Letters to Ma

LETTERS TO MA

Excerpt: Can you sing it for this man? (There is a sudden overflow of emotions in her voice) I used to sing it every night in the ears of my new born child hoping he will remember what had happened. We were in mourning for the deaths of those animals. It was the only way I could tell my child that we had sinned. 

 

CHARACTERS:

Jeevni (Mother)
Avinash (Her Son)
Bhola Seth (His Guardian)
Samay Singh (The Clock Tower Operator)
Mona (Housemaid)
Radheshyam (Bird Vendor)
Asha (The Bird)

Act 1 

Scene 1

 

Light rises. A big empty room. It is darker than usual. Avinash is sitting on his desk and scribbling something on a piece of paper. A lamp flooding some light on him is tilted to one side. Slanted lines of light and shadow fall on his body.

There are two windows in his room. The one behind him shows a landscape full of greenery. Rising and falling hills suggest the house is situated on some mountainous land. Rays of the dying sun are pale. It is not quite evening time but the weather is dusty and the life in the country is quiet.

Avinash gets up with a strange uneasiness and loosely runs his pen over the paper. He goes near the window infront of him and muses there for some time. The plain view from this window shows a barren field, a clock tower and the roofs of some shops in the market place.

The birds are in flight and the hands of the clock are moving forward. Something strikes him. He quickly goes to a small rack below the window and takes out a number of letters. He begins reading them. They are all letters his Ma has sent to him over the years. He has kept them all very carefully. A fire was just extinguished in the fireplace leaving a dark ash behind. He sits and muses in the darkness of the remnant.

 

Avinash: (Mesmerized) From when I was twelve… And this one… sent to me on my fourteenth birthday. (There is a pause during which he looks at a particular letter and becomes sad) It has been seventeen years since I saw her.

 

He keeps all the letters back where he found them and now goes to sit at his desk.

 

Avinash: I had something extremely important to tell her. (Clutches his head and gives it a slight scratch) What was it? This is why I write everything down and post it to her right away. She understands the things I have to say… I don’t know how but…

Sometimes she reminds me to look after myself… She believes a man can only keep his relations well if he is healthy. What might the fate of a dying man be after all! (Coming back to the letters) What was it I had to tell her? I would not have opened myself up to Bhola Seth if it wasn’t for her wisdom. It is all here in these letters. My guardian, Bhola Seth, he has kept me with him like he would his own son. But Ma still worries if he was the right person she could have sent me to. (He finds his pen) 

 

There is a knock on the door. Bhola Seth enters on the right. He is a weak sort of a man but his grey cap and coat hide it well. His skinny legs give it away. He is clearly a man suffering from a sickness. Avinash quickly collects all the loose sheets of paper and keeps a heavy paperweight on them.

 

Bhola: Avinash… Avinash… Son! I hope I have not disturbed you.

Avinash: Come in, I was just writing…

 

Bhola Seth comes to the centre of the stage. His body seems to be shaking of weakness. Avinash gets up and offers him his chair. The guardian firmly denies.

 

Bhola: I want peace. My mind goes in circles and it seeks answers to questions that shouldn’t haunt the conscience of any man. My soul is plagued. It is either that or I am terribly lonely.

Avinash: You should have called for me! Mona ought to have told me you were getting bored.

Bhola: (Turns away and begins experiencing a drunken fit of laughter) I wouldn’t have disturbed you but… there is something very particular…

Avinash: What is it?

Bhola: Avinash, my younger days are past me and people tend to forget I ever existed. All the money I earned thinking I will fall into a retreat sooner or later didn’t come to any use at all. I put it all in this house and still I have no peace in life.

(Leans over Avinash’s shoulder and looks at the letters) Your mother was such a good friend to me. We used to run in circles in the forest, lay on the grass in the garden when we had the time. It was green and pretty back then. It looks bleak now, bleak as winter.

Avinash: A long time has passed. I have only ever seen a barren field there. Yes, there is still greenery on the otherside, but over here… It looks like there was a great catastrophe once! There is this strange blackness in the soil. What happened here?

 

Pause.

 

Bhola: (Drifts off) Jeevni too must be terribly lonely at her farm.

Avinash: Ma keeps telling me that the farm needs looking after. She has taken it up as her duty to provide food grains to the folks in the village… to be living amid greenery gives her immense satisfaction.

Bhola: (Ponders deeply) I am missing her today. I cannot hide it any longer.

Avinash: Why don’t you tell me a story from when she lived here?

Bhola: You were writing a letter to her? You and your letters! What sort of a life is this… (He drifts off to a dreamy world) I cannot even recall a single episode from when she was here. Oh god. Wipe me from the surface of this earth, what good am I to mankind anymore?

 

Avinash hysterically laughs. He puts his arms around him. The guardian is suddenly full of life and his cheeks turn red.

Avinash: You are too adorable!

Bhola: Avinash. Ah! (Hesitates) I had come to you for a reason. Could you… Could you run a little errand for me, please? I’ve been wondering how it might be if I had a pet… to pass my time.

Avinash: A pet?

Bhola: Yes. What do you think?

Avinash: In this house? I could never imagine! (He laughs) On other days you would say even silence has a deafening sound to it and look… today you want to bring an animal in this house? An untamed animal! It will speak to you all day and never be quiet, let me tell you that. Will you speak to it too?

Bhola: No. I’ll just stare at it and be as far away from its yapping as I can. The bird will remind me of freedom.

Avinash: A bird! Birds are such fantastic creatures, aren’t they? Cutting the sky in half when they fly… Ma holds freedom with the highest regard you know? You are quite alike the two of you.

Bhola: Jeevni? Oh she was mad about animals. She caressed every animal she could find. She just had to. A woman of noble heart, she decided when she was a child that she will live on a farmland and surround herself with raw nature.

Avinash: But there are wild animals too in those parts. Aren’t there?

Bhola: Oh yes! Violent wild animals… Jackals in the fields and crocodiles in the lakes… Here it wasn’t so bad. There were only deer and birds. She was mad about them. I always thought of them as alright creatures but your mother made me realize that I was actually envious of their freedom.

Avinash: Human beings can never be free the way animals are free. Animals do what they like. So Bhola Seth wants a pet huh? What kind of a bird is it going to be? You didn’t say?

Bhola: Avinash, run along to the pet shop and fetch me a pretty bird. A small-sweet voiced angel of a thing it should be.

Avinash: You will put a bird in a cage? That’s not like you at all.

Bhola: (Gets up to go out of the room) I’ve had my share of life, son. There isn’t much to it, really. One always thinks of money and a good name but it is impossible to attain enough of it in a lifetime. It takes an age learning everything you ever wanted has come already at birth. I envy birds, you see. Until someone puts them in a cage they do not know what it is like to be free.

Avinash: (Interrupts) When a bird is trapped in a cage it has no choice than to look at the world from the eyes of that man who has captured it.

Bhola: You think I have suddenly become cruel, don’t you?

Avinash: Cruel? What’s wrong in trapping a bird in a cage?

Bhola: (Hands Avinash some money) This much should be enough. Keep it.

 

Bhola Seth exits.

 

Avinash: (Goes to the window in front of the desk again) These pages are going to remain blank after all. I think it’s going to rain. Maybe a strong rain will come and wash away the blankness in these pages. Ma will have to wait. He is terribly lonely. It is a wicked thing, the heart of an aging man.

 

Exit Avinash.

 

Stage is dark.

 

He is returning from the pet shop. He is carrying a usual bird cage in his right hand. The cage is covered with a white cloth. The clouds seem to be roaring at him. It’s about to rain.

Light.

 
On the way to his guardian’s house he is stopped by a madman near the clock tower. This madman is Samay Singh, the clock tower operator who always laughs. He hasn’t any reason to stop laughing. The madman blocks the boy’s way. He interrupts Avinash till both of them are fuming with anger. The clock tower operator also has a limp. He walks with a stick three and a half feet taller than his head. He is quite a sight.

An argument breaks out between Samay Singh and Avinash.

 

Samay Singh: (With gritted teeth and anger in his eyes) Wait right there!

Avinash: Will you step out of the way!

Samay Singh: Won’t you stop at my clock tower? Have a few words with me…

Avinash: I don’t talk to strangers. I have to be on my way.

Samay Singh: Spend a few minutes with me I could teach you a lot about life. I might.

Avinash: (Shows him the cage) It is urgent that I deliver this to my guardian. Please, do not waste my time.

Samay Singh: Who is this guardian of yours you keep talking about? What have you got there under this cloth? It looks like a cage… What’s under there?

Avinash: I’m afraid I can’t tell you anything. I have to go.

Samay Singh: Now, you will have to tell me. I will not let you go otherwise. (Venomous laughter)

Avinash: (Thinks and then speaks) Do you work here, at this clock tower?

Samay Singh: Yes indeed I work here. How did you find out?

Avinash: You invited me in… so I assumed…

Samay Singh: You are an observant fellow. What’s in your hand? Tell me.

Avinash: Something personal.

Samay Singh: It’s okay if you don’t want me to see. I’ll manage not seeing. Is it a rabbit? (Laughs) You poor child, you became nervous! It’s alright. I’ve always been up here, in the clock tower and I’ll be here after you are gone. I am the keeper of this clock tower.

 

The clouds begin to rumble. Strong wind blows. Lightning crashes.

 

Avinash: I should get going. I… The clouds have started to form. There is a loud thunder and lightning in the sky.

Samay Singh: (With absolute rage in his eyes) Tell me what you hold in your hand!

Avinash: It is a pet for my guardian.

Samay Singh: How exciting! A pet? Can I see? I love animals. I won’t if you don’t want me to.

Avinash: (Looks at the clock in the tower) Oh my, it’s late. I have to go.

Samay Singh blocks his way again.

Samay Singh: You must have brought this pet from Radheshyam!

Avinash: From that shop there (Points at his left)

Samay Singh: (Laughs hysterically) You know a bird and a clock tower have a special relationship. This clock speaks to a bird… every bloody time the clock strikes the hour the bird squeals. (He starts yelling) Cuckoo-Cuckoo! Every hour it drives me mad.

 

Avinash tries to go around him but the madman laughs and blocks his way again. Avinash begins to lose patience.

 

Samay Singh: (Continues) That bird’s dead now. (A look of sadness consumes him) Come up! See for yourself!

Avinash: Perhaps some other time.

Samay Singh: (Shouts suddenly) You don’t believe me? (Laughs) It’s dead!

Avinash: I’m running out of time.

Samay Singh: (Laughs demonically) You are telling a clock tower operator that you are running out of time? How ironical. Come here, dear boy. I am inviting you into my world.

Avinash: I have tried to keep my calm with you. But you have crossed all limits.

Samay Singh: Dear boy, I have possession of the deepest secrets of life. I can tell you your future. I can show you your past. I am eternity. Do you want to know what I see? I see blood on your hands. My blood, murderer!

 

Samay Singh wraps his hands around Avinash’s throat. He drops the bird cage. He panics and pushes the madman to the ground. Pause.

 

Avinash: I did not mean to hurt you. Are you hurt?

Samay Singh: (Rolling around on the ground) Run away! Run away, little boy! Run away!

 

Avinash runs from there in fear.

Lightning crashes. Stage is dark.

 

 

 

ACT 1

 

Scene 2

 

A hard day’s rain is pouring down on the landscape. There is thunder, lightning flash in the clouds. The dusty wind that pleasingly blew at other times is now blowing at pace over this wasteland. Dust has spread its wings and the trees are shivering like a naked child standing in the cold. Avinash hasn’t yet come back from the bird shop.

 

Bhola Seth’s room. Mona, the housemaid is seen searching for something behind the furniture. She is tense. Soft antique music plays in the room on a vinyl. A small sitting stool is kept in the rightmost corner, typically upstage.

 

Mona: Where could he have kept it? I am always tearing my hair out looking for his things. At times it is his cane at other times it is something else. It is becoming a terrible habit of his, this forgetfulness. When I tell him he needs to visit a doctor he will lose his head.

 

Pause.

 

Mona: Is it possible he has kept it in the laundry? I should have a look down there. Oh, it’s become so terribly cold. If it is not in his room it must surely be in the laundry. I have searched the whole house. It’s not a small house at that, mind you. There is a garden where he sits and takes his leisure, there is a small garage for his craft, a picture gallery where he keeps all the paintings that he likes and four rooms that are empty. Finally there is that sitting room where he spends most of his day.

 

Bhola Seth enters. He is wearing an orange jacket over his grey coat.

 

Bhola: Go on fetch an umbrella and see where he is.

Mona: Where have you sent him in this rain?

Bhola: When I sent him it wasn’t raining. (Waits) You are all words and no action! I told you to get going. Go on, look for him. Why are you still here?

Mona: I was only asking you. You don’t have to be so irritated with everything.

Bhola: (Sadly) You cannot imagine how much of a pain it is to exist with a sick and diseased body. What good am I anymore? Good for nothing in fact.  

Mona: Where did you send him? I saw the coat stand. All the umbrellas were there. He must be getting soaked in the rain.

Bhola: It is such a strange time to be alive. There was a time I could separate the seasons. Didn’t you hear me? Go now and see where he is. Take a spare umbrella with you. Give it to him if you find him. He must be damning me to hell.

Mona: (Unobservant) Where did you find this jacket? (Checks his collar) It is dry. I’ve been looking for it all over the place.

Bhola: I must tell you, you are making a meal out of your words. Run along towards the market place and see if you find the boy. I would have gone myself. But I am simply too old.

Mona: Bhai Sahab, you are always too afraid. It’s okay. We will find him. Calm down. Your blood pressure…

Bhola: (Interrupts) But you know I don’t intend on losing anything. I…

Mona: (Interrupts him) I have already told you to relax. I’m going.

Bhola Seth goes to a window at the forestage. He looks out.

Bhola Seth: (Exclaims) There he is! There he is!

Mona is on her way out of the room but she stops. She comes to the window. He gives her space to peep out the window. The sound of the rain can be heard. Avinash is seen entering from the main gate. He struggles to avoid the mud.

 

Mona: What is he carrying?

Bhola: (With excitement) I had sent him to bring me a nice little bird.

Mona: A what? How could this have happened? Bhola Seth, our Bhola Seth will have an animal in his own house? Impossible!

 

They move away from the window.

 

Bhola: I noticed that these days everyone does something or the other for themselves. I too wanted something for myself, therefore the bird. It hadn’t dawned on me that I could use something to be a bit more care-giving. I don’t know if you call it care… Call it what you want. I’ve just become so weary of life. I ponder deeply and I feel depressed sometimes. It is serious. Perhaps giving a little care should help.

Mona: Oh! How wonderful. I will help you look after the bird. I’m sure Avinash has picked out the prettiest one for you. He always does the right thing.

Bhola: It will be mine to keep.

Exit Mona hurriedly on stage right.

Bhola: Mine to keep.

 

Stage is dark.

 

Light.

 

The cage is still covered with the white cloth. Avinash growingly feels uneasy in his wet clothes. He keeps the cage on the side and begins to dry himself.

 

Mona enters she grabs his arm gently and goes near him.

 

Mona: Such a big cage?

Avinash: Hurry.

Mona: You are soaked.

Avinash: (Points at the cage) Take this to my room, place it near the fireplace and burn some wood.

Mona: But you…

Avinash: I’m alright. I’ll just take off my shoes and come up.

Mona: (Anticipating something heavy by the size of the cage) This is not heavy at all. It’s quite big for its weight!

Avinash: Hollow bones. (Taking off his shoes) Yes. Go now and start a fire. The bird will die of cold otherwise.

Mona: Oh dear, oh dear.

She exits on the left. Dark. Pause.

 

Light.

 

Avinash is standing at his desk cleaning his glasses with a handkerchief. Near the window behind him a fire has been lit in the fireplace. The bird cage is placed at upstage right where Mona is bending down and talking to the bird from this side of the white cloth.

 

Avinash: If I tell Ma about the bird do you think she will be amused?

 

The housemaid keeps speaking to the bird in a very hush-hush manner in the dark. Rain has stopped. The house is now as quiet as it was before the storm. Only droplets of rain falling from the leaves of trees and the cracking of firewood are heard.

Avinash: It is not easy to write, nobody says that it is but to remember and write is the hardest. Maybe… it will be easier for me to just write whatever comes to my mind and let go of all the things I have forgotten.

 

He stares hard at the cage.

Avinash: (Sits back and picks up his pen) It better get some heat. Bhai Sahab wants a ceremonious first look at the bird. I fear he might be feeling too ambitious.

Mona: He’s too old for ambition. You’ve done a good thing for him. (She smiles at him)

 

He goes near her. She continues talking to the bird.

Dark.

 

Light rises on Bhola Seth’s room. Bhola Seth sits under a blanket while Mona listens.

 

Bhola: (To the housemaid) I am terribly afraid. I am possibly going to faint of excitement. My own bird in this house! How wonderful. Make sure everything is alright. I cannot bear to see it right now. Oh I cannot breathe.

Mona: (Helping him breathe) It is okay. Just breathe and don’t be so nervous. It’s going to be good.

Bhola: Hold it right there. It is not your place to tell me these things. It is not anybody’s place to preach to me about life. I’m just so nervous that it’s making me paranoid. I want you to go first and set it all up for me. C’mon. Go now. Make it alright.

Mona: We have come far. There was a time when you didn’t want to do anything with animals. Look now, everything is so changed.

Bhola: I have had ups and downs. (Dreamily) When Jeevni lived here we used to play with so many animals in the forest. Sometimes we used to walk for hours only to caress a deer. It is all a wasteland out there now. Everything changed after… I…

Mona: (Unobservant) And where shall I keep the cage?

Bhola: Hmm, what was that? (Panicking) Oh I can’t bear it. Tell Avinash to return the bird.

Mona: Were you this shy of animals when Avinash’s mother was here?

Bhola: You don’t understand. It is just not the same anymore. Do you think it is a small thing that I’m bringing a pet to my home?

Mona: (Tries to give an excuse) No…

Bhola: If Jeevni knew I am bringing a pet to my home she would create a scene. (Thinks) Hmm. (Taking a sigh of relief) Alright. It’s alright. You go and keep the cage in the sitting room. Yes the sitting room will be perfect. See to it that that white cloth over it is dry. Else we will wait a while. Oh dear god, I cannot wait at all.

 

Light fades out from Bhola Seth’s room.

 

Mona enters Avinash’s room.

 

Avinash: How many times have I told you to knock on the door before coming in? It disturbs my concentration.

Mona: I didn’t say anything to disturb you. Why are you getting mad at me?

Avinash: I’m sorry. It is this letter that’s making me irritated.

Mona: (Smiling) What were you writing? A letter to Madam?

Avinash: Yes. (Continues writing, pause) Don’t call her that!  

Mona: Will you tell her that I think of her all the time? Say I have something very important to tell her… something about you.

Avinash: Something about me?

Mona: Yes, I will only tell her.

Avinash: What did he say about the bird? Take it away from my room, will you? It keeps making noises. There! Did you hear it? I don’t know what it keeps saying. (Placing the pen on the desk crosses his arms) Will he like it?

Mona: (Slowly) Avinash… You chose it with so much love. It must be the prettiest of all the birds in the sky. Maybe we could get another one so that these two can have somebody to love.

Avinash: What do you mean?

 

Mona goes to the cage. Sits beside it on the floor, feels the white cloth on her palm and puts her ear on it.

 

Mona: There… It is saying something. It says it wants to be loved.

Avinash: Rubbish!

Mona: (Laughs) What happened? You look disturbed. Did somebody say anything to you?

Avinash: Near the clock tower, there was a madman who stood in my way. He said he could see the future. He said I have his blood on my hands.

Mona: (Sounding concern) He doesn’t sound like a good man at all (She gets up) Who was he?!

Avinash: He said he was the clock tower operator. I wasn’t going to do anything with him, I didn’t even mean to. I got into a quarrel with him.

Mona: Tell me exactly what happened. He sounds like a dangerous man!

Avinash: (Nervously) He was blocking my way and when I asked him to let me pass he refused. At one point he grabbed me and then…

Mona: Then what?

Avinash: I threw him to the ground. If it wasn’t for the delay he caused I wouldn’t have gotten wet in the rain. Parasite!

Mona: Okay… Okay! Calm down. (Pause) Bhai Sahab has asked for the bird to be brought to the sitting room. Come now and we will all see how he reacts. His reaction is going to be precious. (She picks up the cage and the bird speaks from within) How adorable.

 

Mona exits with the birdcage.

 

Dark.

 

 

 

 

 

 

ACT 1

 

Scene 3

 

Light falls on left forestage. The absurd market area is visible. In its rustic atmosphere it shows no movement. In the pet shop there are several cages kept one on top of the other. It is stagnated. A bulky man faces away from the audience. He is cleaning something inside a cage. This man is Radheshyam, the owner of the pet shop. A big white bird inside a cage stares at him from a height.

Samay Singh enters from the right. He limps as usual. There is a weak current of wind flowing across the landscape. Some more light pours in from an exhaust fan on the wall.

 

Samay Singh: (In a croaky voice) Radheshyam! Hey! (Angry) A boy came to your shop today?

Radheshyam: (Facing away from the audience) Yes, yes.

Samay Singh: And you… You sold a bird to him. Didn’t you, my friend? It didn’t bother you that this boy hadn’t any manners whatsoever?

Radheshyam: He was an innocent boy. If manners mattered in trade I would have been long out of business. What do you want?

Samay Singh: What do I want?

Radheshyam: Yes, yes. Why did you come here?

Samay Singh: (Angry) Turn around and look at me. (Rhetorically) Your beloved, your soul mate is here to meet you. (Angry again) I am death itself. Be fooled not. Come give me a warm hug, you foolish old ass.

Radheshyam: Just go. Death itself! My foot!

Samay Singh: If I didn’t have a favor to ask of you, I’d strike you to the ground.

Radheshyam turns to look at the clock tower operator. He has a big scar on his face.

Radheshyam: (Observantly) Did you get into a fight a boar? You have dirt all over your clothes!

Samay Singh: There isn’t a boar to be found on this wasteland. Don’t joke with me. They were all killed in the fire… Don’t you remember?

Radheshyam: (Picks up a sharp object and strokes it with the tip of his finger then runs it along the scar on his face) Nothing matters. You want me to do you a favor? Ask away! Just don’t waste my time.

Samay Singh: (Approaching closer) This boy who came to your shop, he threw me to the ground! He insulted me!

Radheshyam: Threw you to the ground? Impossible! I thought you were death itself. (Turns to the big white bird) Death couldn’t handle a boy?

Samay Singh: Times are provocative. Do not tease me.

Radheshyam: (Taking the madman a bit seriously) What deal do I make with death?

Samay Singh: This is why I came to you with no hesitation. You are as good a businessman as you are a butcher. You are always looking for a trade, be it in money or anything else.

 

Radheshyam puts down the sharp object and walks away from the white bird. The madman comes forward and picks up the knife in a hurry.

 

Samay Singh: I know you can hardly leave your shop for leisure. I’m offering you some time off.

Radheshyam: (Getting irritated with the roundabout conversation) What do you want me to do?

Samay Singh: I want you to go to this boy’s house and ask him to return your bird.

Radheshyam suddenly becomes alert.

Radheshyam: The bird was for his guardian he told me.

Samay Singh: Bhola, he is his guardian!

Radheshyam’s eyes flare up with rage.

Samay Singh: (Continuing) Bhola is the guardian of this boy!

Radheshyam: Bhola Seth? That son of a bitch! Incarnation of evil! I wish I knew it before the boy walked into my shop. I’d have slit his throat.

Samay Singh: Yes I know the spite you have for that name, but there is no use of violence. I need you to avenge my insult that is all. There are very few things in this world that matter more than attention. You will go to his house and get the bird back from him. Bring shame on the boy, make bold accusations! But his head must bow before you with guilt. You must have his attention. We haven’t let our hatred for that sick man boil up to this moment for nothing. He will have to pay for the sins he has committed.

Radheshyam: Ours was a wonderful land! He ruined it when he allowed our forests to be cut down. See the conditions we live in today. It’s a goddamn wasteland. (Pause) Nothing went downhill for him, he continues to have money. Take a look at us.

Samay Singh: What about those animals of the forest who suffered because of him? Radheshyam! Open your eyes wide and avenge the death of those animals. You have been a savior to them. Look around yourself. You nurtured them and you bred them. Now is your time to avenge them. It is time now you give them justice. First you must carry out the procession of his humiliation as is the custom. The boy has thrown me to the ground! I’d have him lynched. He wouldn’t have gone home in one piece. That son of a bitch! Nobody messes with me. I told you I am death itself. (Points the sharp object at Radheshyam) Is that understood?

Radheshyam: (Gulps) Yes, yes. I have understood. Your work will be done. But… Should we only bring the bird back? Shouldn’t we also… (Signals a death sign)

Samay Singh: No, no. (Taking two steps backwards) Not right now. I will kill him with my own hands one day.

Radheshyam: (Takes the sharp object from the clock tower operator) My thirst for his blood will not be quenched after all. It is okay, let it be. His time will come.

Samay Singh: How ironical! You are talking of a time to come when a clock tower operator stands before you. (Laughs with gritted teeth) Come let’s shake hands.

 

Dark.

 

A sitting room. Light. Soft classical music plays on a vinyl.

 

Bhola Seth, Mona and Avinash have encircled around the cage. The white cloth has not been lifted for the audience.

Mona: My, my! How pretty! What vibrant colors. It is a thing of beauty indeed.

Bhola: I feel like now my life is complete. I feel that… A strange burden has lifted from my chest.

Avinash: (Goes up to the windowsill and looks out at the world) What burden?

Mona: This pet? A burden?

Avinash: I hope you are not referring to whatever happened between you and Ma. Whatever happened in the past cannot be changed. But you have to let us in. If she was here she would be proud of you for having moved on in life. Terrible things are born out of stagnation. It makes me happy to see you smile at the bird. You have to tell us what’s eating you?

Mona: You don’t have to think of this life as a burden.

Bhola: Okay, okay. Enough. I am happy. Everybody quiet!

Avinash: (Still looking out of the window) It looks like we have a visitor. (Worried)

Mona: Why do you look worried? Who is it? (She rushes to the window to see)

Mona: Who is that?

Avinash: He is the owner of the bird shop. What is he doing here?

Bhola: Mona! You go and stop this man there itself. I don’t want him in my house.

 

The housemaid exits in a hurry.

 

Bhola: Has he come to take my bird away from me?

Avinash: Impossible. It must be something else. I’ll go and find out.

 

Avinash exits.

 

Bhola Seth is left alone in the sitting room. He has lost his sanity over how beautiful the bird is. He seems to have become possessive about it. He then shuts his eyes.

 

Bhola Seth has not moved. There is a sound of quarrel backstage. Radheshyam forces his way into the sitting room. Mona and Avinash were unable to stop him at the front gate.

Enter all three to the stage. Bhola Seth is taken aback.

 

Avinash: You cannot enter into our house like this!

Mona: Stop it, this is not fair.

Bhola Seth has never been so afraid in all his life.

Radheshyam: You might not know who I am but Bhola Seth knows me well! Speak Bhola Seth, you remember me don’t you?

 

Pause.

 

Bhola: What do you want from us? Why have you entered our house like this?

Radheshyam: Your boy has insulted Samay Singh and it has upset me so much that I want my bird back.  

Bhola: Avinash? What is he talking about?

Avinash: Who? The madman? (Aggressively) Who does he think he is?

Radheshyam: It is time for all of you to answer to my questions. Is this only your world? Are you the masters of this place? Can we not do as much as bother you people with our concerns?

Bhola: Oh lord, I need to sit down.

Mona: (Going to Bhola Seth) Sit down. (To Radheshyam) Sir, please take a seat. You are embarrassing us all.

Avinash: You are our guest mister and that’s why we haven’t yet called the police.

Radheshyam: That’s what’s wicked about people like you! You will call the police on anyone and everyone but not in your own house. Filthy rats!

Bhola: Sir, please sir! Sit down. What is the matter?

Radheshyam: (Sits) This boy of yours… Is he your son?

Bhola: He is like my son, what is the matter?

Radheshyam: He came to my shop a while ago. He bought a bird from me. But on his way back he attacked a dear friend of mine. Is there no decency in him?

Avinash: (Finally putting one and one together) That clock tower operator! He won’t let us have any peace. I should have called the police on him at that point itself. Then it wouldn’t have come to this.

Bhola: Avinash! Enough I said. (To Radheshyam) It’s night already. What can I do for you now?

Radheshyam: My friend is furious with you and…

Bhola: Yes, and…?

Radheshyam: We no longer want you to have the bird.

Bhola: Sir, ask for anything but the bird. I…

Radheshyam: (Aside) Oh no! He has already started begging for forgiveness, the parasite. What should I say now? (Aloud) So, you will have to apologize to us in public.

Mona: Apologize for what?

Avinash: He will not apologize to that madman!

Radheshyam: For what Bhola has done he must be sent to a guillotine. Must I tell them the story any further, Bhola? The boy is guilty of spitefulness himself. He has venom on his tongue. Apologize in front of everybody and be done with it.

Mona: (Whispering) Avinash hasn’t done anything wrong.

Bhola: You knew about this? (Aloud) Avinash? You told Mona everything? Enough.

Radheshyam: You will have to apologize to Samay Singh. He is the one who has been wronged here.  

Bhola: I’ll apologize to him right away. Just leave the boy alone. He doesn’t need to know anything.

Avinash: What is there for me to find out?

Bhola: Bring Samay Singh to me, I will apologize.

Radheshyam: No! (Laughs and points his finger) He won’t come here. I know you have values you will abide by within these four walls. You will have to come to the clock tower and apologize to him there in front of everybody, in the open, where you will feel humiliated and defeated.

Avinash: Say one more useless word and I’ll throw you out.   

Radheshyam: I dare you. Do as much as lay a finger on me and I’ll cut you to pieces and feed you to rats.

There is a knock on the front gate. Mona opens the window and peeps out of it. The rest of them continue arguing.

Mona: I must be dreaming.  

Bhola Seth: Oh dear.

There is another knock at the gate.

 

Dark.

 

Light rises again in the sitting room. Avinash’s mother, Jeevni, is sitting amid everyone. Radheshyam is staring at Mona. Bhola Seth is standing next to him and caressing his shoulder to calm him down. Avinash doesn’t know how to feel neither does Mona. His heart is pacing because his mother has come to him after seventeen long years.

 

Jeevni: I have come to visit you.

Avinash: Ma.

Jeevni: Yes, I’m here.

Avinash: How are you?

Jeevni: I’m okay.

Avinash: How is everything at the farm?

Jeevni: Fine.

Avinash: I have brought home a bird.

Jeevni: (Surprised) Is that true Bhai Sahab? He brought home a pet?

Bhola Seth is not able to say anything at first. He is suddenly too emotional.

Mona: Not just a bird, the seller too is here.

They nod at each other.

Mona: We have named the bird Asha.

Jeevni: Bhola, that’s a very nice name. Did you come up with it?

Bhola Seth: Yes.

Avinash: What brought you here Ma?

Jeevni: I’m speaking to Bhola, Avinash! (Pause) Bhai Sahab, I never thought after everything happened you will ever have the courage to bring home an animal.

Mona: Why did you leave?

There is silence.  

Radheshyam: Bhola let strangers set fire to the forest for money… The great fire which consumed all the animals was caused by him.

Jeevni: We could have prevented them from burning to the ground. We loved our animals. I tried looking for any that might have managed to escape but there were none left. All I found there were bones and ashes.

Radheshyam: I took them in… I looked after them and bred them. It was me. (Points at the cage) This bird is a proof of my pity. I have all kinds of animals in my shop. Ask your son.

Mona: (Waking up from a dream) What?

Radheshyam: Yes! I rescued them from the fire. All the animals in my shop…

Mona: A fire?

Avinash: Bhai Sahab? What did you do?

Jeevni: Everybody quiet! (To Radheshyam) So you put the animals in cages and kept breeding and selling them? How pathetic is that? How are you any different from him who murdered them?

Radheshyam: He murdered them, I saved them. Is that not enough?

Bhola: (With melancholy) I didn’t know they were going to burn the forest down.

Mona: Who?

Bhola: I did everything I could to stop them when I found out! I fought them off the land but it was too late. I’m sorry.

Radheshyam: You didn’t do anything, shut up.

Pause.

Jeevni: Many animals lost their lives that day and all that greenery was burnt down. You should have known.

Radheshyam: How much money did they give you? Huh? What did you get out of it? You filthy rat!

Bhola: I’m sorry. I’m sorry. (He begins crying onto Radheshyam’s shoulders)

Avinash: (Comforts him) It’s okay. It’s okay.

Jeevni: A man will often pay for his mistakes. That is the way the world is. Radheshyam, this man is not so bad at heart…

Radheshyam: I don’t believe it.

Jeevni: It wasn’t his fault!

Radheshyam: Nothing can be undone by crying and that is all I know.

Jeevni: Bhola, what’s past is past. I didn’t come here to see you cry. Please stop.

Radheshyam: He is guilty yet unpunished.

Jeevni: He might be but you are no one to judge him. They were going to set fire to the forest no matter what. What difference would it have made if it was Bhola’s name on the contract? He was a young man, he was trying to make money.

Radheshyam: How could you not know what they were going to do? (Looks at the boy) Now this boy will suffer because of your mistakes.

Mona: I’ve had it. I won’t take any more of this man’s garbage. You need to get out now!

Jeevni: Mona! Wait a minute. We know each other since the old days. I’m sure he will understand. Radheshyam, I wish you saw we are not bad people.

Radheshyam: (Sarcastically) Yes, yes. The whole world is a reflection of innocence, isn’t it? What proof do you have?

Jeevni: Avinash, do you remember the lullaby I used to sing to you every night? (To Radheshyam) He will sing it and you will see.

Avinash: The song of the bird in the open sky?

Jeevni: Yes. Can you sing it for this man? (There is a sudden overflow of emotions in her voice) I used to sing it every night in the ears of my new born child hoping he will remember what had happened. We were in mourning for the deaths of those animals. It was the only way I could tell my child that we had sinned. 

 

Bhola: Every night the moon shining above us. The earth from here to there glistened. It was grey and the fur of animals was mixed in the ash. When I saw it with my own eyes I spread my hands to the stars and prayed to them to bring back the dead. It was our only hope, praying. (To Avinash) Do you remember the song?

 

The stage prepares for a spectacle.

Avinash: (Sings)

O’ Moon! Yes, you.
We have caused them all to die.
They must now be in your kingdom now.

Bequeath them, bequeath yourself.
Greet them well and send them back to us.

 

Those departed spirits, those sad souls
we have never needed them more.

Destroy us if you feel right.

Remind them of where they truly belong.

O’ Moon! Every barren land once was
our collective kingdom.

 

At the end of the song the bird cage starts glowing with a bright golden light. A light so fierce the bird becomes invisible. In this beam of light the base of the cage slides open and the bird falls beneath the stage. A bare-bodied girl appears in place of it on stage. The base of the cage seals shut after that. Then the light drowns. The spectacle is complete.

 

Suddenly, a strange sound rises from inside the cage. It sounds like a human being is breathing for the first time. Nobody has yet taken note of this transformation. They are talking among themselves.

 

Radheshyam: You used to sing this stupid song every night? (Laughs at them like a maniac) What good did it do?

Jeevni: (Sorrowfully crying) I still sing it, on some nights. It gives me hope there might be forgiveness.

Bhola: Radheshyam, I know you will not believe me. How can I prove my innocence to you at all?

Radheshyam: It is true I don’t believe you. After all you have murdered the animals… burned the forest down… kept the boy in ignorance. He doesn’t know he has been living with a murderer.

 

There is another deep sound of grasping for air in the cage.

 

Mona: Does anyone hear that?

Avinash: Yes, what is that?

Radheshyam: It’s coming from inside the cage.

Mona:  Go see.

Avinash and Radheshyam go near the cage. Some smoke from the spectacle still lingers around it. He sees the girl.

 

Avinash: There is a girl in the cage!

Radheshyam: A girl?

 

Everyone goes to the cage. The white cloth is lifted.

 

Bhola: What happened to the bird?

Radheshyam: You are all bloody black magicians, the lot of you! (Sprints out of the house in fear)

Bhola: What happened to my bird! (Calls) Asha? Asha!

Avinash: (In disbelief) It’s going to be okay. Everybody stay away from the cage.

Jeevni: What is going on here? Who is she?

Mona: What happened to our bird?

Avinash: Shall we let her out? She looks to be in extreme pain.

Jeevni: (Holding everyone back) No! Letting an unnatural creature out in the open can be life threatening. We cannot let her out.

Avinash: Who is she? What is that on her skin?

 

Dark.

 

 

ACT 2

 

Scene 1

 

The small window at the forestage is shut. It is past midnight. The white cloth has been flung over the cage once again. Everyone has gone to their respective rooms to sleep. Light. The clock tower at a distance is ticking loudly. The clock strikes one. Samay Singh’s scream is heard. Avinash is in his room, restless.

 

Avinash: My foot kept digging in the mud, you know. It was so wet. (Pause) How could Bhai Sahab have been so ignorant as to murder thousands of animals… In which world can such a dark deed take place? No one ever told me… (Thinks of the bird) At first there was a bird in the cage… I saw it with my own eyes. Everyone saw it. Now… it is a girl trapped in that cage, alive! (Pause, he moves around the room) Ma must be tired. Bhola Seth must be feeling weak. Mona too must’ve wanted to get some shut eye. I’m so thoroughly disgusted with that madman…

 

Asha makes a sound from the sitting room. Her voice echoes in the house.

 

Avinash: (Continues somehow) I should go to see the creature. I should talk to it. I was the one who brought it here and it has to be me. I am responsible… How can a bird transform…? Bhai Sahab must be blaming me for the facade. They didn’t even say anything, you know. They just picked up and left. Bhai Sahab and Ma sat with each other in the garden before going to sleep… I wonder what they talked about. When I left the shop… it was a bird! I swear.

 

Avinash sprints to the sitting room. Light fully rises on the cage. He snatches the white cloth off the cage. Asha seems to be the same age as Avinash, maybe a couple of years older than him.

 

Avinash: Hello? I have brought some clothes and some food.

 

He gives the clothes to the girl. She wears them. She sniffs the food but doesn’t eat anything.

 

Asha: I remember you. You came to the shop. Where am I?

Avinash: Who are you?

Asha: You should tell me who I am or rather what I am.

Avinash: (Scared) What did I do?

Asha: I remember your voice! It was you. You came to the shop, I remember. What’s your name? You came into the shop and asked for a pretty little bird. Come near… Why are you standing so far away all by yourself?

Avinash: Avinash. Yes, that is my name. A bird is speaking to me in my own language, I mean, a girl… from inside a bird cage… I mean, it was a bird… now it is a girl… (Grabs his hair) I don’t understand.

Asha: Dear boy.

Avinash: Yes?

Asha: Why do you look so perturbed?

Avinash: Nothing makes any sense. Can you tell me what’s going on? You recall things from when you were a bird? How is that possible? I need air.

Asha: It’s a bit complicated.

Avinash: What?

Asha: My body might be of a human being, but within me are trapped the souls of thousands of beings.

Avinash: (On the verge of a breakout) What are you talking about?

Asha: Yes, yes. Not far from here long ago there was a dark forest where died a hundred creatures in a fire. I am an embodiment of those souls.

 

Pause.

 

Avinash: How do you know about it? Are you really an embodiment of those souls?

Asha: Yes.

Avinash: How is it possible?

Asha: You know when beings pass away their souls get stuck in a gyre and later they are reborn as living creatures. I too have been reborn into this body. But despite being the voice of so many souls I feel soulless. My existence hasn’t any importance really, I feel. I was there, it was all me. I am trapped under the skin now.

Avinash: How unfortunate.

Asha: I believe the song you were singing had some magical spell in it.…

Avinash: (Aside) Seems like she knows everything. (Aloud) You transformed into a girl because of the song I sang?

Asha: I feel so grateful to you. You have given me this human body. It’s so much more powerful than the body of a bird. I can express how I feel. Thank you. Thank you.

 

She starts smiling at Avinash the way Mona used to smile. Avinash goes closer to the cage. He thinks he is dreaming.

Asha: Maybe some powerful force has made the spells in that song bring me to life.

Avinash: Ma’s prayers must have come true. Does this mean justice for the animals?

Asha: Oh you are so naïve. I dearly adore you.

 

She takes a minute.

 

Asha: You are actually quite handsome. Come here, let me take a closer look at you. Are you married?

Avinash: (Becomes shy suddenly) No. I am… I have never even kissed a girl.

Asha: Oh, you are so shy. Look at me.

Avinash goes close. He is standing so close to Asha they could touch each other.

Avinash: You are also very beautiful too.

Asha: Really? You think so? Am I attractive?

Avinash: I think you are.

Asha: What are you thinking?

Avinash: (Shies away) Nothing…

Asha: (Thinks deeply and then speaks) You can touch me, if that’s what you are thinking about. I wouldn’t mind. Give me your hand.

 

Avinash gives her his hand. Asha puts it against her chest.

 

Asha: You could get me out of this cage and I could perhaps make you feel good…

Avinash: How can I? Everyone will…

 

Avinash pulls his hand away from her as if he has touched something hot.

 

Asha: No one has to find out. We could go far away from here, just you and me. How do you want to touch me? Here, don’t be afraid. You can have me, I won’t make a sound.

Avinash: I don’t think Ma would like it very much if I took you out of the cage.

Asha: It sounds like your Ma has a lot of control over you?

Avinash: I love her.

Asha: …What about me? Do you love me?

Avinash: I don’t know… This is all so unnatural. I don’t know what I should do. I’m just so… confused.

Asha: (Laughs) Well, think about it.

 

Avinash feels embarrassed and leaves the stage. Asha’s keeps on laughing. Her laughter echoes in the hallways of the house.

Stage is dark.

 

Light rises on Avinash’s room. The room is empty. There is some sound from the fireplace. After some thudding and scratching Samay Singh falls out of the fireplace into the room. He appears to be drunk.

 

Samay Singh: Oh no! My back! Ouch! It hurts. (Pause) Where is everybody? My guess was correct. They are all sleeping. God! Bless that man Radheshyam, for he has told me everything! (Laughs) Now… Where is this girl? If a song can transform one, I’ll transform a thousand and sell them. That ought to make me a rich man.

 

There is a sound of struggle from the sitting room.

 

Samay Singh: Where is this sound coming from? I think it is coming from there.

 

He moves out of Avinash’s room into the sitting room. He finds the girl in the cage. His eyes light up with excitement.

 

Samay Singh: So it is true? A girl in a cage! (Looks at the girl) A beautiful girl! (Laughs)

Asha: Who are you? What is that smell?

Samay Singh: (Marvels in wonder) Radheshyam! Radheshyam! What have you done, you petty fool!

Asha: What do you want?

Samay Singh: You are my lottery ticket. I want you. Wait a minute, let me breathe. Oh, my whole body hurts.

Asha: I don’t think I have ever felt your presence. Who are you? Tell me or I will start yelling.

Samay Singh: Girl, I am Samay Singh. I am the clock tower operator of this town. It is a disgrace you don’t know me. Do you remember the pet shop you were in? My friend… I mean the owner of the pet shop told me about you and I came running to see you with my own eyes. A miracle has taken place. And by god it is true.

Asha: You came just to see me? (She becomes a bit worried) What is that stench?

Samay Singh: Water to a laborious holy man, yes? Its rum! (Suddenly) Tell me how did this happen!

 

He pokes her with his stick through the bars in the cage.

 

Asha: Stop it!

Samay Singh: Listen, I don’t want any trouble. All I’m asking you is to show me how can a bird transform into a human being.

Asha: I don’t know how. Stop poking me now.

Samay Singh: You are going to tell me everything. I didn’t come all the way here to eat dirt.

Asha: I don’t know. I heard someone singing a song and all of a sudden I had a human body. That is all I know.

Samay Singh: (Aside) Must’ve been a song full of magic. I always suspected those two for dark magicians, Bhola and Jeevni! (Aloud) Tell me the words to this song. (He pokes her again)

Asha: I don’t know the words to the song.

Samay Singh: Impossible. You just don’t want to tell me.

Asha: Why don’t you ask the boy who sang it? Why are you after me?

Samay Singh: (With lustful eyes) A fine girl you are, let me tell you. (Pause) I should stay away from that boy. I’ve seen my blood on his hands. If I go near him he will kill me.

Asha: Avinash, a murderer?

Samay Singh: Your eyes light up when you say his name. What romance might take place here? (Pokes her with his stick one last time)

Asha: Leave me alone.

Samay Singh: No.

Asha: Why?

Samay Singh: Because I’m not going to ask that boy anything. He insulted me and I’m not going to him for anything.

Asha: What can I do for you then? I don’t know anything I swear.

Samay Singh: You are lying. I’m sure you know everything.

Asha: (She thinks long, pause) I’ll tell you. But only on one condition, you will have to murder someone for me. This boy’s mother has to die. He won’t love me because he is too afraid of her.

Samay Singh: What a filthy human being you are! You want to kill someone for the sake of your lust?

Asha: Think what you want to think.

Samay Singh: So you have fallen in love?

Asha: I don’t know what love is… I just want him to be mine.

Samay Singh: …and after I murder this boy’s mother you will tell me the spells in the song. Am I right in assuming so?

Asha: Yes. I will. He has brought me to this world, I owe him and since you have a vendetta against him I’ll do anything to save him. If you want the words to the song you shall have them.

Samay Singh: Let me think about it. (Pause) I have made up my mind. How about I take you away from this place and torture you till you tell me everything.

 

He tries to the move the cage. But it isn’t in his power. He fails and falls on the floor panting.

 

Samay Singh: Okay then. I will murder this woman for you and you will have to tell me everything in return.

Light fades. Stage is totally dark.

 

 

 

ACT 2

 

Scene 2

 

Light of dawn. Jeevni enters Avinash’s room. She is hopeless. She has lost her love and understanding for her son. Avinash is wide awake thinking about Asha. His face is lit up with a strange smile of erotic thought looking out of the window at the hill.

 

Jeevni: Avinash! Bhola tells me it was you who brought the bird home.

Avinash: Mother I brought…

Jeevni: Did you know anything about this girl in the cage?

Avinash: But Ma…

Jeevni: How could you?

Avinash: Ma, I don’t have a clue of what’s going on.

Jeevni: You didn’t know there will be a girl in the cage?

Avinash: I swear…

Pause.

Avinash: I think your prayers came true last night.

Jeevni: This isn’t what I prayed for.

Avinash: Why are you so bitter to me? I don’t remember us ever being this way.

Jeevni: Had Bhola never told you about those animals?

Avinash: I never knew until yesterday…

Jeevni: I should have told you long ago. I shouldn’t have hidden it from you like this, nor should have he. This is a disgrace.

Avinash: Why do you look so worried Ma? You have just arrived here. Come sit with me and talk to me. Tell me how you have been…

Jeevni: Avinash, matters are much worse than you make them to be. There is something unnatural in this house. If our prayers have come true I believe we will have to make a sacrifice. We should prepare ourselves.

Avinash: Is that why everyone has gone to their rooms like ignorant fools? Why don’t we sit together and discuss how to go about this business?

Jeevni: How dare you talk back to me? Is this what Bhola has taught you over these years?

Avinash: (Thinks) I never knew he was so cruel to animals. I would never have brought home a bird for him if I knew.

Jeevni: Listen, I am disappointed it has turned out this way. But it is not Bhola’s fault. The society we live in has many practices that are considered taboo. This… transformation of the bird… to a human form isn’t something we already haven’t heard of. Legends of such occurrences are all around us. I believe evil has reincarnated itself.

 

She shows him a book.

 

Jeevni: I think the spells in this book can protect us. (Pointing at a chapter on dark arts) See its written here…  

Avinash: A spell? (Innocently) It doesn’t feel right.

Jeevni: It’s easy to make up magical spells. One often misses out on magic if they are never warned to look out for it in real life.

 

Avinash withdraws to a corner of the room.

 

Avinash: Ma?

Jeevni: Yes?

Avinash: The girl was saying that maybe she has come to life because of the words of the song we used to sing to the moon in the night sky.

Jeevni: (Gets a bit scared) You talked to the girl? I told you not to go near her. Oh this is heart breaking… What else did she say?

Avinash: She said she is an embodiment of hundreds of souls. Hundreds of souls must be too much information for her to process; she’s not able to make sound judgment.

Jeevni: Oh dear god! All hell has broken loose!

Avinash: Ma, why did you hide the truth from me? Why didn’t you ever tell me that Bhai Sahab…

Jeevni: I had my reasons! But I will not answer to you. I have nothing to say. You stay away from that girl. (Takes a step closer to her son) What do you think about Mona?

Avinash: What is there to think… This is unfair.

Jeevni: You deserve nothing more. We have done everything we could do for you.

Avinash: What do you mean “we”?

Jeevni: Bhola and I.

Avinash: What have you ever done for me? You left me here when I needed you most. Left me all alone instead of being there to answer my questions about why is life the way it is?

Jeevni: I did what I did because I was selfish. (Pause) I sense I am the one in most danger.

Avinash: Ma she was speaking to me about love.

Jeevni: Avinash! We need to perform this ritual given in this book before it is too late.

Avinash: What are you talking about? It’s black magic! I don’t know how to do black magic!

Jeevni: With everything that’s going on around us I don’t know what to tell you. Bhola and I will talk to you in the evening about this. Till then you will stay away from that girl. I’m going to talk to Mona, I’ll find out if she fancies you to be her husband. The two of you can go from here and live a happy life.

Avinash: I’ll go and wake Bhai Sahab up right now. I’ll ask him what’s the meaning of all this. Why didn’t you break your friendship with him? Why did you send me to him?

Jeevni: Bhola is not well. He was always more fond of you than I was. You must not trouble him. He is the reason I came here. You had been mentioning Bhola’s health has rapidly deteriorating so I couldn’t wait. I’d never thought he might feel broken one day. But it has happened. He stood strong when I needed him and he took care of you. I will not let my boy kill him.

Mona has told me that she has fallen in love with you.

Avinash: Ma, but I don’t love her!

Jeevni: You are not my son if you disobey me in this matter.

 

She storms out of the room. Avinash doesn’t move for a long time. After sometime thunder crashes over the house and hard day’s rain begins to fall again. Jeevni returns to the room with a pile of open letters in her hand. She throws them in front of Avinash. Avinash picks them up like a man in need.

 

Jeevni: These are all the letters you have ever sent to me. I don’t need them anymore. I’m returning them to you. Throw them in the fire if you want to.

Avinash: Am I supposed to leave this house and never come back?

Jeevni: We will marry you to Mona and send the two of you far away from here. I don’t have a doubt in my mind that she will keep you happy. I will go back to the farms soon. Don’t come after me. I am not here to come in between Bhola and you but you cannot live here any longer. It’s not safe.

Avinash: I am happy you feel disappointed life had to be this way, so vague and uncertain in terms of meaning.

Jeevni: I am much happier where I live. This house has a sad story and I never intended you to be a part of it. I chose not to be a part of that story long ago and today I have come here to forever separate myself from it.

Avinash: Ma…

 

Jeevni moves towards the door. She exits. Avinash is consumed by darkness.

 

Light. Jeevni is in the garden outside the house staring at the wasteland.

 

Jeevni: After everything that happened years ago birds still come to these parts of our land.

 

Samay Singh appears from behind one of the trees.

 

Samay Singh: I believe that boy is your son, that boy who has brought that bird to life. Oh, how you have changed over these years.

Jeevni: Who is there?

Samay Singh: I remember you were standing in support of the guilty when hundreds of animals had just been killed.

Jeevni: You are drunk! I request you to leave.

Samay Singh: I am Samay Singh! The clock tower operator! It hurts me to tell you Jeevni that your time is up.

Jeevni: Samay? What happened to you?

Samay Singh: Don’t come near me or I’ll cut you. The girl has promised to tell me how she transformed if I get rid of you. (Laughs)

 

He launches himself onto her like an animal.

 

Jeevni: Get away!

Samay Singh: Get ready to die.

 

He retrieves his dagger to murder her but she throws him to the ground with just one push of her arm.

 

Samay Singh: You have done a foolish deed I must warn you. I am a very dangerous sort of a man.

Jeevni: You are a drunk who has been ruined because of his own habits.

Samay Singh: I’ll have the magic spell… No one can stop me. It is jewels and riches that I want, not your blood but if your blood comes in the way I shall strike you down at once.

Jeevni: (Aside) He knows about the magic spell? (Aloud) There is nothing like magic. Someone is playing a trick on you. That is all. I suspect it is the doing of that unnatural creature!

Samay Singh: Then what have you there in your hand? Isn’t it a book of the dark arts? Jeevni! I won’t let you trick us any further, you witch! You are a dead woman walking. The pretty girl has told me that she is the voice of all the animals that passed away in the fire. There is something trapped within her which is stronger than any of us. She is going to kill you with her own hands once I let her out of the cage. You just wait now.

Jeevni: Do what you want to do. We will see what happens.

Samay Singh: Just a minute! Just a minute!

 

Samay Singh stops his fidgeting.

 

Samay Singh: Your boy has fallen in the traps of that unnatural creature. They are going to elope. I am sure of it. He suffers from a lack of virtue, he has been kept in ignorance… he has become evil.  

Jeevni: Why are you telling me that? I’ve asked him to leave the town and if he denies he is not my boy.

Samay Singh: (Scratches his head) Has Radheshyam made a fool out of me? (To Jeevni) Listen, you beware. I’m coming for your head, you got that? I’ll kill you in your sleep. You are a dead woman walking!

Jeevni: Go, run!

Samay Singh: Your son is in the traps of lust. There are only two fruits to be had from here on. One of tenderness and the other of a demonic will. Beware.

 

He escapes. Stage is dark.

 

Light.

 

Jeevni enters the house. She looks shocked and enraged. Mona is sitting in a corner of the room staring out of the window. Their eyes meet and Mona gets up in discomfort at once.

 

Mona: (Pacing towards Jeevni) Madam, what happened? Are you okay?

Jeevni: Nothing is okay. Pack up all your things. You are going to take that boy far away from here. Nothing has ever been okay in my life.

Mona: Don’t say that madam.

Jeevni: Get me a glass of water.

 

Mona gets her a glass of water from the wings.

 

Jeevni: A madman just launched himself at me. He was saying he wanted to kill me.

Mona: Samay Singh! I will report him to the police now! Things have gotten out of hand.

Jeevni: (Sits in a chair) He is a goon, a hooligan, that’s what he is. Bhola and I know him from when the forests were burnt down. He was the one who was leading the mob.

Mona: I think the two of them haven’t taken the animal killings very kindly. Nobody would have after… (Regains herself) But he has unimaginable spite for Avinash.

Jeevni: I don’t care. (Pause) Mona, do you really love my son?

Mona: Yes.

Jeevni: Then take him away from here. Take him while he thinks I hate him. That is the only way he is going to leave. I don’t want him suffering because of Bhola’s mistakes.

Mona: Madam I’m not sure he will leave Bhai Sahab alone at a time like this. A fool is what he is. He will never forgive those who have taken an aim at his heart. Bhai Sahab has been so weak lately. What did the two of you talk about last night in the garden?

Jeevni: Mona, I cannot tell you.

Mona: Madam! You should relax. The madman is not going to do anything. Have you seen him? He is as light as a piece of hay. He is not a threat to you.

Jeevni: We don’t know that.

 

Bhola Seth enters from the left.

 

Bhola: I’ve been looking for you all over the house. Where have you been?

Mona: Oh, you woke up!

Bhola: Do you think I’m sleep walking then?

Jeevni: Come take a seat. Look how pleasant the sky is today.

Bhola: Jeevni, I had a nightmare. Avinash was getting wet in the rain and ever since then he has had a strange fever. His eyes black, his manners abrupt and his desire just one… the girl.

Mona: Everything will be fine Bhai Sahab, sit down.

 

Bhola Seth quietly goes and sits in a chair. They look at the view for some time, greenery on one side and the wasteland on the other.

 

Bhola: (Sadly) I never meant to make any mistake, I swear. My intentions were good.

Jeevni: Let it be, I don’t want to talk about it?

Mona: For how long must we be depressed because of it? You and Madam have already suffered in silence long enough. Let it be.

Bhola: The existence of the bird in this house is a catastrophe, Jeevni. That’s what I’ve come to talk to you about. She’s not something which took birth because of our prayers. She is a cursed. I knew something was going to go wrong. But I still insisted.

Jeevni: Ever since we were children I should have known you were going to bring trouble and tear apart our lives.

Bhola: I never gave you any hint.

Mona: (To Jeevni) Did you scold Avinash for it, madam? He was behaving very strangely when I saw him.

Jeevni: (Nervously) What did you hear?

Mona: Nothing. He was shouting in his room that’s all. He was weeping I think.

Bhola: It’s not the boy’s fault. He never knew what he had in store for him. He doesn’t deserve such a meaningless life.

Jeevni: That is why I’ve asked Mona to take him away from here. It makes sense doesn’t it? Someone stole the bird and replaced it with a girl.

Bhola: Where is he? Bring him to me. My darling heart!

Jeevni: There is no need to be melodramatic Bhola!

Mona: Madam, Bhai Sahab isn’t being melodramatic. He is very sick.

Jeevni: I fail to understand his dramatic efforts. Bhola, Samay just threatened to kill me.

Bhola: You see Mona? What has life become?

Jeevni: What will you do?

Bhola: Nothing. (Pause) You see! This is why I left so abruptly when I saw a human being in the cage. I knew she was trouble.

Mona: Do you think we are witnessing black magic?

 

Jeevni nervously turns away and hides the book of dark arts.

 

Bhola: I am absolutely sure of it.

Jeevni: Don’t be fooled so easily, Samay Singh and Radheshyam are trying to deceive your fickle brain.

Bhola: Everyone comments on my illness.

Jeevni: Bhola! Don’t be so hard on yourself. I’m telling you to just stop.

 

Bhola Seth’s breathing catches on and he is literally panting in his chair. Mona tries to comfort him.

 

Bhola: Don’t anyone dare comfort me. You know… I was afraid of talking to that creature because I knew it won’t know what to make of my confessions the same way none of you ever knew what to make of them.

Mona: Bhai Sahab, why would that girl even listen to anything we say? After all it is us who have put her in that cage.

Bhola: I think its black magic. (To Mona) Take Avinash and go from here. Go now. If he comes asking for me tell him I’ve gone somewhere. Just don’t let him near me. I won’t know what to say to that poor boy.

 

Mona exits.

 

Jeevni: Bhola I’ve told him something too…

Bhola Seth: (Afraid) What have you told him?

 

She shows him the book of the dark arts.

 

Jeevni: Its better we talk about it alone. Come let’s go.

Bhola Seth: Did you tell him what we talked about yesterday?

Jeevni: Yes.
Bhola Seth: Oh dear.

  

Jeevni and Bhola Seth exit the stage on the left.

 

 

ACT 2

 

Scene 3

 

Avinash has suddenly become pessimistic about life. He is sitting in his room flicking his finger at the flame of a match stick. The rest of the room is dark. Mona enters from right and lights a fire in the fireplace.

 

Mona: Come with me Avinash. We will get on the bus right away. We don’t have to be a part of this.

Avinash: (In an unrecognizably demonic tone) Let it be.

Mona: Why was it so dark in here? Why won’t you open a window?

Avinash: Leave me alone. I don’t want to go anywhere.

Mona: That’s okay. (She comes near him) You know the girl hasn’t moved or said anything since morning. Did you talk to her?

Avinash: No.

Mona: I find out very easily when you are lying and when you are not. Your lips twitch when you lie. You need to stay away from that girl. There was something about the way she looked at me, when I went to see her that I knew she was up to something.
Avinash: (Turns his eyes) What did you tell her?

Mona: That you were very upset. She is strange isn’t she?

Avinash: She has dreamy eyes. I’ve looked at them closely.

Mona: We can go far away from here. This isn’t our burden to carry. Then why do you…

Avinash: Yes we can go. You don’t mind going away, do you?

Mona: Just you and me? No. I want us to get married and start a family.

Avinash: Get me some of my fresh clothes from the laundry. I’ll start packing. I need to change out of these clothes. (Sniffs his collar) They smell of that misery which haunts this house. We will never come back.

Mona: It makes me very happy to hear that you are willing to come with me. I’ll go to the laundry right away and get you some fresh clothes.

 

She exits on the right. Avinash picks himself and goes after her.

 

Avinash: Mona, you were right. I am lying.

 

He forcefully rushes into the laundry room and attempts to try the cloth around her mouth. Mona’s screams are heard. After awhile he ties her up entirely and locks her in that room in the basement. Dark.

 

Light.

 

Asha and Avinash are staring at each other with love in their eyes.

 

Avinash: It’s been hours you haven’t said a single thing.

Asha: I’ve told you everything I had wanted to say. Now I have nothing more to say.

Avinash: I’ve been thinking about you. Is it true what you said to me? Is it true that you will let me touch you?

Asha: Yeah, yeah, go ahead. I won’t mind.

 

Avinash touches her skin.

 

Asha: You like it?

Avinash: (Smiles in perversion) I think I like it.

Asha: That’s nice.

Avinash: I don’t think people will ever accept what is going to happen between us.

Asha: It doesn’t matter if people accept or disprove.

Avinash: Hmm… What do you want to do first if I let you out of this cage?

Asha: I’ll hold you in my arms and I’ll kiss your lips. Then I will take you away from this miserable place.

Avinash: Do you think we could be together, like a happy couple?

Asha: I want us to…

Avinash: I really want to elope with you. But I am afraid somebody might catch us in the act and then do something unimaginable.

Asha: There is no need to be afraid. No one will come here. I can sense that people are far from coming this way.

Avinash: You give a lot of importance to senses… (He touches her hair)

Asha: I have some senses that tell me…

Avinash: What do they tell you?

Asha: Let me out and I’ll show you.

 

After considerable thought he opens the door of the cage and frees her.

 

Stage is dark.   

 

 

Act 3

 

Scene 1

 

Asha and Avinash are sitting on top of the clock tower. They can see the whole town and the hills around it. On one side the mountains are green and on the other side the soil is ashy and the land is heavily deforested. The empty roads and the uninhabited buildings seem to make up most of this wasteland. It is raining. The sky has turned red and the wasteland is emitting golden light from its ground. There is very loud thunder in the grey clouds. Asha and Avinash have just made love again inside the clock tower. Their curiosity towards one another has completely taken over. It appears they want to know more about each other. The action continues from the last act.

 

Avinash: You know, it is only after I met you that I realized it is not easy accepting a loss of identity.
Asha: (Puts her head on his shoulder) Let us go far from here. (She thinks) When I was a bird I thought to myself flying to far-off places, but now with these limbs I think I finally can make that journey. We can take the bus. When does it usually leave?

Avinash: It doesn’t leave for another two hours.

Asha: So, we will just stay here till the rain stops and then we can get on the bus. That makes me so excited.

Avinash: (In an indifferent tone) Can I kiss you?

Asha: Why do you want to kiss me?

Avinash: Because you said I could touch you and you wouldn’t say anything. That makes me feel powerful. I like feeling like that.

Asha: I said you could touch me when I was in a cage. Now I am free. I don’t need any more of your favors. (Giggles) You will have to think hard and long why you want to kiss me. Do you really want to be in love with me or are you just saying all these things to impress me?

Avinash: When we go somewhere, will you live with me as my wife?

Asha: Do you take me as your wife?

Avinash: You are too good to be true. I am afraid this might be a dream.

Asha: I don’t want you to feel sad.

Avinash: I would be sad if you suddenly got up and flew away.

Asha: I’ve never harmed anybody. Even when I was a bird in my past life I was always kind and compassionate towards others.

Avinash: I think it is only human beings who bring harm onto others. I think animals have always been kinder than human beings.

Asha: That’s not true. Animals kill each other all the time.

Avinash: So, that is why the first thing you wanted to do when we put you in a cage was to kill my mother? You thought we were going to kill you? Do you like freedom now?

Asha: I could do anything for it. I seduced you, didn’t I? I gave you control over my body so that you could do whatever you wanted with me. All I wanted was to step out of that cage.

 

Pause.

 

Avinash: I hadn’t any idea of how to be with a woman till you let me be with you.

Asha: Avinash. I took human form just a few hours ago and you thought it was alright to have sex with me.

Avinash: (With discomfort) It was consensual… why are you phrasing it like I…

Asha: Consent?

Avinash: You really don’t know what consent is?

Asha: I’m not fully on terms with the ways of the ordinary human being, I’m sorry. (She laughs)

Avinash: You don’t know anything about loving somebody, do you?

Asha: I know a lot more about love now than I did when I was a bird, maybe more than you. I just need an opportunity to show you that I do.

Avinash: (Smiles) Do you remember loving somebody when you were a bird?

Asha: No. I don’t think anyone made me feel the way you made me feel.

Avinash: I feel flattered.

 

Pause.

Avinash is lost in some pessimistic thoughts.

 

Asha: What’s wrong?

Avinash: I feel like you are fooling me… like there is something you are not telling me.

Asha: I’ve told you everything there was to tell.

Avinash: No, I don’t believe that. You didn’t tell me why my mother isn’t already dead.

Asha: Why do you want to know that?

Avinash: (He thinks) Do you remember how to fly?

Asha: I’m a human being now. Of course I don’t remember how to fly. If I flew I’d be an angel.

Avinash: (Puts his hand around her shoulder) You are lying.

Asha: (Takes her head away from his shoulder) I’m not lying.

Avinash: (Grabs her neck) You see that building? That is where I went to school. (Points elsewhere with gritted teeth) That field over there is where I used to play cricket when I was a child. That is the temple where I first got lost. (Laughs) Bhai Sahab didn’t know how to find me. I cried so much. (Lets go of her neck) If you knew how to fly you could visit those places, couldn’t you?

Asha: (Uncomfortably) I guess I could. But I told you I don’t know how to fly.

Avinash: (Gets up to his feet and makes Asha get up) Come on, fly.

Asha: What are you saying… I… I can’t…

Avinash: You will try won’t you?

Asha: Stop. You are scaring me.

 

He pushes her off the clock tower. She falls flat on the ground with a loud thud. Blood starts oozing from her body and with the rain it forms a puddle around her.

 

Stage is dark.

 

The clock sounds another hour. Rain has stopped. Avinash is in his room scanning through the letters. Light.

 

Avinash: This cannot be. It is not true. You never once told me Ma who I am. Well, I’ve killed the thing I brought to life. What does that make me Ma? (He grits his teeth) I guess you wouldn’t know. (Pause) If you gave the words to that song wasn’t it you who filled it with black magic? I’m going to find the truth one way or the other. I’ll kill everything and everyone who comes in my way of finding the truth. Isn’t that the state of mind a man is always in these days? So it wasn’t us who trapped the girl in the cage, it was actually the girl who had kept us trapped in something much bigger. Whatever this gyre is in which souls await their rebirth, whatever Asha was embodying needs to be discovered. It’s out there somewhere. I know how close I am to the real truth. I have to find it before Ma does anything stupid.

 

Dark.

 

Light.

 

A lush cover of greenery can be seen in the background. Bhola Seth and Jeevni are sitting at a considerable distance from one another in the garden. It seems they have been debating something for a long time.

 

Bhola: …We can’t let these men walk into our house and kill everything that falls into their sight? This is madness. Do you have any idea what you are trying to instigate. What you are after is taboo. The boy used to stand there in the dark, singing at the age of five. Every night he’d sing thinking it is a prayer. We can’t change him now. It’s in him somewhere. It’s too late. It’s him who has to finish this and I believe he will.

Jeevni: (Showing him the book) But it’s written here. We have to do what the ritual commands. This is the only way. Nothing will happen to Avinash!

Bhola: Will you really give me your word?

Jeevni: I give you my word. Where shall we do it?

Bhola: Listen. I’ve thought about it and there is nothing I can do. If it’s only for his safety I say we do it. Let’s go up in my room. All we have to do is…

Jeevni: Do more black magic! How many lives will we take to cover up our mistakes?

Bhola: They were my mistakes. I cannot see Avinash die in vain.

Jeevni: Then you will do as I say, one last time. We will get rid of those two bastards once and for all. Theirs will be the lives we will sacrifice to save our son.  

Bhola: What will we have to do?

Jeevni: First let’s go to your room.

 

Exit Bhola Seth and Jeevni.

 

Dark.

 

Act 3

 

Scene 2

 

After discovering Asha’s dead body on the foot of his clock tower Samay Singh makes way to Bhola Seth’s house. He is angry because he couldn’t find the exact spell that transformed the girl. His plan is to kill them all.

 

Light.

 

Avinash is pacing on the stairs towards Bhola Seth’s room when Samay Singh enters the house through the front door. The boy is stopped mid-way by Samay Singh. The following action takes place on the staircase.

 

Samay Singh: Boy, you seem to be in a hurry. What’s wrong?

Avinash: Get out of my way. I won’t listen to anything anymore. You wanted to make a business out of girls? I’ve weeded out your key to that business.

Samay Singh: I know that you know the words to that song. You can tell me. It’s not too late. I won’t hurt anybody that way, else I’ll keep coming back to haunt you.

Avinash: There is no way you are ever going to get anything out from me.

Samay Singh: Poor little boy, before you decide anything for yourself I want to tell you that the girl…

Avinash: …is dead.

Samay Singh: She wanted me to kill your mother. (In a suggestive tone) Yes, it all makes sense now doesn’t it? Why were you in the clock tower of all places? You had told her you won’t be able to love her because it troubled you what your mother might think. So she wanted me to get rid of her so that the two of you could be together. She knew you were the only one in this house who will get her out of the cage and so she had to seduce you and take you far away from here. She lied to you and you killed her.

Avinash: That makes us even.

Samay Singh: Avinash: You can’t kill me. I’m time itself. You can’t kill time. I am the one who causes manipulation and deception.

Avinash: (He is a bit taken aback) Listen, I don’t care what Asha told you to do… You can’t kill Ma. I won’t let you.

Samay Singh: I won’t have to. Just tell me the words to the song and I’ll go far away from here. I don’t want to get into trouble with those black magicians anyways.

Avinash: (He approaches to murder Samay Singh) It’s been you all along, isn’t it?

Samay Singh puts a sharp object in Avinash’s stomach in self-defense. Avinash falls on the stage bleeding and dies at once.

 

Samay Singh: Oh god! What have I done? This is all because of them. First they sacrificed the lives of those animals in the forest and now they have caused more blood to spill. It’s always been those two. I’m sure of it.

 

Samay Singh carefully turns around and makes his way towards Bhola Seth’s room. On opening the door he sees Jeevni and Bhola sitting there in some strange meditation in front of some demonic sketches on the wall. Symmetrical shapes are drawn all around with something black and candles have been lit across the floor. Samay Singh is scared out of his mind but he attempts to interrupt this ceremony.

 

Samay Singh: I always knew your lust for power has corrupted you to your soul. But know you have nothing left… I just…

 

Jeevni points in the direction of Avinash’s dead body and it reacts to her gestures. Avinash’s corpse stands up. His wound heals automatically and he begins walking up the stairs towards Samay Singh. The madman panics. Jeevni continues singing the hymns of the devil.

 

Samay Singh: I will not let you do this again. No more blood of innocent beings should be spilt for the spawns of devil. Enough is enough. This has to stop now.

Jeevni: Times have changed, you know. It’s not wise of you to have come here. There are things you can never understand.

Samay Singh: Help! Help! Is anybody out there?

Bhola: Nobody can help you but you can help us please the devil. Give us that force we call life. Let us take it out of your earthly body. Just hold still, surrender and then you can join us. You will see how that gyre grinds where life spawns eternally.

 

Jeevni points at him and his body starts shaking violently. He falls to his knees and finally collapses. A dense spotlight falls over his corpse and gradually moves to the clock tower as the rest of the stage becomes dark.

The dark arts of Jeevni and Bhola Seth conceal Samay Singh in his own clock permanently. Now he can be what he had always thought himself to be, that is, time itself.

 

Bhola: Whatever be my sins, I am now doubly cleansed. I was born under a bad star and that is why my fate has turned out to be this way.

Jeevni: With animal flesh and the roots of the trees we have now sacrificed for you an impure new born and a madman.

Bhola: Give us immortality.

Jeevni: Show us the path to absolution. We wish to surrender to your power but keep our lives.

 

Avinash joins them under the spot light.

 

Jeevni: How powerless is he.

Bhola: Though his soul was slain his body walks.

Jeevni: His soul has escaped that gyre from which every mortal reincarnates, his body has remained with us. How is it possible if not with the wish of the devil?

Avinash: Am I dead?

Bhola: In your arrogance you wandered like a fool thinking that the devil has no power over you. But it fed on your arrogance, now it feeds on your flesh. Let it not have your soul. Pray to him with us to let you come back to paradise.

Jeevni: What do you wish for? Speak, you are in transcendence.

Avinash: How is there not a drop of blood flowing from my wound?

Bhola: You are in purgation.

Jeevni: Soon you will be face to face with that darkness you have always been so afraid of.

Avinash: If I’m asked who I am, what am I supposed to say?

Jeevni: You are nothing. In the face of death, you are absolutely powerless.

Bhola Seth: What more would one want to be?

Jeevni: The devil wants you to choose for yourself what you want your soul to become.

Bhola Seth: You’ve always been the chosen one. When you were a child something had come to take you away from this world into the world of evil but you opened your eyes nevertheless.

Jeevni: But you were reluctant, just as you are now in dying.

Avinash: Ma, remember how I used to tell you about all my fears in the letters I used to write to you? I’m scared.

Jeevni: You used to recreate your world for me in words. I don’t think you would have enjoyed writing to me that much if you knew the truth about the evil which surrounds us.

Bhola: You would have imitated whatever you saw, and partly it would have shown you the truth. We kept you in ignorance for as long as we could. That is all we were good for.

Avinash: But now my death has come. It has caught up in the games I was playing with it.

Jeevni: Death always chases after you. It hides itself well when you look back to find it.

Bhola: We saved you! We are the reason you saw this world with your eyes. You would have been long gone if it wasn’t for us.

Jeevni: Be grateful as we sacrifice you now.

Bhola Seth: There will be nobody there to hear about things that are to come. Just close your eyes and let it pass.

Avinash: I will not let it pass through me.

Jeevni: Don’t resist it else it will torment you in hell! We put you in danger of the black magic once when we summoned the spirits of the animals that were rotting in hell. They came to see you before you surrendered onto the devil.

Bhola Seth: Surrender and all will be quiet for eternity to come. O’ death, grant immortality to those who bow in devotion to you and your kingdom.

Avinash: What will I have to do to receive mercy from that lord of darkness?

Jeevni: Let us choose separate roads, let us gather the souls of all the travelers we see and meet in those distant parts of the world. There we will summon evil spirit till fire pours from the sun and burns this world to ash.

Bhola Seth: There’s nothing wrong… nothing wrong perhaps with becoming one with your world.

Avinash: I think I know what this feels like… It feels like…

Jeevni: Feels like living inside a dream.

 

Asha’s voice: I am wandering between two worlds. I’m dead in your world and powerless to be born in the other. I am alive, awaiting rebirth. I am the bond between life and death. The living try to eliminate evil and the thought of death consumes them while they live, almost till a time when there is nothing left but evil to remain.

 

THE END