Bureaucrat Scared The Cat

BUREAUCRAT: SCARED THE CAT

Excerpt: When I see their expensive scooters, and invaluable cars… I drift away somewhere into my thoughts. It all appears to be so shiny, and beautiful. But at the end of the day it is all material. After all, happiness comes to them in so many shades, but for the poor, there is only one shade of happiness. Some change for the poor? Some change for the poor…

 

ACT 1

Scene 1

Manohar and Sen are good friends riding on a scooter to work. Sen is five years older than Manohar and they work together as technicians in the Civil Engineering Department. The scooter belongs to Sen and has just been bought by him from his savings.

On a bright morning that has lit the air as clear as something transparent, the city traffic has made their thoughts unclear. They are stuck at a red light. It is getting difficult from them to breathe inside their helmets. They are two good law abiding citizens who have immense respect for the system. Sen is an otherworldly character while Manohar is slightly naïve but an example of a realist.   

Manohar: (Remembering) I could’ve sworn that the lady on the metro said that I was cute. Though she should have said “thank you” when I offered her my seat. I was meaning to save that seat for myself.

Sen: (turns around to look at Manohar’s face that is shaped like the head of a pig inside the helmet) It was very kind of you to offer her your seat, but I don’t think anyone would find you attractive let alone accept it out loud in public.

Manohar: (wonderfully) It was really crowded too, being a Sunday and all of that. But at least Kapil Kumar’s wedding happened with some notable extravagance.

Sen: (shocked) Kapil Kumar could afford an extravagant wedding! I was under the impression he came from a family of peasants.

Manohar: Yes, he does belong to a family of farmers but the government reimbursed his family quite well when his father committed suicide after a bad harvest.

Sen: I don’t know whether to rejoice at the way things fell into place for him, or to condemn the circumstances under which he paid for his marriage.

Manohar: (mockingly) Sometimes I feel the same about my own marriage and how I paid for it. Surely the cost of marriage is unimaginable.

Sen: Again, I wouldn’t know what to say to that. (Excruciatingly) Oh damn that rich brat! Look at how he is driving! He’s the only one sitting inside! He could have taken a bus, or the metro. These rich brats have made these streets of the city their homes, carrying everything from bags to buckets in their cars.

Manohar: Sen, you should say he’s moving around the city inside an air conditioner!

Pause.

Sen: (propping up) I think I see the traffic moving.

Manohar: I’m sure there’s a bunch of cows sitting in the middle of the street.

Sen puts the scooter in gear with a start and sways it further up the road then halts. A beggar approaches them asking for some change so that she could eat a chapatti or two.

Beggar: Sahib, sahib… Some change for the poor. Some change for the poor. It’s been two days… haven’t had anything to eat.

Manohar: (clutches to his bag tightly) Move along, we have nothing to spare.

Sen: Speak for yourself Manohar, I have quite a lot of money in my wallet.

Manohar: Well it would certainly make things a lot easier if you wouldn’t mention a thing like that in front of someone who needs the money more than you do. (looks at the poor lady disgustingly) Go ask someone from one of those fancy restaurants there.

Beggar: They wouldn’t let people like us enter their shops. They will throw me out of there at once.

Sen: What do you mean people like us?

Beggar: Only the poor can help the poor, you know that sahib.

Manohar: Don’t call him a sahib, he really hasn’t achieved anything, really, to be given that kind of respect.

Sen: (props up on his scooter again) Poor lady, you must move along now. The traffic has started moving, some unobservant driver will run you over. If you keep standing here begging people to feed you some chapatti they are going to treat you with disgust.

The beggar walks away to the side quickly and the two are off again on the scooter.

Beggar: (Speaks to the audience) When I see their expensive scooters, and invaluable cars… I drift away somewhere into my thoughts. It all appears to be so shiny, and beautiful. But at the end of the day it is all material. After all, happiness comes to them in so many shades, but for the poor, there is only one shade of happiness. Some change for the poor? Some change for the poor…

Beggar exits. Sen and Manohar are still stuck in traffic.

Manohar: I think we’ll be able to make the turn this time. If we are left behind before the signal turns red you’ll definitely lose your mind.

The scooter jerks a little but they are able to gain speed and exit onto the service lane that takes them straight to the office. In the parking lot, Manohar gets off and Sen parks his brand new scooter behind an unattended hedge that has dried out because of the harshness of the autumn season. Holding their helmets Sen and Manohar comb their hair and replace their combs in their pants.

Sen: I’d been holding onto a piss for such a long time now that it has become difficult for me to even walk. I can feel a nerve stretching from my groin to my belly button and it is a pain to imagine the stairs I will have to climb to get to the bathroom.

Manohar: Well you can’t really urinate under the tree there, can you?

Sen: (points to a tree beyond the parking compound) Urinating on that tree would be against my morals and you know that perfectly well, don’t be such an amateur. You have known me for a decent amount of time and I can expect this much sensibility from you. It’s not that much to ask is it?

Manohar: (sighs) Very well, it was a mere suggestion waiting to be ridiculed. Let us go then.

Suddenly Prakash, the supervisor to these technicians arrives on his bike and honks at them several times. He is signaling them to stop and wait for him. He stops at a distance. He leisurely strolls towards them empty handedly. His safari suit is eye catching and his heavy mustache an ornament on his face.

Prakash: Good day men, there is much work to be done today. I was expecting to meet the two of you upstairs but I have seen your faces before time, nevermind that.

Sen: (trying to flatter his superior) It is always a delight to see you too sahib.

Prakash: (inquires formally) Where is the third?

Sen: Tahir couldn’t come today he is sick with pneumonia. It has passed two days since we found out.

Prakash: That is a pity.

Manohar: It is dangerous indeed that he might fall sick at the time of promotion. Everyone has been working so hard recently to meet the tenders and the promotion was his right.

Prakash: There is nothing such as rights in this country, what we get is privileges against which we are deeply accountable. I believe it is time for duty and before we proceed I must make it completely clear that the board will decide what to do about this case and their decision will be the final decision. I can try and convince them that justice be done so that Tahir can get what he factually claims.

Prakash leaves.

Sen: I actually feel giddy that the beggar called me sahib.

Manohar: If it is so then it is safe for me to say that all sahib are ignorant powerless puppets dancing to the tunes of bigger, slightly more powerful puppets than themselves. The whole deal of life is scrambled onto a game of snakes and ladders where chance plays its role for puppets come and puppets die. Poor Tahir! let us keep hope that he of all people gets the best out of this city. He’d come such a long way from his village. I hope he keeps his health and his wealth.

Sen: (irritably) Leave it to those who have a say in it, let’s climb up the stairs so that I can take a leak in peace.

 

ACT 1

Scene 2

A compact space in an office where much of the city’s maintenance is recorded and acted upon. There are several desks each occupied with people who are busy looking at files and flipping the pages. Prakash is standing next to one of the big glass windows, sipping hot tea and watching over the clergymen. There are big white wooden cupboards on both sides and a standing fan next to them. Papers are flying under round glass paperweights. A typist is busy ticking the words of Prakash into the format of a letter addressing the water board. The typist follows.

Prakash: … I hope you will act on it quickly, our work is pending because of your action, kindly respond in action and not in words. Yours sincerely, Prakash, supervisor NDMC (pause) did you get it alright? Post it to them right away, we cannot delay the repair work any further because of some water tanker that has been standing at the work site since who knows when.

The typist leaves without uttering a single word. Manohar and Sen place their baggage in its right place and move closer to Prakash with keen interest.

Sen: Sahib, about the promotions.

Prakash: Small talk can wait its turn Sen, I am more occupied today than I had expected. Where is Kapil Kumar? Send him to me at once.

Manohar: (slyly) He is on leave sahib he got married last night, you see.

Prakash: (clutches his head and then speaks to address Manohar) Then I believe I will have to send you out in the field as soon as possible. I have received complaint letters from different areas and I deduce that they are facing the same problem of a sewage breakdown. It is essential work that needs to be done and some labor has already been sanctioned. They will obey to your orders.

Manohar: (takes a notepad from his pocket and starts scribbling) Where do I go sahib?

Prakash: First right turn from the lane outside children’s park…

Manohar: (interrupts) It will be my first time handing out orders like this.

Prakash: I’m sure you will get used to it, everybody does. Will you take the bus?

Sen: (looks at Sen for assistance) Will he be idle?

Prakash: No, I am sending Sen to the Market, he will have to do the same there. If you guys need any help ask the labor to stop immediately and send them to me, I will tell them what to do. Although I hope it shall not come to that. They might die of fatigue if you told them to come and see me.

Manohar: Okay, I will take the bus to this place and start the repairs at once.

Prakash: Be careful, a water tank has been left abandoned on the site, one which had been allotted by the water supply department to wash the overflowing filth. I have sent orders to have it removed at once. It is required also at the overflowing sewer at the Market. Would you believe it, the driver has eloped from the scene to who knows where. The laborers have reached already but the work is suspended till the water tanker is moved around. (pause) If Kapil Kumar was here he would know exactly what to do, but I’m sure you will manage this assignment that originally doesn’t belong to your area of expertise. I wish you luck and ask for your leave as I haven’t yet eaten any breakfast. I will be in the canteen, you can come to me if you find something you haven’t quite understood as to what needs to be done.

Prakash gallantly walks away.

Manohar: (exclaims) I simply cannot believe that I will be pointing at things and yelling out orders at people to fix them.

Sen: If it was electrical work, I believe you would’ve been on the other end of the happening. So, accord the labor with the courtesy you would expect to have been accorded with.

Manohar: (kindly) But something else is on my mind altogether. I was thinking of visiting Tahir at his house after work today.

Sen: Is that true?

Manohar: (quickly) Yes-yes! The sick man hasn’t any idea for medicines and treatment.

Sen: (suggests) Take money from me and buy the man some fruits.

They reach for the drawers on their desks and take out their reflector jackets; pushing them down their heads they wear their yellow plastic helmets as well. They pick up their baggage and fling it over their shoulders.

Manohar: I will go then, I’m slightly nervous I must say. Sahib has made it sound easier than the job actually would be.

Sen: Such is the way with bureaucracy. (pause) So, you will take the bus to Tahir’s house as well I suppose, yes?

Manohar: I will see you at the flat at night then.

Sen: (humorously) Ofcourse you will, you have nowhere else to go. I however, must visit the bathroom.

They disperse.

 

ACT-1

Scene 3

Manohar is kneeling on the footpath outside children’s park. It is evening. The sky is slightly grey and the traffic is bustling. He is comforting a child who is sobbing. With his arm placed on the child’s shoulder Manohar is asking questions. Ice cream vendors are staring at them in curiosity but Manohar is left alone in the corner with this boy who is calling himself Rajesh and repeating again and again that he has been left behind by his family. A mild neon green tint from the ice cream stands reflects off of their skins. Manohar has bought the boy an orange ice-lolly and a pink balloon to calm him down.

Rajesh: Mummy and Papa said that I wasn’t a good boy and that I will have to be left behind!

Manohar: (sympathetically) Do you remember where you live? Don’t you have any siblings?

Rajesh: (mimics) Hello, my name is Rajesh. I am 10 years old. I live in New Delhi.

Manohar: (stutters blankly) New Delhi… is a very big place Rajesh!

Rajesh: So will I never be able to get back home to my favorite toys?

Manohar: No, I’m afraid not. I will hand you over to that policeman who is standing over there (points in a particular direction) he will know what to do with you. You will come with me to the policeman?

Rajesh: (bellows) Why would I go to a policeman? I haven’t done anything wrong. I promise I have been a good boy.

Manohar: I am sure you have. It’s your parent’s fault they left you behind like that. Don’t cry now (gets up to his feet) If they see you crying like this, while I’m around, they might put the blame on me. Do one thing, cross the road and tell the policeman standing next to that patrol car there that you are lost. They will find your mummy and papa and send you back to them. Can you do that? It’s not that dangerous. Just cross the road when I tell you to, and you will be fine.

Rajesh: (points at the patrol car with his index finger) That car there?

Manohar: Yes. I have somewhere to be, I’m sorry I will not be able to come with you, I really am sorry.

The traffic signal turns red and the transport stops. Manohar pushes the boy on his back and Rajesh with his orange ice-lolly and his balloon leaves from his side. Manohar sighs deeply and ignores the ice cream vendors who’re smirking at him in unison.  

 

ACT-2

Scene 1

A small room with its walls painted pale indigo. On the side, a weak man, Tahir is resting on a folding bed with his arms stretched above his head. Manohar is sitting beside him on a folding chair. There is a strange temporal heat in the air. Tahir is sweating heavily. Following his absence from the office he is worried about the promotion. At this point Manohar has sliced an apple onto a plate and is offering it to Tahir’s mouth. On the left, there is a center table dimly lit by a lamp. A wooden window with a broken glass is shut on the back wall. Next to it is Tahir’s self portrait with pencil on paper. The room is in disarray with various plumbing tool lying on the floor here and there.

Manohar: It was quite a ruckus outside this evening.

Tahir: (expectantly) Was there really… What happened?

Manohar: Oh yes, I was light as a feather in the morning, now however I am burdened and beaten down. Not as much as you I suppose?

Tahir: I’ve been feeling the sting of a bee in the middle of my chest for over two days continuous. Every time I cough it feels as if my lungs are going to pop onto my palm. On top of that, I might not be able to make it to the annual promotion review board.

Manohar: (conforms) About that! Sen and I have talked to Prakash in the morning

Tahir: What did Sahib say?

Manohar: Sahib has assured us that he will do everything in his power.

Tahir: … And how is Sen doing, is he alright?

Manohar: Jolly good indeed! As a matter of fact, I’m living with him in his house these days. My wife… she kicked me out of the house you see, for… showing up blind drunk last week.

Tahir: (cunningly) Alcohol has ruined you finally. It was inevitable.

Manohar: (reminiscently) Anyways, I was telling about what happened today. In the evening… I was at the bus stand… There was a boy…

Tahir interrupts him with a violent coughing fit but asks Manohar to keep going.

Manohar: (Starts telling a lie) The night before yesterday there were scary echoes in the alleyway behind the bus stand, thugs perhaps. I was afraid but in that moment I realized a sense of 21^st century solitude. It was a modern sentiment accompanied with the blowing of a cold wind.

Tahir drags himself out of the bed and returns to sit on it with a glass of water in his hand.

Tahir: Believe me, I was face to face with a mugger once.

Manohar: (surprised) What happened then?

Tahir: He pointed a gun at me! And in that moment I was happy, because a thought kept coming to my head… A thought about how far I had made it from my village. How everyone there would’ve idealized me if I had been murdered in the big city for my money. Everyone would have thought of me as a rich man.

Manohar: Did he steal your belongings?

Tahir: No. This man ran for his life once a convoy of cars passed us by. I was left unnoticed despite their headlights flashing right in my face. They came speeding and whizzed passed in a flash.

Manohar gets up to his feet and prowls to the pencil sketch hanging crookedly on the wall. He observes it diligently. There is a long pause in action.

Tahir: You told me you and Sen had to do Kapil Kumar’s sewage work today? Did Prakash put you up to it?

Manohar: Sahib had no other choice, he was clearly under pressure. The water facility had left their water tank on the side of the road because of which the work at the market had to be put to a hold. Sen went to the market and I had to go to… (faintly) children’s park, where that boy… (pause) It took some time but the water facility cooperated and the job got carried out to perfection. I was very proud of my first supervision.

Tahir coughs again, then withdraws a leaf of medicine from under the mattress and pops one down his throat with water. He places the tumbler on the ground with the other tools.

Tahir: (diplomatically) The reason I mentioned Kapil Kumar was because he is supposed to visit me today. There might be a knock on the door any second now.

Manohar: (awkwardly ignores) It is getting late, I must get back to Sen before 9. He has applied one and only condition to my stay which is I must get back before 9.00 PM.

Tahir: It is only 6.45 PM. Plus, at the price of marriage Kapil Kumar has received a scooter. On his way back he could drop you off at Sen’s flat.

Manohar: Dowry is a crooked thing.

There is a knock on the door and Tahir continues.

Tahir: This would be Kapil Kumar now.

Manohar gestures at Tahir to keep sitting and goes to attend to the call. He returns with a dark-short-pot bellied man who has a very slow walk. Tahir and Kapil Kumar work together as a team of plumbers just like Manohar and Sen work together as a team of electricians.

Tahir: (speaks with shallow breathing) Now that both of you are here… My friends, I would request you to put in a good reference for me at the promotion review. I have written a formal letter too, addressed to the office that I be granted fair judgment. That being said, Kapil Kumar! Pardon me for I couldn’t attend your wedding.

Kapil Kumar: Don’t be silly Tahir, everyone at the office knows how very ill you are. And I wish you a speedy recovery so that you could meet my wife, who I must say, I find to be a beautiful and homely woman.

Manohar: Yes we are all worrying whole heartedly for your health. Kapil Kumar, you better show up to work tomorrow! Sen and I had to do your share of the work today, blocked sewages. It was such a mess when I got there, but your labor was skilled and they handled the job very well.

Kapil Kumar: Our work…

Manohar: What?

Kapil Kumar: Our work you mean? Tahir’s and mine…

Manohar: Goodness gracious man! Tahir is sick you merely got married.

The two enjoy a full laugh. Tahir leaves the two alone and returns with a bottle of brandy and some extra cups. He’s moving like a ghost.

Tahir: I do not know about you gents, but I’m going to drink heavily tonight, just as I have been doing since day before to help me fall asleep. (pause) Did you get to know Kapil Kumar? Dear Manohar has been kicked out of his house by his wife for showing up drunk late at night.

He pours some brandy for himself and for his guests. They gulp it down at once.

Manohar: Oh no, it wasn’t night. It was broad daylight when that happened.

Kapil Kumar: (happily) Where have you been staying these days then?

Manohar: Sen has taken me in under his roof. I’ve been instructed to get back before 9.00 PM no matter what the circumstances may be.

Kapil Kumar: Come away, I will drop you off near his house next to the bus stand. You may take a walk from there to his house.

Tahir: Yes, now that you have your own scooter. Have you parked it downstairs?

Kapil Kumar: Yes… it is a wonderful thing to own. Green, shiny, decorated with flowers and my own.

Manohar: Come Tahir, let’s see it then!

Kapil Kumar: Oh! You really mustn’t stress.

Tahir: (feebly) Please, I insist.

Manohar offers strength to Tahir by holding him from the elbow. They disappear.

 

ACT 2

Scene 2      

Inside the canteen at the office Sen and Manohar are sitting facing each other on a table placed directly under a fan. The table is covered with a neat table cloth. The room is spacious. There’s a cash counter on the side, with a display glass shielding fresh samosas and pakoras from the flies that are otherwise buzzing around the two desolate human figures. There is a strange weariness in the form of their disappointed faces. It is noon. They are taking their lunch and tea.

Manohar: What a brilliant piece of machinery it was, that scooter. I couldn’t take my eyes off of it and when we rode it, it was like riding on a pillow of wind. So bloody smooth!

Sen: Yes, a delightful thing, the scooter. It is efficient and economical which makes it all the way more stylish to commute within the city.

Manohar: It ought to be the solution to the city’s traffic situation. That and the metro will solve half of the problem I assume, with it, the tensed minds of a working generation shall find relaxation. 

Sen: I am in a good mood today, you know! Yesterday’s work made me feel like there is some freshness in the work we do and life is not all dull and boring. (Whispers) Apart from this, the man placed in the storage facility notified me this morning, that the office has received its allotment of brand new equipment.

Manohar: Is that so, did we get the ladders we had asked for?

Sen: Yes ofcourse. Both big and small ladders have been received. They are in the store house and I have checked them already. They are probably the finest ladders I have ever climbed, strong and steady!

Manohar: (half-heartedly) How wonderful!

Sen: Listen Manohar, however the day sketches itself you must come with me in the evening. I will take one of the shorter ladders back home. The bulb in the lamp on the high ceiling needs fixing. It got frighteningly dark last night and I wasn’t able to read the newspaper because of it. You will help me carry a ladder, won’t you?

Manohar: I was wondering if I should go back to my own house today. Talk things out with the missus, if you know what I mean.

Sen: You can do that tomorrow, you can. But if I go another day without being able to read my newspapers I will surely go insane.

Manohar: I think you’re already a bit insane, not meeting people and all of that.

Sen: There is nothing wrong about being a recluse. It’s not that I don’t like to meet people… it’s just that I never find the occasion to do so.

Manohar: What about yesterday… When I met that boy…

Sen: (ignorantly interrupts) If Tahir had particularly asked to see me I would’ve stepped up instantaneously.

Manohar: What about Kapil Kumar’s wedding?

Sen: (announces) I barely know Kapil Kumar!

Manohar: (timidly) I had planned to tell my wife something very important. (Under his breath) It’s about a boy…

Sen: You can tell me on the way back whilst holding that ladder. And once I’ve fixed the light bulb in the lamp we will chat up everything about your folly. You help me get the ladder back into the office tomorrow morning and your work will be done. You could happily go back to your own house to amend differences with your wife.

Manohar: Yes I suppose I could do that, but I must say I have got a bad feeling about this.

Sen: Get yourself together, stop trembling with fear and do as I say. We will leave early so that when day breaks no one from the office sees us taking office equipment back home. We might get into a whole lot of trouble if we are caught.

Manohar: (reluctantly) Yes, very well.

 

ACT 2

Scene 3 

Kapil Kumar, Sen and Manohar have returned from lunch. They are getting ready for the annual promotion review meeting. A bottle of cologne is being passed around the room frantically for the employees want themselves to appear pleasing. Prakash enters and seats himself before the glass window next to the fan. The typist follows him into the room and sits in his spot with his shoulders raised up to his ears. The chatter reduces to a minimum.

 Prakash: Everyone, pay attention! I hope everyone is aware that the annual promotion board meeting is scheduled exactly an hour from now. Let us welcome the senior officials with warmth so that we can earn their special favor. (All clap) I saw my friends from other departments getting promoted the previous year and this year they might even supersede me. However, in my department I want to make up for a lost cause, and make sure that every single man from my staff gets promoted. Even Tahir! Who cannot be amongst us because of his bad health. He is our finest product and our most creative mind and I will personally look after the share of success Tahir deserves. As for the few of us, we shall stay calm and composed as and when put under pressure by the devious tricks of these bureaucrats. Let us do achieve great things for our families and for ourselves. We won’t get the results until the whole process is complete which might take more than a week’s time. Let us not forget that we serve the government and in it we must trust. Disperse.

Everybody gets back to work. Kapil Kumar goes and sits next to the typist.

Sen: Light up Manohar! You’ve gone pale as if you’d seen a ghost.

Manohar: (abnormally) I… I couldn’t sleep last night. I… just tossed and turned in my bed all night.

Sen: (shrugs his shoulders) Ofcourse you couldn’t have slept properly, it was bloody dark wasn’t it? (thoughtfully waits a second and then speaks) You haven’t been the same since you went away on sahib’s command. Do you feel alright?

Manohar: I don’t know what I feel anymore. Let it go, we have got to focus on this upcoming interview. Have you got all your documents compiled together?

Sen: (grins) You know I have. Now c’mon don’t look so glum. I’ve known you for a while and I still don’t know what upsets you when it upsets you. Is it because I asked you not to visit your wife today?

Manohar: No, not at all! It’s what happened with the bo…

Sen: (interrupts) Relax! Give her some time to think things over. Don’t worry so much and trust her.

Manohar: (coldly) Yes, I trust her. (pause) I will go to the bathroom and wash my face.

Manohar appears to be suffering over something. When he gets up from his chair he doesn’t hold back and paces out of the scene. Kapil Kumar is seen talking to the typist. Sen overhears the conversation deliberately while seated on his desk nervously putting to paper his plan for the execution of taking out the ladder from the storage facility to his house.

Kapil Kumar: (with excited fervor) … And then she said she would like blue curtains for the doors and I told her that we should get those beaded curtains that are in popular fashion these days. She readily agreed to it and told me that she had recently seen one of those in beige color in the market. I told her beige was my favorite color, even though it is not. I know she is the perfect woman for me who will keep me happy for all my life. Then… The damndest thing happened when the newspaper boy came and asked the bill to be paid and I hadn’t any money in my pocket but it was alright because she paid it from her purse. I told her I only had a two thousand rupees note and that the newspaper boy would under no circumstances have the change for it. She caught my lie at once, would you believe it and didn’t even get mad at me. What more could a government servant as myself have expected from life? Only if I got this promotion today, this could be the greatest year of my life. (pause) It is such an honorable ambition in life to always expect a little bit more than there really is to grab.

The typist: You are a vile parasite which has done nothing but feed from the lives of others and I think you will continue to do so.

Kapil Kumar: (enraged) Such disrespect! You foul…

Sen: (takes control) Take it outside! Is this the way to talk? Have you learnt only bad words, and incorrect phrases?

Kapil Kumar: (Now to Sen) At least I do some work. You eat all day and do nothing!

Sen: We did your work for you just the other day, do you have no respect?

Kapil Kumar: You are the kind of a person who will not leave a man alone even on the day of his wedding.

Sen: Hold on a minute. Let’s settle this like grownups. There is no need to bite each other’s feet.

Kapil Kumar: What does that mean now?

Sen: Nothing just let it go. I’m going.

Kapil Kumar: Sen, wait a second.

Sen: Yes?

Kapil Kumar: (Whispers deviously) Do you think Tahir should get his promotion?

Sen: (Shocked) Kapil Kumar, the whole office thinks Tahir should get promoted.

Kapil Kumar: Sen, the truth is that, he never did any valuable work. He is of a lazy kind.

Sen: What a lie!

Kapil Kumar: No, it is true.

Sen: I have to go.

Kapil Kumar: But Sen, Listen… Can we not advise Prakash against Tahir’s promotion?

Sen: Kapil Kumar, I have troubles of my own, I haven’t read a newspaper in days. Can you not involve me in your politics? I’m going, tell Manohar to see me near the storage facility.

Sen leaves.

Kapil Kumar: What if I told the promotion board not to promote Tahir, surely even Prakash would not be able to get Tahir a promotion if I did that… The board might promote Prakash. I can be in Sahib’s good books.

 

 

ACT 3

Scene 1

The promotion review board has adjourned. Sen and Manohar are in the parking lot next to Sen’s scooter. Manohar has a small ladder in his grasp. The evening sun has not yet started to set but the cool breeze has started blowing. The weather is growing hideous. Manohar amidst the vehicles appears to be dissolving slowly with the stiffness of his surroundings.

Sen: It is time for us to take this step for the sake of humanity. If we’re able to devise this plan we would’ve found a flaw in the system and that would give other people an opportunity to find solutions to mend the system.

Manohar: (unfoundedly) We look after mending things ourselves, how generous it would be of us to give others a chance to mend things too. What a joy it is to fix broken things. What do you think?

Sen: That is exactly why we have decided to take public property for domestic use, to fix something that has been broken so that it can be good again! Now, I might have a peculiar definition of humanity but to dent it is the only way to show its existence.

Manohar: Let’s go then and let us be done with it once and for all. I will go home to my wife and ask her for her forgiveness for I couldn’t be a noble person.

Sen: (ignorantly) Enough! I am thrilled with the prospects of living a complete life and it is what’s in your heart as well. Hurray to the good times, those that followed the bad.

They wear their helmets and tuck themselves in the scooter. Manohar places the base of the ladder on his lap and signals Sen to start with his thumb. They are finally moving but it is difficult to go through the traffic like this. The scooter keeps getting misbalanced.

Sen: It is not a burden is it?

Manohar: A burden, I wouldn’t know anything about such a thing as a burden. But I’m afraid I’m sweating like a swine. I don’t think I’m going to be okay. (Pause) We all have our burdens don’t we? You, me, Kapil Kumar… Tahir.

Sen: I’m nervous myself. This adventurous mission has awakened a strange man in me. I feel driven by an awkward power of ignorance for the law which is the reason why I’m not even trying to understand what happens if we get caught. But the clever thing is that we won’t. I have already bribed the security guard.

Manohar: (coming back to life) A bribe!

Sen: How very exciting, isn’t it?

Manohar: Why wasn’t I told about it? It is not fair for me to have silently obeyed to your command without knowing the whole truth.

Sen: You do know the whole truth, I just told you. (pause) I have the ladder with me, I will fix the broken lamp and when I place it back in the storage safely, I would have won the game.

Manohar: Incontestably the ladder and its functionality are to blame for the action I find myself in and not the venomous extents to which man derails to make ends meet?

Sen: Cut yourself some slack… What I mean to say is stop beating yourself up.

Manohar: I’ll throw it away Sen.

Sen: Have you lost your mind!

Manohar: I must throw this ladder away, it is the cause of my distress.

Sen: Do not throw the ladder, it is not a child’s toy.  

Manohar: (arrogantly) Perhaps, justice is a child’s toy afterall, one that has been snatched from us by making us believe that if it was in our hands we would break the system within months if not within days… A child’s toy! Huh! Like a balloon, or an ice cream. (Pause) What happened to you? You weren’t always like this?

Stage is dark.

 

ACT 3

Scene 2

In a small room dim light is coming from a door on the left and the ladder is placed in the center next to a mirror that is reflecting an obscured source of light. The white walls are corroding with seepage. A small portion in the wall has been cut out and an air cooler is fixed there on a welded stand. Sen climbs up the ladder and Manohar scans his bag for a bulb. Manohar hands the bulb to Sen who places it in the lamp after carefully carrying out some technical repairing. The room is brought to light exposing its magnificent high ceiling.

Manohar: (stands himself before the mirror) I’ve changed beyond recognition. I’m at the very lowest in my life and I suppose my actions are not getting any clearer as far as my morality is concerned.

Sen: (from a certain height on the ladder) My shadow looks rather dull don’t you think?

Manohar: (turns to the ladder with a meager flair for emotion) You will safely put back the ladder inside the storage and it will be alright once again. I shouldn’t have to deal with the anxiety I am feeling right now in my gut. I will run home to my wife so that she can listen to all the things I have to say about how I’ve been.

Sen: (retorts comically) Tell her about the way Sen changed the world by using public property as domestic property.

Manohar: You haven’t changed anything really, you might think you have brought a difference to the world but it cannot amount to anything and I don’t think it ever will.

Sen: I’m disappointed in your words, I will advise you to change your attitude before you return to your house.

Manohar: (tension grows on his forehead) Maybe you’re right, life’s a game. A game of snakes and ladders… If you land on a ladder you go all the way up, if a snake bites you then you must restart. A bureaucrat is always scared… like a cat… always careful where to step.   

Sen lowers himself to the floor and stands besides Manohar facing the ladder.

Sen: Look at it, how it shines in the center of the room under the lamp. A glow that shows even a lifeless thing can smile. Sleep here tonight my friend, tomorrow is a big day for you, you will have to make very important decisions. You look very tired indeed.

Manohar: Tomorrow will be a big day just like today was, as was yesterday. (pause) Yesterday…

Sen: Yes?

Manohar: I met Tahir at his house. Do you think he will be alright?

Sen: I hope so.

Manohar: …And that boy?  

 

THE END