
Man: Sir, these women who are protesting—have you seen them?
DS (Laughs.): They’re all veiled. No one can see them.
Man: I don’t understand, sir. What’s there to hide so much? If you want to do something, at least do it openly.
Have you seen this one, sir? (Shows another message.)
About how Rana Pratap lost. Have you?
DS: Yes, I got that message. (Checks his phone again.) Oh my!
Man: What, sir? You’re getting some party messages I’m not?
DS: This is the NRI group, you idiot.
Man: NRI?
DS: Non-Resident Indian.
Man: Not Indian?
DS: Indian, but foreigner.
Man: Foreigner Indian? White?
DS: No, no. Looks like you and me, but lives abroad.
Man: Oh, Gulf?
DS: Gulf, London, America.
Man: What are they saying, sir?
DS: Overnight, the party received 5 crores!
Man: They’re rich people, sir. We’ve come to work for our country—they should support us.
The Mohammadans must be getting money too, sir. From all these sultans, from the Pakistan Army, and—
DS: You think so?
Man: Yes, sir.
DS: I’ll tell you something.
Man: Yes?
DS: These Muslims are barbarians. They’ll eat you alive if you go to their area.
(The Man starts laughing loudly.)
Man: Sorry, sir. Sorry. You’re just—
DS: If you go into their area, they’ll tear your nails out.
(The Man keeps laughing.)
(DS walks away from him to another side of the room, close to the window, with his phone. He texts while speaking.)
DS: Have you told your family you’re coming?
Man: Yes, sir.
DS: What did you say?
Man: I told them I’m going to solve the Kashmir issue! (Laughs.)
(Suddenly, the Man gets a message. He reads it.)
Man: Sir!
DS: What?**Act 3, Scene 1 (continued)**
Man: You’re right, sir. You’re right.
DS: What?
Man: My God! Bloody bastards. Cannibals.
DS: ...
Man: See. (He shows his message.)
DS: You believe this?
Man: Of course, sir. It’s from the Party office!
DS: Anyone could have sent it, though.
Man: But I know who sent it, sir.
DS: Who?
Man: Our leader. (He folds his hands and prays.) The Supreme.
DS: How do you know?
Man: He’s talking to me, sir. Directly. Whenever he speaks, I feel it—every one of us feels it. Don’t you feel, sir, like he’s talking to you directly?
DS: Yes, yes, I do.
Man: I feel it, sir. This is his language.
DS: You think he sent it?
Man: Of course. He’s saying the same thing you said, just with more authority.
DS: These are exactly the same words I used.
Man: Is it?
DS: Yes.
Man: But the voice is different.
DS: I see.
Man: We have to be careful. Maybe I should carry some acid.
DS: Acid?
Man: They are women, right? Burn their faces?
DS: Acid can spill.
Man: Oh.
DS: I wish you had gas. Some kind of gas.
Man: Yes, sir. Gas would’ve been good. When we become a developed nation, we’ll get gas.
We have rods and knives. Three trucks of bricks and one truck of soda bottles are coming.
DS: This area is dangerous. They might have guns.
Man: You know what Arjuna said to Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita?
(Pause.)
Sir? You know what—
DS: What, what?
Man: Nothing can get past me if you are my charioteer. (He folds his hands and prays to the sky.)
DS: Have you read it?
Man: What?
DS: The Gita?
Man: No, sir.
DS: Then?
Man: It came on the group, sir. The Party has many learned people. They have agencies and companies that study the Gita.
Experts send messages.
DS: Oh.
Man: We can also use bottles, sir. Glass is very sharp. They get better quality, too.
DS: Have you done this before?
Man: Yes, sir. Thrice. My dream is to be like you, sir.
DS: What?
Man: To be able to send the money. To send the messages. To do it but not actually have to throw the bottle. That’s real power.
DS: I haven’t killed anybody.
(The Man laughs.)
DS: I’ve never done anything like that. You people don’t understand Hinduism at all. It’s not a religion, it’s a—
(The Man cannot stop laughing.)
DS: ...
Man: Sir... Sir... Sir... (Laughing.)
DS: What?
Man: If you’re saying this sitting here in Delhi, can you imagine what those people sitting in other countries say?
DS: I want to be like them. Look at them—they have real money. They have real power. I can’t even keep a stupid job in this country... where everything is falling apart. I want to be them.
Man: And I want to be you.
(Pause.)
You know what Krishna tells Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita, sir?
(DS looks at him.)
Man: Everything will come to me. Everything has gone from me. Everything will come back to me. It is all the same. You and me.
DS: You received this on a message, too?
Man: No, sir. This I have read. With my own eyes.
---
ACT 3, Scene 2
(Saquina’s house in the Muslim side of Seelampur. Naajma is sitting next to the makeshift hammock, swinging the baby. It is 4 am. Silence.)
(Saquina walks in, sits down at the table, takes off her shawl. She looks distraught. Naajma looks at her, as if asking a question.)
Saquina: Did Rukhsar come here?
Naajma: Yes.
Saquina: What did she say?
Naajma: She asked me to stay indoors.
Saquina: Yes.
Naajma: What happened?
Saquina: He didn’t come.
Naajma: Phone?
Saquina: I can’t get through to him anymore.
Naajma: What is it saying?
Saquina: Switched off. (Pause.) So irresponsible. Let him die.
Naajma: At a friend’s, perhaps?
Saquina: Where else? All day, just friends. All the loafers of Seelampur are his friends. He used to be good at studies, but now even that’s gone. Wants to be an engineer. Is it that easy to be an engineer? He tells me he has to buy forms. I’m saving day and night so he can appear for exams, and here is my son—gone for the day and the night, and no one knows where.
Naajma: Who called you?
Saquina: A friend.
Naajma: From which phone?
Saquina: From his phone.
Naajma: Why would a friend call from his phone?
Saquina: I don’t know. Maybe he gambles. Maybe he’s into women. Or plays cards, or drugs. Must’ve had to sell his phone. Who knows? Everything is available to him. Mother earns food, brother sends pocket money, sister buys gifts. He just has to be here and live like a king.
(Saquina suddenly goes to the cabinet where the television is kept, opens it, and rummages through some papers. She throws them out, then pulls out a small notebook and starts looking through it.)
Naajma: Are the lanes closed?
Saquina: If he doesn’t return, he shouldn’t return for a few days. At least he should know to call one more time.
Naajma: Is Chaand Bagh over?
Saquina: If Chaand Bagh were over, we wouldn’t be closing the lanes.
Naajma: Why are the lanes closing?
Saquina: The police have withdrawn. It’s now the second line.
Naajma: First?
Saquina: Buses have arrived. Bricks, blades, and batons.
Naajma: Hindus?
Saquina: Hindus from other places. When the Partition happened, we butchered our neighbors. The Party learns from history. Now, we butcher other people’s neighbors.
Act 3, Scene 2 (continued)
Naajma: Will we be safe here?
Saquina: I’ll give you something to be safe.
Naajma: What?
(Saquina looks at the notebook keenly.)
Saquina: What is he keeping accounts of?
Naajma: ...
Saquina: A thousand, thousand five hundred... What has he bought? (Mumbling to herself.)
Naajma: Is it his?
Saquina: Yes. There’s no one’s number I can call. Nobody. But here are these accounts of something he’s been buying.
Naajma: Show me.
Saquina: We earn day in and day out, and he goes and... This is what happens when you protect your children too much.
The two elder ones know what costs how much.
He’s the youngest, so he never knows. Takes money from here and there and spends thousands of rupees on God knows what. See.
(Naajma looks at it.)
Naajma: I cannot read.
Saquina: Oh, yes.
(Naajma turns the pages.)
Naajma: But he’s been writing this list over and over again, and it’s getting shorter.
Saquina: You should leave tonight.
Naajma: Where?
Saquina: From behind. You don’t have to stay here and face this.
Naajma: You have no idea what I’m coming from.
Saquina: You’ve seen prison. This will be hell.
Naajma: Will they come into the houses?
Saquina: Two months ago, we had the census.
Naajma: ...
Saquina: They’ll have maps. Lane by lane. House by house.
Naajma: I’ll be here.
Saquina: You have a small child. Leave.
Naajma: And go where? To die somewhere else? Sit in another Chaand Bagh until it’s attacked? (Pause.)
I am with you. Let’s get your daughter home.
Saquina: My children are the three most stubborn Muslims in the world. One won’t leave his unit, the second won’t leave her protest, and the third won’t call his mother. (Laughs.)
Naajma: Is this your son? (Finds a picture of him posing without a shirt between some papers.)
Saquina (looks at it carefully): Yes, mad. He’s just mad. I don’t know what— (Not taking it too seriously.)
Naajma: Does he have lipstick on?
Saquina (looks at it closely): Yes. (She dials a number. The phone rings. Rukhsar picks up on the other side.)
Are you coming home? (Pause.) Did he call you? How many of you are there?
(Pause.) Press? Press cars are returning? Why?
Come back home. Come home, Rukhsar. Listen to me. Will one of you at least listen to me!
(Pause.) I found a picture of Aftaab. In which you’ve dressed him up with makeup and lipstick.
(Pause.) You haven’t?
You know this picture—it’s in an old plastic cover.
In the... you don’t know?
Yes, yes, it’s just a picture.
If he calls you, tell me immediately.
(She sits with the photo in her hand and the diary.)
Naajma: Children play games. All sorts of games. It’s their—
(Saquina quickly calls Rukhsar again. Her phone rings.)
Saquina: Rukhsar... (Pauses.) Did you go with Aftaab to buy any of his forms?
(Silence.) You gave him money? (Pause.) Maybe Mohsin sent?
(Silence.)
(On the other side, Rukhsar is saying something. There is a huge commotion.)
(She disconnects the phone and sits quietly.)
(Long pause.)
*(Her phone buzzes. She looks at it. There’s a message. She opens it immediately and sits stern.)
(Long pause.)
Saquina: You want to be here with your child?
Naajma: What happened?
(Saquina goes to a drawer in her house, takes out a strip of pills, and hands it to Naajma.)
Saquina: If I don’t come back soon and the riot starts, make sure you always have one of these with you.
Naajma: What? (She looks at it in horror.)
Saquina: All mobs of men are looking for the same thing.
This pill makes sure you don’t have one of theirs.
(Pause.)
In detention centers, the law was against you. Over here, the ordinary, powerless, broken Indian man is. This is his moment. He becomes himself in a mob.
We are sitting in Chaand Bagh to make sure that the law and this man do not become one.
Naajma: Where are you going?
(She shows the message she received to Naajma.)
Naajma: I’ll come with you.
Saquina: It says, "Ammi, come and take me home."
Forever. I have only heard him say, "Ammi, let me go."
(Pause.)
You be with your child.
---
Act 4
(3 am. Lodge. The Man is pressing DS’s leg, sitting on the floor. DS is seated, looking at his phone. The Man, too, has a phone in one hand. Both are continuously checking messages they are receiving or sending. There is a sound of some commotion outside the window. DS looks up towards the window, tries to figure out what it is, then goes back to his phone. He extends the other leg. The Man continues to press.)
Man: Pawan is coming too.
DS: Who?
Man: Pushpa’s brother.
DS: Who is Pushpa?
Man: My Mrs.
DS: Pawan is coming here?
Man: He got my message. (Smiles.) He’ll come by tomorrow evening. Has to catch a bus from Haldwani. Lucky, he’ll eat and come.
DS: He’s coming by public bus?
Man: Party buses have left, saheb.
DS: Okay? Press harder. Below the ankle.
(The Man looks at DS, slightly irritated, but accepts and goes back to pressing.)
Man: Party buses are good, saheb. Now there are some AC buses, too.
DS: AC is not good for health.
Man: Party doesn’t switch it on, saheb.
DS: Then?
Man: But AC bus is AC bus. The speaker is also better.
DS: You like music?
Man: Music is my life.
DS: What music do you like?
Man: Mohammed Rafi. Ghulam Ali. Rahman.
DS: You like movies?
Man: Yes, sir, of course. Movies are my life.
DS: Which ones?
Man: Shahrukh, Salman, Katrina.
DS: Sports?
Man: Cricket, sir. Cricket is my life.
DS: Who do you like?
Act 4 (continued)
Man: I used to like Sachin.
DS: Then?
Man: Heard he married a Muslim girl.
DS: What?
Man: Like Gavaskar.
DS: Gavaskar got married many years ago.
Man: All these Marathi cricketers, sir, marry Muslims.
DS: How do you know?
Man (shows his phone): Mobile, sir. Mobile zindabad.
DS: I like that you care about the country, but you have to be logical. This is not—
Man: You like cricket, sir?
DS: No.
Man: Movies?
DS: No time.
Man: Music?
DS: Sometimes.
Man: Whose music?
DS: Old songs. Pull my toes.
(Man pulls his toes.)
DS: Gavaskar is not married to a Muslim, and that’s not the issue.
Man: Sir?
DS: I am saying—
Man: I have nothing against Muslims. I like some.
DS: Same here.
Man: I think some Muslims are good.
DS: I think there are some bad Hindus too. Your left hand is weak, or what?
Man: Sorry, sir.
DS: What is your caste?
Man: We are—
DS: Stop. Stop.
Man: Sir?
DS: Don’t tell me. I don’t believe in caste.
Man: Of course, sir.
DS: If you tell me you’re from some very low caste, will I be able to let you touch me? (Laughs.)
(The man joins in. Both laugh.)
Man: Your caste, Saheb?
DS: I am a Hindu. That’s all. Hindu. No caste. No lower caste, for sure. But Hindu. Everyone is Hindu. Buddha was a Hindu. Jesus was a Hindu. Mahavira was a Hindu. All avatars of Vishnu.
Man: Mohammad?
DS: Mohammad who?
Man: Arre Saheb. Mohammad, Mohammad. The Prophet.
DS: I don’t think he was Hindu.
Man: Even I don’t think so.
DS: Why do you think he wasn’t a Hindu?
Man: He had many wives. Hindus have only one wife.
DS: Many Hindus have many wives. You are really—
Man: No, that way my father had two wives, sir. And one more who he never married. But not like the Muslims.
DS: Yes. My father too had... well, not actually. He liked women. Didn’t have many wives like the Muslims.
Man: So, Mohammad wasn’t Hindu.
DS: No, I don’t think so. But it worries me that you believe everything so blindly.
Man: You’re educated, Saheb. What do we know?
DS: India is for everyone. Not just for Hindus.
Man: But sir, still...
DS: What?
Man: Gavaskar shouldn’t have married a Muslim girl. See what Tendulkar learned.
DS: This is what I’m saying. Your information is wrong. Here, this finger, a little more pressure.
(Man presses one of his fingers harder.)
DS: You shouldn’t believe everything blindly. There are a lot of people in the party spreading rumors. That won’t help the country.
Man: Sir, can I have some water, please? At least. (DS gives him water.) I find this the hardest—starving till the end of day one.
DS: What is the rumor, sir?
DS: Like caste is a rumor. There is no caste in Hinduism. There is work. We are divided by work, not by—
Man: Sir, if there’s no caste, why am I pressing your feet all night, Saheb?
(Pause.)
DS: You can stop whenever you want to.
Man: The moment I stop, sir, without you asking me to stop, I will have to think of myself as a rebel.
(DS laughs.)
DS: So rebel.
Man: If I rebel, I have to rebel against Hindus and be in a riot against Muslims. Where will I go, Saheb? (Laughs.)
DS: No, no... sit next to me. Come. (Lifts him up and makes him sit next to him.) We are equal in the eyes of God. God does not think—
(Man sits down again.)
Man: No, Saheb.
DS: No, no. I won’t let you feel that you’re a slave to my—
Man: Saheb, you must be from a higher caste. You cannot say you don’t believe in—
DS: I am a Hindu, and I don’t believe in caste.
Man: Will you let me marry your daughter, then?
DS: No, no. That’s not the—
Man: Suppose I was rich and loved your daughter, and she loved me?
DS: Don’t make this personal. I am saying that—
Man: You’re okay with Tendulkar marrying a Muslim girl, but...
DS: