tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51517712990641978832024-03-14T01:53:20.710+05:30vipul rikhivipul rikhihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16894948970160091492noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5151771299064197883.post-36910786903740230692014-11-14T13:09:00.000+05:302014-11-14T13:09:39.491+05:30In the Space between Singing and Listening<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span>(First published in Aalaap Magazine in April 2014)</span></span><i><span> </span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span>Haan kahun toh hai nahin </span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span>Na bhi kahyo nahin jaaye</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span>Haan aur na ke beech mein</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span>Mora satguru raha samaaye</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span>‘Yes’ doesn’t quite
catch it</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span>‘No’ is not quite
right</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span>The space between
‘yes’ and ‘no’</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span>Is where my true guru
hides</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span>Near Mussoorie in June
2008, in the foothills of the Himalayas, in a small organisation called SIDH
located in the village of Kempty, a small event unfolded. It was tentatively
billed as a ‘Kabir workshop’. I was in residence there at the time, working on
a novel as well as giving workshops, and I was curious about how this workshop
would go. It included films and talks by a Ms Shabnam Virmani, besides music,
and I fully expected this Ms Virmani to come and give us lectures on Kabir -
since lectures and Kabir had indelibly become connected in my mind since school
days.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span>What I encountered was
something quite spectacularly different. The films were not what I (lazily)
expected documentary films to be. And to encounter Kabir in the voice of
Prahlad Tipanya was as revolutionary a revelation as making love for the first
time, or perhaps reading the Upanishads yourself, after <i>hearing</i> about these things for so long. There’s nothing like real
experience. I was practically meeting Kabir for the first time.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span>Since that first event
in Mussoorie, when the films were still rough-cut, several other Kabir
festivals, concerts, screenings and <i>yatras</i>
have taken place all over the country. Somehow the idea of journey and Kabir
have got inextricably linked in my mind. And this is not a little ironic, since
Kabir often pokes fun at all our restless perambulations.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span>Daudat daudat daudiya</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span>Jahaan lag mann ki daud</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span>Daud thake mann sthir bhaya</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span>Toh vastu thor ki thor</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN">The mind made you scamper </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN">You ran, as far as the mind could fare</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN">Tired of its flight the mind grew still </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN">And the object was right there</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span>What we were looking
for, what we set out in search of, he seems to say, was always right here. In
another place, he says to himself:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span>Kabir bahut bhatkiya</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span>Mann le vishay viraam</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span>Chaalat chaalat jug bhaya</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span>Til ke ote Raam</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span>What long wanderings,
O Kabir</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span>Let the mind cease its
quests</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span>Ages have passed in
this search</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span>In a granule, Raam
rests</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span>It’s a special feeling
when something precious comes to you without your seeking it. Perhaps that is
one meaning of ‘the thing’ being right here.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span>I struck up a
friendship with Shabnam in Mussoorie and got involved in some of the Kabir
Project’s subsequent travels. One of our first journeys together was a trip to
Chhatangarh village near Jaisalmer in Rajasthan to vist Mahesha Ram. In the
star-studded nights of the desert - clear, dry air, ample, cloudless sky - we
had the privilege of listening to this man sing, outside of a performance
context, in his own home, surrounded by his children who were learning from
him. And the <i>rasa</i> of listening fully
entered into the body. There was no showboating here - neither from the singer,
nor from the listener - and no egos to please - neither someone else’s nor your
own. Only the music, and an opportunity to <i>be</i>.
It was as if the voices and words of Kabir, Meera and other poets came to live
in that moment, inhabiting the throat of a singer who is a worthy inheritor of
a long tradition of folk music. Mahesha Ramji remains deeply inspirational for
us to this day.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gm5nRHM8sN8/VGWv7-WMhYI/AAAAAAAAAXs/k8qiQ1mAf6k/s1600/Feb28.07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gm5nRHM8sN8/VGWv7-WMhYI/AAAAAAAAAXs/k8qiQ1mAf6k/s320/Feb28.07.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Mahesha Ram in the mood</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(Photo by Jackson Poretta)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span>More rollicking kind
of trips followed - heady yatras in Malwa and Bikaner, for instance, which had whole
busloads of people travelling from village to village for a week for nightly
satsangs. But years later, another very quiet and intimate journey touched me
deeply. The Kabir Project team went to the outskirts of Trivandrum in 2011 to
spend a week with Parvathy Baul at her house, which had an <i>akhada</i> for her practice and three dogs called Raja, Rani and
Kartik. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span>Parvathy is not only
music, but also a very deep personal practice. She is also silence. She is also
insight. She didn’t only sing; she also spoke to us. We talked to her about the
intricacies of the Baul path, the practitioner’s obligations and rewards, <i>viraha</i> (separation from the Beloved,
longing), seeking out the <i>purusha</i> and
the <i>prakriti</i> within, and so on. All
the songs that got sung and documented were very much embedded within this
context. Again, they were not just performance material in that setting - they
were living songs, bearers of subtle, profound and fragile meanings.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-85E8biDg0Mk/VGWwlZTGN4I/AAAAAAAAAX0/e8bRtdt3lAQ/s1600/IMG_9958.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-85E8biDg0Mk/VGWwlZTGN4I/AAAAAAAAAX0/e8bRtdt3lAQ/s320/IMG_9958.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">In the akhara with Parvathy Baul</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(Photo by Smriti Chanchani)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span>In 2012 I moved to
Bangalore and formally started work with the Kabir Project. A much deeper
immersion took place. One could almost say - a transformation. I started
working with these poems and songs as living material - I started to translate
them. And in order to do that I had to learn to catch exactly what they were
trying to say. Many poems opened themselves to me through this process. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span>I also started sitting
in on Shabnam’s satsangs much more regularly. This informal space - where a
group of friends gather to share music and meaning - invites you to dive in, to
participate, to listen <i>and</i> to sing.
I, like the others, started singing along. Always having been really fond of
singing, I didn’t realise I could fall in love with it to this e<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="146ebb2163676b15__GoBack"></a>xtent. And that there was this space, open and available and
inviting, to sing, to express, to <i>become</i>
the song. And that the songs could grow deeper with each bout of listening
and/or singing.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span>I have not stopped
singing since this time. The songs have not stopped speaking to me. This space
- mystic poetry in the folk idiom - is a powerful space because it is the
meeting-ground of melody and meaning. Neither is secondary - both are
preeminent. This is the space where <i>rasa</i>
(taste) turns into <i>bhaav </i>(feeling).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span>And it is a very
powerful moment when this happens, because, as one song says: “Bhaav bina
bhakti kadiya nai hove hai”. (There can be no devotion, without the presence of
feeling.)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span>It is the space, or a
moment, of a pregnant silence, when singing and listening, music and meaning, you
and me, become one.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span>Kehna tha so keh diya</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span>Ab kuchh kaha na jaaye</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span>Ek raha dooja gaya</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span>Dariya leher samaaye</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span>I said all I had to</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span>Now nothing more to
say</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span>One remained, no
‘other’ stayed </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span>Like waves merge into
the ocean</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span>(<i>All translations by Vipul Rikhi</i>)</span></div>
</div>
vipul rikhihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16894948970160091492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5151771299064197883.post-10691416833956206712014-10-14T19:51:00.000+05:302014-10-14T19:51:14.947+05:30Two Tempos<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]--><br />
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:DoNotShowPropertyChanges/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/>
<w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
<w:Word11KerningPairs/>
<w:CachedColBalance/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">(Of men, women and
relationships)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Listening to the woes
of a certain woman friend about the wretched emotional quotient of the men
she’s been involved with - a classic male-female paradigm! - I came up with
this theory of two tempos on the spot. It’s pretty simple (even men can grasp
it - unless they’re in the middle of a cricket or football match). </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Men and women are in
different emotional tempos. Generalising largely, men are suspicious, cynical
and afraid (of emotions). Therefore they take a long time to begin to trust
their partner emotionally in order to start revealing themselves (that giant
monster called vulnerability!). </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Women on the other
hand are totally out there. Their speed of emotional relating is not only
dazzling, but also threatening, for a man. So men come up with convenient and
disparaging labels like ‘needy’ to ward off this kind of behaviour (eg - horror
of horrors - calling three days in a row!). And women can get into a funk about
‘not wanting to appear needy’. Predictably, this kind of thing goes nowhere.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Relationships prosper
when the two partners trust each other emotionally. Before this state arrives,
there is the whole drama of ‘is it too early?’ or ‘what does she want from me?’.
Men need to learn that emotions are not monsters that are going to eat them up
(nor are women who are emotional). Actually, their whole culture needs to teach
them this, which it doesn’t. It does exactly the opposite. It tells them that
in order to be a ‘man’, it is necessary not to be ‘weak’. Needing someone,
wanting to be with someone, putting oneself in a position of even a little
vulnerability - these are absolute no-no’s. The only way you can ‘want’ someone
is like Shahrukh Khan in <i>Darr</i> </span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: HI;">or as a Don Juan </span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">- <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a>a stalker or a conquerer.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Women, on the other
hand, could learn to trust their own resources a little more, to find
themselves as much in themselves as they seek to do in relationships, and thus
not take off like an emotional jetplane that the man can never hope to get on
board with. They need to bring a full person to the relationship, rather than a
half one whom the relationship will somehow magically complete. Parvathy Baul
calls this finding the ‘purushatva’ in oneself.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Of course, these
gender binaries are quite artificial and the result of a lot of conditioning.
Still, one has to acknowledge that they exist, in different measures for
different people. On a lighter note, women can experiment with coming up with
creative names for the emotionally crippled state that many men find themselves
in - to match the label of ‘needy’ that they so easily get slapped with. How
about ‘emotionally challenged’ to begin with?</span></div>
</div>
vipul rikhihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16894948970160091492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5151771299064197883.post-8523828035938445662013-10-01T23:18:00.000+05:302014-11-14T22:10:34.038+05:30I am...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="margin-left: 1in;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
a dreamer caught in reality</div>
</div>
<div style="margin-left: 1in; text-align: left;">
eternity caught in time</div>
<div style="margin-left: 1in; text-align: left;">
a desert caught in an oasis</div>
<div style="margin-left: 1in; text-align: left;">
a poem caught in a rhyme</div>
<div style="margin-left: 1in; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="margin-left: 1in; text-align: left;">
<br />
I am that which cannot be</div>
<div style="margin-left: 1in; text-align: left;">
What I am cannot be told</div>
<div style="margin-left: 1in; text-align: left;">
I am that and this is me</div>
<div style="margin-left: 1in; text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
This was I but that is old</div>
<br /></div>
</div>
vipul rikhihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16894948970160091492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5151771299064197883.post-87697956743602716302013-10-01T23:05:00.000+05:302013-10-23T01:13:46.521+05:30A Wooden House<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" Name="Body Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<br />
<div align="left" class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div align="left" class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: left;">
In
speaking of those days I do not wish to say that they were unhappy. They
weren’t. But they weren’t happy either. In fact those were our dog-days. Days
that we have barked ourselves by.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
</div>
<a name='more'></a>I’d like to say we lived in a
wooden house by a floating river. But we didn’t. We lived by a brick wall on a
busy main street in the city where the only thing that floated, or more often
the case, rushed by, was traffic. It left a blaring vibration of the horns in
the ears, trailing behind, like silt deposited by the river on the shore. I
have always liked to picture our house as a house on the river, by the river,
facing the river, beside the river. Beside it in all its moods. Its gentle
meander in the afternoon sun, its madness of the night, its bulky menace when
in spate, its dancing in the clip-clop rain – the sheer continuous sound of it
filling you up till it had become a part of you and you constantly heard it
even when you went away. Even when (and if) you conducted business deals. They
say it happens with the seas. The seas fill you with their sounds till you
don’t realize any more how you sway and rock to them every breathing minute of
your life. Your breath exhales salt, you taste it when you kiss. Your lover
makes you aware of it. That is what I’ve heard of the seas and I respect them
immensely. As their immensity seems to require. <br />
<div align="left" class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: left;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But me, I’m content with a river.
Give me my river, I say, and you can keep your salt and your lover. I choose a
life of austerity if I have to, for the sake of my river.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It
runs, as I see it, undulating down the valley. Its curves are soft. Like a
woman’s I would say, except that the women I have met in my life have been
harder than I would like this river to be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It undulates softly, as in children’s pictures. The crude outline of a
house, a single door, a single window, brown in the middle of a meadow, the sun
rising in the background from among the hills (the mountains?). The children
always have the sun rising. Even I used to, though I can’t any more understand
how. Now I picture the house, in three dimensions, in the noon, in the heat, in
the sun. In the edgy despair of twilight. I stifle my sneezes in it through the
night when I can’t stand its particular dust any more. I see it falling with
the falling darkness, weeping in the raining sun. Quiet. Unobtrusive. Seeking
to blend with the soul of the river. Begging for admission. Wretchedly
dignified. Watching a life go by in the shape of a river. I would like to live
in such a house by such a river. I’d have liked to be such a person.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
This road we live on experiences
concussions from time to time. A bleeding at the gums that is swallowed as it
comes. Traffic clogs up like muck in drains and requires certain measures. Then
we hear shrill whistles of traffic policemen trying to make sense of an
abundance of cars. It would make the heart swell, this spectacle of prodigious
productivity in a narrow city street, this amazing witness to a marvellous
yield of cars, an overflowing harvest swaying to the wind, reaped of the best
fertilizers, an insane sentiment of pride in I-know-not-what. We can do this,
you know. This, too, is possible. And so one wonders. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>To
the left of us is a chemist’s shop. Our ready life-saver. Our daily aspirin. To
the right of us a shop for cigarette and paan. I don’t know what to call this.
The small pleasures of our life? Our chronic kill? We rarely make use of
either. Right below us lies land that stocks cassettes and now CDs. Revolution
happens beneath us while we sit on our pots. I meditate while new products
flood the market. We hold our hearts.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Our
hearts are jumpy, a little insecure, slightly timorous. We are happy to sit
still. The noise of the street fills our day without any of us having to do
much. It’s in the house, you feel it as you move, this helpful noise, you can
touch its sides and stand leaning on it if you’re tired. It is always there. It
never runs away. It never plays truant. Nothing can put it out. A droneful
melody. I wonder if it can be asked someday to pipe it up a bit, or tune down a
little, to change its rhythm a bit. To shake things up, maybe. To change the
texture of my mouth. Through my whole body I feel the kind of revulsion you
have for your own sense of taste when sick.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We
live above a sprawling commercial street. Shops lie on either side of it as if
waiting to spring. Shoppers dance a dazzling dance as they move from store to
store, down the street, with purpose, acceleration, intensity. Parking is a
perennial problem. That’s why the horns honk so well. We’ve grown more or less
used to it. Other people’s problems, other people’s solutions. We are merely
witnesses who happen to be on the spot. Maybe this is what we were brought here
to see. Maybe… At least we can claim the credit of trying to shut ourselves off
from it. We keep to our rooms, avoid windows, don’t pay our telephone bills. We
survive. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
CD-cassette-player-man pays the rent on time. It is grossly disproportionate to
the amount of profits he makes on the shop. It is the rent he used to pay
twenty years ago. We somehow couldn’t ask for more. We know what he gives is
enough for us. We don’t have to work. We earn our keep by sitting on a piece of
prime property. What more could we ask for?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
As I look out from a window in my
wooden house I see the sun set on the river. A desire for a heartstopping peace
fills me. I’m not sure though why I should want my heart to stop. To be still.
Not crouching, just still. Insect sounds charge the air as night begins to fill
its vessel. From this house where I stand I can see a blue range of mountains
(hills?) just beyond that line of trees. That is where the river is coming
from. The air is suddenly cold and I can feel the shiver in the river. As human
as the rest of us, or more so, the river runs the gamut of emotions. And not
just emotions, ideas as well. It is not enough to say that the river is angry
today or that it is sad. Those are simplicities best left to… I don’t know to
whom. The angry river is many things – I cannot begin to plumb the depths of
its intensities. I feel anger, sadness, terror, despair, love, all at the same
time. I look at the river and I can see all this drip from its veins. Since
pollution is really yet to come to it, you can see right through the river. It
doesn’t even have a nudity to call its own.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
As a child I never used to wonder
much. I took my world as I found it, sort of met it with a straight face. The
eyes always a little anxious, the heart always a little contracted. I wonder
about that now. This is also how I have lived. Look here, this also can be
done. Why, though?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Our
straightfacedness has more or less stayed with us. I guess we never found new
skins to grow into. We bit into our little chocolate-chips, took our mandatory
car-rides, we wandered around a damned while, separate, alone, practically
dead. And then we came back to live our dog-years here. By a sort of mutual
consent.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>When
we returned the market had come to be what it is now. But that is not how we’d
left our street. I remember it wide, sparse, clean, colonial. Almost like a hospital-ward
solely dedicated to chemist’s shops. A different feel to it. Our children’s
eyes used to stare out of the dark room and bright window at those restrained
shops looking politely back at us. Clothes, bags, shoes. As we grew up we had
wanted something else for ourselves and had tentatively tried. Not being really
braced to it though, we gave up rather too easily and quickly. I wonder if it
should be a matter of regret to us now that we did. Somehow it inspires no
feeling at all. Right step, wrong step, wrong step, right step – kids’ games
that we’ve never learned to play in all our lives. Chappy lips. Sloppied
leaves. Recalcitrant lives.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>On
coming back we found the dark rooms to be the same as ever, but the bright
windows to have acquired new colours. Restraint seemed to have vanished with
the drains. The monsoons managed to fill the street up now. It was a strange
incomprehensible sort of plenitude. The same rack contained double the amount
of things these days. What we hadn’t wanted was no more there to not be wanted.
Instead, a new face that we had again to work out our relationship with. To
like or not to like. To want or not to want. Just the incredible thought of
having to begin over again scared us to death. We never even tried.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We
kept back. Stayed at obtuse angles with the light. Fitted into a shady network
configuration. Quietly reset our coordinates. Refigured our sights. A lapse
that was easy and spontaneous. Perhaps like a house running to weed. Oh excuse
me, I have to water my house now, I must not forget. My house in a pot in the
backyard.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Who decides which is the front of a
house? The entrance? What if you practically never use it? What if you stay by
a certain window, in a certain position, and do nothing but watch a river flow
down? What if you feel alive in a house only thinking of it a certain way? Back
and front. Front and back. And back they ran from front to back. I stayed and
got the sack. Tring-tring. An electric buzzing in the ears. A kwlpgnoqpjzm.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
entrance to my house is the not the important thing about it. That it faces the
river is. The entrance door must be here somewhere if you care to look for it.
The window, though, is unmistakable. It draws you toward itself. Not like a
magnet, but like the singing of a bird. You need to be in its vicinity. From
the window the river can be heard quite clearly. There is a hint of embankment
between the two but it does not hinder the view at all. It rather reassures me
that my house will not at least fall into the river and be swept away. For if
it did, imagine for a moment that it did, then the window would fall face down
and sink head-foremost. And then there would be nothing left to look at, just
the river-bed right next to the window. A wall against a wall. Reinforced
whatever. Then that would truly be the end of the house, the back-end if you
like, and I could not bear to contemplate the front.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
We did our baying at periodic
intervals. That seemed the only way to go about it. We took our dog-biscuits
regular-sized. Zero-fuss, little extravagance, small abashment. A steady line.
Not moving here nor there, not looking around; keeping studiously to the
prescribed lane. A law-abiding policeman-citizen.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We
stayed in our separate rooms, naturally avoiding each other. We felt each other
through the walls and that seemed enough. To not be alone was all we could
desire. I couldn’t bear the thought of being alone in that house. Never. Not
since so long ago. I knew I wouldn’t survive it. I should have broken the
barrier and crossed over in that case. I mean I would probably have walked out
the window. I should not have cared to look – whither I was headed. And I would
have taken direction. Fatal, fatal.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>To
row a boat on a metalled road.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Our
bathrooms are important to us. There are two of them (with an attached toilet
each) and more than two of us. We have to, we must, play musical pots. We
offload to a time. The rewiping clean of ourselves is quick, efficient, and
unobtrusive. We’re a well-oiled machine. We work.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We
work around each other. Avoiding all possible confrontations, we get through
our days. This is somehow all we have left living for – not to get entangled
any more. We wish to droop our eyes, hang our heads, drop to our knees, in
peace. Our tongues must quietly run dry in the summer heat. Though we have
nothing more to do with it we do not take steps to bar the sun. It streams in
with the shop-products. Curtains would be superficial, black paper ridiculous.
We practise further retreat. Make more corners out of corners. Mice have deserted
us. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Our
breaths keep running into each other. It isn’t something we can avoid, so we’ve
taken it up as distraction. Or rather, a thread of continuity. We make love to
each other, give incest a bad name. We do it dully, like an invariable habit. We
break down, then up again. We have intervals of despair. We always outlive
them. We shine our shoes in several kinds of darknesses. And in the middle of
the night we hear the sound of a stray car go by. We reawake to familiar
sounds.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Shouts
of take it, grab it and bargain sale drum our ears. We drink them in like
breaths, wear them like scales on our skins. We lie inert. Grow old to the
beat. Sigh without wind. Dream without a heart.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
I’ve grown old in this house by the
river. It’s been my life-work, my romance, my adventure, my mystery, my
devotion, my everything. The river makes the house glow and a gentle warmth
tantalizes me with its tentacles. Tentacular bien-etre. I speculate on the
nature of the river, from here, where I can watch it go by, flow past, descend,
endlessly replace itself. It swirls and curves into the pit of my stomach,
here, where there is space (haven’t eaten yet, today). Eddies rumble to the
depth and make gas and sound. I bubble to the wonder.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Does
it have a soul this river or am I just kidding myself? Am I imagining things?
Has senility already hit me where it hurts most? Has this house induced fear,
paranoia, anxiety, depression, this house where I’ve been too long, this hovel
where I’ve been happy? Has it grown mouldy like biscuit, the wood hollow from
termite, the air musty from re-use? The planes and angles on which it is based
about to collapse into each other? Has geometry already given up on it then? Is
this the end, of the dream and the story? The river’s still gurgling.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Yesterday
I saw a boat on the river. The first one I’ve seen in all this time. Somehow I
never imagined that fish existed in these waters. Apparently they do. There’s
the man and his net, floating downstream. Soon they will move out of sight. And
how I would wish a boat still existed in the picture! Maybe I could even live
on it. Or maybe, next monsoons, the river will simply flood the house and carry
it along with it to wherever it’s going. Maybe at an apposite and sufficiently
heartbreaking place, I could drop anchor and stay, forever nestling and rocking
in the water. In the picture, not out of it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Suddenly
a gust of breath tinged with water smell hits me in my room. It’s sombre. I
don’t look around to see who it is, it know it’s my comrades. Others, in other
rooms, breathing, living, surviving. My comrades-in-arms. What a way to think
of them! Their embattlement is all I’m sure of, it is all we have of each other
to hang on to. But do they look out at the same things as me? Or do they have
other windows to care for and nurture? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .2in;">
How do they do,
these housemates of mine, in their in-between moments of tired rest, weary
relaxation? At what rhythm do their hearts beat? What do they look out on, from
their individual little corners – the people of the faraway eyes? Do all of us
share a house somewhere else, by the river, by a hill, by the sea? Do we mingle
and stretch in that house? Do we have anywhere to abandon retreat? And what do
they really think of, these brick-bound cohabitants of mine, my comrades, whom
I occasionally love, when they look out like that, staring through the stone
walls?…<br />
</div>
</div>
vipul rikhihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16894948970160091492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5151771299064197883.post-73034474896028491602013-10-01T23:00:00.000+05:302013-10-23T00:48:27.135+05:30On a Winter's Night<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
Prologue and first act of a love drama in verse (sort of): <i>On a Winter's Night</i>.<br />
<br />
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/>
<w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
<w:Word11KerningPairs/>
<w:CachedColBalance/>
</w:Compatibility>
<w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><br />
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><u><span lang="EN-GB">Prologue</span></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-GB">Two strangers in overcoats and hats on a
foggy night. It is hard to tell who the man is and who the woman until they
speak. They are standing still, not quite face to face, but looking past each
other, into the distance.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-GB"></span></i></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<i>Bare stage.</i><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-GB">Man: </span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">If on a winter's night I were</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">To come to a place where there were no room</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">To lie myself down in or to hold</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">My feelings in my hands to look at them
afresh:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">What should I do?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-GB">Woman:</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">If on a winter's night someone</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Were to come and hold me in his arms</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">As if I were his feelings he were
caressing:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">What should I do?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-GB">Man:</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">It is a winter's night and I</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Am quite well far away from it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-GB">Woman:</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">It must be a winter's night and you</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Must be here where I think you should.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span lang="EN-GB">Act
I</span></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB">Enter
the two from opposite ends. They move uncertainly about in the fog awhile
before they brush each other.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-GB">Woman:</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Oh, excuse me!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-GB">Man: </span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Not at all! Entirely my fault.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-GB">Woman:</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">No, I should have called.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">In such foggy nights as this</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">It is useful to either shout or hiss</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">To signify one's approach.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-GB">Man: </span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Let me a different matter broach:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Are you looking for someone?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-GB">Woman: (defensive)</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">How do you mean?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-GB">Man: </span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">How does anyone mean what they mean?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">They take it on good faith </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">That what they think they mean</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Must be really what they mean.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Don't you think?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-GB">Woman:</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">I
don't know</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">If I would go so far as that. (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">pause</i>)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I'm looking for a man with a hat.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB">Silence.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-GB">Man: </span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">A man, did you say?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-GB">Woman:</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">A man, is what I said.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB">Silence.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-GB">Man: </span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">It is curious that you say that.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I was told here to come</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">To find a woman in a hat.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB">The
woman removes her hat. Her hair, dimly seen, fall down.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-GB">Man: (murmuring, as if quoting from
memory)</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Your beauty shines like the stars at night</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">An awe-struck, awe-inspiring sight…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-GB">Woman:</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Excuse me, did you… say something?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-GB">Man: </span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Nothing. Only the insistent ring</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Of lovely, lonely lines in my head.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">You know, when I lie in bed</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">At nights that are too beautiful to bear</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I have dreams and visions of fear</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I have nightmares of ghastly dread. …</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">But I digress.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Those were mere lines of poetry</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Usually quoted under stress.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-GB">Woman:</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Ah, a poet, are you?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-GB">Man: </span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Not
I, my lady, not I</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Says he, with a desolate sigh.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">No, 'tis a friend of mine has the honour</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Of being a complete nut and goner.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Not I, my lady, not I.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I wouldn't dare to try to make you sigh</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">With a love you cannot hold.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-GB">Woman:</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Oh come, come. Enough of that!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">A poet's a poet though he changes his hat.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB">The
man takes off his hat.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-GB">Woman:</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">A poet's what makes a woman faint</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">And frees her from the worldly taint.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I'm a poet myself, you know</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Though far from laying the gentlemen low</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">With the depth of my emotions. (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">pause, change of tone</i>)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Men appear to have queer notions </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Of what a woman's to do.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-GB">Man: </span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Madam, what you say is true.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">But here's my hat.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">In exchange may I have that?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB">They
exchange hats.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-GB">Man: </span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Now I am you and you are I</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">And no witness except this sleeping sky.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-GB">Woman:</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">No witness except this fog, dear sir.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">You are a poet and I a blur</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Receding on the horizon.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB">She
leaves.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-GB">Man: </span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I was told to come find a woman in a hat</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Wonder why life's so complicated as that.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB">Exits.</span></i></div>
</div>
vipul rikhihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16894948970160091492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5151771299064197883.post-61922748763754491322013-10-01T22:56:00.000+05:302013-10-23T00:42:27.649+05:30In Hot Water<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="post_content">
<div>
<br />
This is Act 1 of a radio play I wrote in
April 2007 for the BBC International Radio Playwriting Competition. <span style="font-size: 20pt;"><u><b><br />
</b></u></span>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">List of Characters:</span><br />
<div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Mr Chatterjee, a
Bengali Indian, recently husband</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Mrs Chatterjee,
another Bengali Indian, recently wife</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Yves, a French
tourist, interested in the mysteries of Tantric sex</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Maya, a young American
seeker, with the stars of enlightenment in her eyes</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Tenzin Norbu-la, an
elderly Buddhist monk</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Swami Drown-ananda,
a venerable Indian yogi in the nude</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Scene: The action is set
high in the Himalayas, on the last piece of
land left before water from the melting poles has swallowed up the whole of the
earth.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";"> </span></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Act I</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">OPEN WITH GENTLE
SOUNDS OF WATER AS IF OF WAVES LAPPING. THE SUBTLE SOUND OF WATER REMAINS IN
THE BACKGROUND THROUGHOUT THE PLAY, ITS GENTLENESS TAKING ON A DIFFERENT
QUALITY AS WE FULLY COMPREHEND THE SITUATION.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MR AND MRS
CHATTERJEE ARE A NEWLY-MARRIED COUPLE ON THEIR HONEYMOON. THEY SPEAK IN AN
ODDLY FORMAL WAY WITH EACH OTHER. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">ALL CHARACTERS IN
THE PLAY, EXCEPT MRS CHATTERJEE, HAVE EXAGGERATED ACCENTS, WHICH ARE PIQUANT
WITHOUT BEING INCOMPREHENSIBLE. MRS CHATTERJEE SPEAKS IN A MORE SOPHISTICATED
TONE.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MR CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">in a heavy Bengali Indian accent</i>)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Listen – are you
listening?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MRS CHATTERJEE MOANS
AND MUMBLES IN HER SLEEP.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MR CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Listen, listen! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MRS CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">What, listen! Listen
to what?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MR CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Can’t you hear it? Water!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MRS CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">still half-asleep</i>)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">I told you we should
have gone to the sea for our honeymoon.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MR CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">irritated</i>)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">But we did not come
to the sea for our honeymoon, Mrs Chatterjee! We came to the mountain! To show
you my love and affection for you, Mrs Chatterjee. Highest tourist point in the
Himalayas! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">SOUND OF MRS
CHATTERJEE JERKING AWAKE AND SITTING UP IN HER BED.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MRS CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">fully awake</i>)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Then what is the
sound of the sea doing here?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MR CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Exactly! It is precisely
what I was trying to tell you, Mrs Chatterjee. But you are not listening. Only
a week our marriage is old, and already you are not listening to me! I will
find out the Marxist theory of marriage to see what it says about it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MRS CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">dryly</i>)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">It has nothing to do
with division of labour, I suppose. More like base and superstructure.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MR CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">You will not make
fun of Ideology when the Red Tide is sweeping the earth, Mrs Chatterjee!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">SOUND OF WATER
INTENSIFIES AT THIS.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MRS CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">What tide is this
high up in the mountains? Is your red tide sweeping the earth already?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MR CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">I am bringing you to
the highest point in the Himalayas to make a
point, Mrs Chatterjee.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MRS CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Trust you to use our
honeymoon to make points, Mr Chatterjee. Did you marry me to make points, make
a home, make babies, or perhaps all three?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MR CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">proudly</i>)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">I married you
because my mother asked me to marry you! She personally selected you from a
wide list of candidates!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MRS CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">I’m glad to hear it.
Sounds like I cleared a critical job interview.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MR CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Not to make fun of
my mother, Mrs Chatterjee.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MRS CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Must you keep
calling me Chatterjee? I was quite happy as a Bannerjee.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MR CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">We are now man and
wife, Mrs Chat…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MRS CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">interrupting</i>)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">But what is this sound
of water…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">SHE, IN HER TURN, IS
INTERRUPTED BY LOUD BANGING ON THE DOOR.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MR CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">scared</i>)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Who can that be?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MRS CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">You have to open to
see, I think.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">BANGING ON THE DOOR IS
REPEATED.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MAYA</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">in a heavy American accent</i>)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Hi. Is anybody
there! Wake up! We’re drowning! Wake up!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MR CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">relieved</i>)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">It’s a woman.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MRS CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">puzzled</i>)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">How can we be in a
hotel high up in the highest mountains in the world, and be drowning? It
doesn’t make sense.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">THE BANGING IS REPEATED.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MAYA</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Hello! Wake up,
please! Anybody there? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MR CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">We are not here! I
mean, we are not drowning.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MAYA</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Well, you will soon!
Look out of the window at what’s happening. You better come out soon. I’m
checking all the rooms on this floor to see who else is there. The floors below
are gone!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">STEPS WALKING AWAY.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">SOUND OF A CURTAIN
BEING OPENED IN THE ROOM, FOLLOWED BY LOUD GASPS.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MRS CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Water!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MR CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Water, water! …
Everywhere!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MRS CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Look, I’m feeling a
little light-headed here. Remind me: Did we come to the sea after all for our
honeymoon?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MR CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">No, no. What you are
saying? I insisted particularly that we come to mountain. But how there is
water here? This is not the hotel’s swimming pool, no?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MRS CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">scornfully</i>)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New";">All</span></i><span style="font-family: "Courier New";">
that water looks to you like the hotel’s swimming pool? You don’t even know how
to swim, do you?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MR CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">How dare you to
insult me, Mrs Chatterjee? What matters if I don’t know how to swim? I know how
to read Marx, no? It is a very difficult labour.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MRS CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Then, you go read
him. I’m going out to see what’s happening.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">FLURRY OF SHEETS
BEING REMOVED AND SOUND OF CLOTHES BEING CHANGED.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MR CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sheepishly lascivious</i>)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">You have a fine
figure, Mrs Chatterjee.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MRS CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">amazed</i>)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Water, water! Look
at the water! What are you doing looking at my figure?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MR CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">pathetically</i>)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Seven days of marriage
without any… any… enjoying, Mrs Chatterjee. Why you torment me like this? I am thinking
that honeymoon meaning enjoying, Mrs Chatterjee! But you are not letting me do
enjoyment. I am burning with your love, Mrs Chatterjee. So please not to
mention water.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">SOUND OF BANGING ON
THE DOOR.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">DROWNANANDA</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Help! Help! We are
drowning!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MRS CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Who is that?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">DROWNANANDA</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">I’m Swami
Drownananda. The most celebrated swami of the East. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MRS CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Then what are you
doing drowning? You should be saving us, no, if you’re so great?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">DROWNANANDA</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Only my name is Drown-ananda.
Which means my purpose in life is to drown in bliss, not in water! Please help!
I don’t know swimming! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MR CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">You are to joining
my club, sir! Welcome.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">DROWNANANDA</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Don’t welcome me! Do
something!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">SOUND OF ANOTHER
PAIR OF STEPS HURRIEDLY COMING UP.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">YVES</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">in a heavy French accent</i>)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">You have not
finished your lesson with me, Swami ji. I have come all this way to seek
knowledge at your divine feet. Please teach me about Tantra and yoga.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">DROWNANANDA</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Do you know how to
swim?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">YVES</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Yes, of course I
know to swim, but why you talk about swimming when I talk about Tantra? Do you
know the practice of swimming Tantra? Is it good? Look, I pay you double if you
teach me more about Tantra and sexuality.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">DROWNANANDA</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">What’s your name,
Frenchman?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">YVES</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">I am Yves.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">DROWNANANDA</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Look, you may be
Adam or you may be Eve, but if you save me from this, I’ll pay you triple, plus
your money back.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">YVES</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">I do not comprehend.
Save you from what, Swami ji?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MRS CHATTERJEE NOW
OPENS THE DOOR OUTSIDE WHICH THIS CONVERSATION HAS BEEN HAPPENING.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MRS CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Mister Eve obviously
does not realise what is happening. Come into the room and I’ll show you.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">YVES</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">excited</i>)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Oh Swami ji! You <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">have</i> a subject for me to experiment? But
it is delightful! Delightful! I am ravished with your arrangements. Enchante,
mademoiselle.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MR CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">agitated</i>)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Why that man is
kissing your hand, Mrs Chatterjee?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MRS CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">I think he wants to
practice underwater Tantra.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">DROWNANANDA</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">This is no time for
jokes. This room looks safe. I’ll camp myself here.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">YVES</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Yes. Camping is a
good idea. You think meditation will help us with the evil spirits, Swami ji?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">DROWNANANDA</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">losing his cool</i>)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Evil spirits? Have
you seen the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">water</i>, you Adam!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MRS CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Look. Here.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">A MOMENT OF SILENCE.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">YVES</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">under his breath, awe-struck</i>)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Water!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">THE OTHER THREE ALL
SPEAK TOGETHER.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MR CHATTERJEE, MRS
CHATTERJEE, DROWNANANDA</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Yes, water!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">YVES</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">puzzled</i>)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">But what is the
water doing here? This is the Himalayas, no?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">GROANS OF
EXASPERATION.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">YVES</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">If I wanted to have
a bath in the sea, I would have gone on the Cote d’Azur. Why I would come to the
mountain to look at the sea? It has no sense, no?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">DROWNANANDA</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Why <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">didn’t</i> you go somewhere else and spare
us the headache?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">YVES<br />
(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">continuing with his French indignation</i>)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">The tourist brochure
clearly specified that this is the Himalayas. Am
I in the right place? Am I being cheated? It is said that India is
unpredictable. But I seriously do not expect to find the ocean on the mountain,
no? I mean, it is a bit too much, no?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MR CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">The world is turning
upside down. This is exactly what Marx said!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">YVES</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">You are Indian, yes?
Maybe you can explain this?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MR CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">How dare you label me
a nationalist? I stand for equal distribution of resources around the world!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MRS CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">I’m glad we’re all
part of this great intellectual debate at this time. But what do we do about
the water?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">THE RECORDED SOUNDS
OF THE BUDDHIST CHANTS OF “OM MANI PADME OM” SUDDENLY WAFT INTO THE AIR. THEY DRAW CLOSER, AS A
PAIR OF STEPS APPROACH. THE VOLUME LEVELS OF THE CHANTS ARE REDUCED AS NORBU-LA
SPEAKS.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">NORBU-LA</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">in the typical clipped Buddhist accent</i>)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Excuse me. Yes,
people are here, as you said, dear Maya. We must find comfort in numbers. This
is the power of the Sangha.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MAYA </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Yeah, this is where
I left them. They haven’t budged. … Do you guys have any idea what’s happening?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">YVES</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">You are American,
young woman, yes!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MAYA</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Yes. And you are
obviously French, old man. So?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">YVES</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Do you come here
also to find about the Tantra?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MAYA</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">What Tantra?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MRS CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Our man here wants
to practice underwater sex and I think he’s looking for a suitable partner. You
game?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">YVES</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Swami ji, is Tantra
really practiced only underwater as the madame says?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">DROWNANANDA</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Tantra is practiced
if you remain alive, you fool!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MAYA</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">What’s all this
nonsense about Tantra? I came here to find out about enlightenment from
Venerable Tenzin Norbu-la who, as they said at the monastery, is on holiday
here. Now I’m trying to figure whether to ask him about the water or about
enlightenment. Venerable Norbu-la?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">NORBU-LA</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Excuse me. Tashi
Delek. My greetings to all.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MAYA</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Norbu-la, if I may
ask a personal question…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">NORBU-LA</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Excuse me, but yes,
certainly.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MAYA</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">What do you think the
Buddha would say about all this?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">NORBU-LA</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">What would the
Buddha say about Tantra? Well, …</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MAYA</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">No! What would he
say about the water?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">NORBU-LA</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Excuse me. Water?
Water is an element of life…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MAYA</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">No, no! You’re
getting me all wrong here, Norbu-la. I mean, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">this</i> water! The water we’re in!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">NORBU-LA</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Excuse me. Oh, you
mean what he would say about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">this </i>water?
The water here? I really don’t know, Maya. Maybe we should meditate and ask
him.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MRS CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Maybe if you two got
enlightenment before the water came up to your noses, it would help. Then you
could tell <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">us</i> what the Buddha would
have said.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MR CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Everyone’s talking
about the Buddha. But what about Marx? What about Lenin? What about Trotsky? What
about Chomsky? What about Tagore? What about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">me</i>? … What about the neo-liberal late capitalist paradigm which is
destroying the earth?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MRS CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">I think the earth’s
pretty much under water already.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">THE SOUND OF WATER
INTENSIFIES AT THIS.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MAYA</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Uh-oh. The water’s
rising, isn’t it?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MRS CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">It’s almost up to
the window level now.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">COLLECTIVE GASPS.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">DROWNANANDA</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">We’re all going to
drown!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MRS CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">If we stay here to
carry on chatting, yes, for sure.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MAYA</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Venerable Norbu-la,
do you happen to know of any levitation techniques we might employ here?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">NORBU-LA</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Excuse me. But how
about taking the stairs?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MRS CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">That’s the best levitation
technique I ever heard of. Do they teach it often in your monasteries,
Venerable Norbu-la?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">NORBU-LA</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Excuse me, but I
think everyone learns it pretty spontaneously, as now. I think I will show you
a demonstration!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">SOUND OF NORBU-LA
RUSHING AWAY WITH HIS RECORDED CHANTS.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MAYA</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Wait, Venerable
Norbu-la, I want to levitate too!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MR CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Does that mean they
are taking the stairs?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">YVES</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">I think it is a good
idea. I must try this ancient technique as well.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MRS CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">We’re on the top
floor of the hotel. There is only the roof left to go to.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">DROWNANANDA</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Let’s go there
quick, then, before we drown.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MRS CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Why isn’t anybody
else here? Where are all the others? The manager? The staff? The other guests?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">DROWNANANDA</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">There are no others!
They’ve all drowned! Now there’s only us left to drown! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">groaning</i>)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">I was happy as plain
Vicky Kapur. Why did I have to take the name of Swami Drownananda?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">YVES</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Swami ji, maybe a
few words on Tantra on the roof?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">DROWNANANDA</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Come then, you fool!
If you teach me how to swim, I’ll teach you almost anything.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">SOUND OF THEM ALSO
RUSHING AWAY.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MR CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Mrs Chatterjee?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MRS CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Yes, Mr Chatterjee?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MR CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">We are at last alone
in our room.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MRS CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">So what do you
suggest, Mr Chatterjee?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MR CHATTERJEE HEMS
AND HAWS.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MR CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Maybe a little…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MRS CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Underwater love? The
water’s in over our heads, Mr Chatterjee! Look, it’s breaking in!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">SOUND OF GLASS
CRASHING AND A WAVE OF WATER RUSHING IN.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MRS CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Quick! Let’s escape
to the roof like the others!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MR CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Oooh, Mrs
Chatterjee! Oooh, God save us, Mrs Chatterjee! Oh sorry, not God, I mean, Lord Marx
save us!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">MRS CHATTERJEE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Come with me, you
fool! It’ll be enough if I can save you.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">SOUND OF THEM
RUSHING OUT OF THE ROOM AND SLAMMING THE DOOR SHUT BEHIND THEM.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">WE STAY WITH THE
SOUND OF WATER FOR A COUPLE OF BEATS BEFORE BREAKING FOR ACT II, WITH THE HOLY
CHANTS OF “OM MANI PADME OM”.</span></div>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><img src="//img2.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" style="background-color: #b2b2b2; " class="BLOGGER-object-element tr_noresize tr_placeholder" id="ieooui" data-original-id="ieooui" />
<style>
st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) }
</style>
<![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
</style>
<![endif]--></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
vipul rikhihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16894948970160091492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5151771299064197883.post-28750490771057359622013-10-01T22:37:00.000+05:302013-10-23T00:31:57.398+05:30Death<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">I want to reach simplicity as an arrow reaches its mark</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Shot straight for it, wavering neither here nor there</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Exploding in its end like</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">The fire that killed the spark</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1in;">
<span lang="EN-GB"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">It will sweep through me like rain across the land</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Water on my body, flood in my mind</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">A drowning that will be as difficult</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">As it is kind</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1in;">
<span lang="EN-GB"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">It will come very quietly like my ancient lover at night</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">And hide from me awhile lest I die from the sight</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">But death will be simple like a child flying her kite.</span><br />
<br />
</div>
</div>
vipul rikhihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16894948970160091492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5151771299064197883.post-42176507694607338842013-10-01T22:08:00.000+05:302013-10-23T00:38:52.002+05:30The Nature of the Self<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB">The self is
riddled with desire. The nature of the self is to give in to this desire. This
leads to suffering, teaching us nothing.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB">I first began my
steep ascent the day I lost control of my senses. My eyes would not be still,
they jumped from object to object. My ears strained at the leash to hear all
kinds of sounds which had no meaning. My tongue swallowed everything but forgot
to taste it on its way in. My nose was not blocked for the first time in ages,
yet I smelt nothing, or everything, which made no sense. Soft touch was upon me
all over my body, yet-- </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .2in;">
<span lang="EN-GB"></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span lang="EN-GB">My
sixth was in the sky, in the clouds, on electric wires, or buried deep beneath
the ground, I don't know which. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I must have looked like a madman at
that time. My eyes were rolling and my hair stood on end.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>However, it was neither a trance nor
a vision. It was not at all a mystical experience of any type, of any
description. It felt rather like the end of experience.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB">In the last month
of that year I began to suspect that something was happening over which I had
no control. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>When the telephone rang I would not
pick it up for fear that it might be somebody I know. It was not that I was
afraid, of anything. It was just that I was… turned-off, so to say.
Switched-off, in a manner of speaking. It was as if my lights had been dimmed
the better to see through the darkness. I saw nothing.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Living in this 'shut down' state, I
began to have waking nightmares, which were basically my past life broken up
into pieces.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I relived particularly that rainy
night when fear had crept upon me by way of my spine, when I knew that what I
was about to commit would manifest consequences over a long period of time.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It was not murder. It was, simply,
standing on the ledge of my ten-floor high apartment and looking down, knowing
that my heart in my mouth would fail. It was, even worse, standing there long
enough to allow someone to 'save' me.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As
the rain fell on my face and arms wrapped themselves round my body, it might
have been a love scene. Instead I was taken to a hospital or a police station,
I don't recall which first.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I had no intention of killing
myself. I was just trying the shoe out for size.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But try telling that to the
inspector, or the doctor, or the psychiatrist. I knew I would be psychoanalysed
to hell if I opened my mouth about any shoe of any size. So I kept it shut and
they thought I had no tongue.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In reliving this particular event of
my life, I would always get a smile first and then a moan. Since the moan
always came last, I knew it was a chronic nightmare.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB">The first time I
met Brahman was in one such waking nightmare. He said hello and I gave him a hi
back. I was more interested in watching what would happen to me in the dream -
whether I would survive it, yet again.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>He watched me watching a while, and
then turned away as if what he saw was not of sufficient interest. His act of
turning away from my nightmare, which gripped me, caught my attention and I
turned to look at him who had turned away. He turned back to look at me looking
at him and smiled.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>'I knew this would work,' he said.
'People are so interested in themselves.'</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This sounded to me like a damned
generalisation and I was about to object when he raised his hand.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>'Now, listen to what I say,' he
said. 'What I have to say is of the utmost importance.'</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I wondered what he was going to say
when he lapsed into momentary silence. Within a very short while I began to
itch to get back to my nightmare. He observed the movement of my eyes, sighed
and walked away.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I have never seen anyone look so
unhappy.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Brahman came to me
often and at various times. Once when I was sweating through all my pores in a
room devoid of electricity, he walked in unexpectedly and sat right next to me,
though I must have smelled. I turned to look at him and the first thing I
noticed was that there was no sweat on him.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>A single drop would have sufficed to
make him look more human; but in the matter of sweat, it seemed, all humanity
was reserved for myself.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>He did not speak much at such times.
It was a strange intense look that he gave me, almost erotic I would say if it
was not also highly mystical.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Maybe he wanted me to meditate on
the nature of the self. Mind you, though - if this was so, he never said it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB">'What is the truth
that will set us free?' he once asked me, in one of his rare moments of
conversation.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>'T-truth,' I blabbered.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>'Yes.'</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>'Truth?' I managed to squeak once
more.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>'Yes,' he said, patient.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>'The truth that will set us free?' I
was sounding idiotic even to myself now, repeating a simple question thrice.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>'Truth that will set us free,' he
said.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>'I don't know,' I said, rather
lamely after all the lead-up questions.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>'Think,' he said.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>'Think?'</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It took me a moment to take this in.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>'Think, you said?'</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>He nodded.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I was utterly and completely
indignant.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>'Think! Do you know what you're
saying? Are you aware of anything? What else do I do but think? Nothing,
nothing, nothing, but think! I bloody think all the time! And now you blow in
breezily and ask me to start thinking even more! Are you crazy? Have you gone
out of your senses?'</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>'Good. You're progressing,' he said,
with utter calm. 'It is good that you object to thinking. Now, if not thinking,
then what will lead you beyond your senses?'</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>'I don't fucking <i>want</i> to go
beyond my senses!' I shouted back without thinking.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>'Think,' he said.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>'You must be crazy,' I whispered,
looking at him disbelievingly.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Everything is pure
consciousness.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It is the concept of purity in this
that attracts me, more than the concept of 'everything' or of 'consciousness.'</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I don't care if everything is
consciousness.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But if everything is pure, then…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Though how could it be? I had only
to look at myself.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB">They say that the
truth is elliptical.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>At least Brahman always said that
the truth could not be a straight line.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>'Maybe it is a crooked line,' I
said.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>'It is a point, not a line,' he
said. 'The point where we come from, where we go to.'</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>'Speak for yourself,' I said. 'I'm
not going anywhere.'</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Why do we trail
the 'self' behind us, like a shadow or like a tail? Or like a line of crackers
that's been tied to the donkey's tail? When the crackers are set on fire, they
explode, and the poor donkey is reduced to wildly jumping up and down till the
outburst of sparks subsides.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It is very funny for everyone except
the donkey.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>There have been several occasions in
my life when I have been called a 'donkey.' I wonder if I have been able to do
full justice to the term.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The Good Lord knows I have jumped
around enough in my life, quite wildly at times, and occasioned enough
merriment for everyone's satisfaction.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Yet this line of crackers never
seems to end, there are always a few more left to explode and someone is always
setting them on fire.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I swing my tail and prance hither
and fro in desperation and fright. My braying resounds within my own ears until
my head too seems ready to explode.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And then that ass of a Brahman
arrives and begins to tell me about the nature of the self.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Nature of the self, my ass! I would
happily trade my nature and its self for a few moments of peace!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>'Good,' says Brahman, beaming
approvingly at my stinging words. 'I was waiting for you to say this.'</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>He had waited a long time.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB">All this seems to
me like a big metaphysical conspiracy.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The Gods are out to capture my soul
- my 'self' as they call it - and appropriate it for themselves.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But I'm a stubborn ass. I'm not
going to let go of it so easily! They're not going to get past me!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB">I have been
thinking about taking coaching lessons in wrestling.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>For every day I wrestle with a new
desire, or an old one coming back to haunt me anew. I wrestle, I grapple, I
struggle, I submit; I grow frustrated.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I invariably lose.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And yet the desire never wins.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It keeps coming back to haunt me
again and again, in ever newer forms. No number of victories can satiate its
appetite. It is more ravenous than anyone I have ever met.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I asked Brahman if he would give me
wrestling lessons.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>'Lessons, you know,' I explained,
'in order to wrestle with desires.'</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>'Who is it that is wrestling with
desires?' he asked me.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>'My self,' I said, and lapsed into
silence.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB">My nightmares grew
less frequent now but more intense when they appeared. And they now involved
Brahman.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>He came only in my nightmares now.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>He would appear in them with a
vengeance, with a fury, like a tempest, like an angry Jehovah visiting his
wrath upon the Jews, carrying a trident, with fierce eyes, flowing white locks,
deep wrinkled face and a crown on his head.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>His trident raised, he would plunge
it into my heart again and again, until I went out of my senses, even in the
nightmare, and blood oozed out of my open wounds.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>These nightmares were not moments
from my past. This was a future yet to be. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I trembled in fear, in panic. I
began to store up blood in preparation for the time when I would have to let it
flow without end.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Brahman disappeared from my life and
arrived straight into my nightmares.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>After a point it was difficult to
say which was which. My life turned into a nightmare and my infrequent dreams
the time when I really seemed to be alive! (Though dying, with a trident gone
right through my heart…)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Since Brahman was
no more preaching to me I forgot all about the nature of the self. I opened my
eyes each morning to see precisely nothing. I moved my arms as if in a void and
walked to work in a space that did not exist.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>With nothing to think any more, and
no nightmare to watch, I stared at the world with vacant eyes. People around me
grew worried and thought that I had lost my senses, or my memory.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I did not contradict them. There was
nothing to say.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>On one such day I was walking along
the road when I saw nothing - when I actually saw it for the first time.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Afraid to pick it up or to touch it,
I tried to walk past round it, pretending not to have seen it. But from the
moment I saw it, it was always by me, or rather just behind my back, at the
level of my right leg, when I walked. I felt it all the time. I looked over my
shoulder to disperse it, scatter it, chase it away. I walked mile after mile,
faster and faster, in order to walk away from it. But I could not defeat it. I
could not ignore it. There was nothing I could do with it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It walked with me wherever I went
and in time I grew used to it. In the midst of crowds, in marketplaces full of
glittering wares, in offices and in lifts full of people, it was constantly
beside me.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In my bathroom it would not leave my
side, when I would stare blankly at the tiles, and neither on the hilltop.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In the rain it was with me,
watching, and in the eventide. I saw it on the faces and even more I saw it in
the eyes.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I saw it in the mirror and the
mirror saw it in me.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I almost abandoned my way of life
but it would not leave me no matter what I did. I could not sell it off, at any
price.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In the end, I picked it up in my
hands from the point on the road where I first saw it, put it to my heart and
embraced it, like a street dog that one adopts as a pet or an abandoned baby
left crying on the pavement. I rocked it gently in the bed of my arms and
softly caressed it to sleep. We slept.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB">In one of my last
dreams Brahman appeared to me and said, 'Who are you, O Sleeper, who sleep?'</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>'I am the one who sleeps,' I said.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>'And who is it that will wake up, O
Sleeper?' he asked.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>'It will not be I, my Lord, not I,'
I replied, and slept.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
</div>
vipul rikhihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16894948970160091492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5151771299064197883.post-68480279530582070352013-10-01T22:02:00.000+05:302013-12-04T11:51:35.143+05:30A Simple Love Story<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
An excerpt from the first chapter of the novella, <i>A Simple Love Story</i>.<br />
You can browse through or buy the book here: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00H25NZ62">http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00H25NZ62</a><br />
<br />
<b>Boy Meets Girl</b><br />
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/>
<w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
<w:Word11KerningPairs/>
<w:CachedColBalance/>
</w:Compatibility>
<w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><br />
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Speaking of words and roads…</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We
were on our way back from a temple city that we’d gone visiting in a group. At
that time anything that we could do was in a group. Like a protective umbrella
around us. So afraid to reveal ourselves and our desires. Even to simply say
that we wanted simply to be with each other was like running naked at that
time. So we sought the protection of a group. When it came to love, we were
heartbreakingly innocent.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><br />
<a name='more'></a>Throughout
the journey we conspired to be close to each other. Whether in the bus or
walking or seeing things or eating. At times we succeeded and at times we
failed. But the waves of this whole exercise lapped so gently against each
other that we were quite content to roll with them, being together now and then
not being together.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>On
our way back on the bus, others conspired for us not to sit together. (There
are always others in the picture who don’t quite want it to happen.) For two
whole hours I was looking out of one window, and she of another. For two whole
hours nothing but desolation. For two whole hours a straining of the ears to
know what the other was saying and doing (for we were seeing quite well even
with our ears then, as we could not look at each other, except through the
corners of our eyes). And after two hours, well, Ba said she was tired of
talking with whoever she was talking to; I said please send her here and I
would make her happy, and the others said to Ba please come here for he could
make you happy. Ba came and sat beside me. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>For
two minutes I was simply aware of her presence. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Then
I told Ba that if she was tired of talking I would let her sit by the window
and enjoy the silence and that I would not speak for an hour.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>‘An
hour?’ she said.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In
my pain and stupidity I thought an hour was too little for her and said, ‘Two
hours then, Ba.’</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And
she looked at me in a manner I did not quite understand or was too diffident to
understand, and said, ‘Two hours are too much. Half an hour is enough.’</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And
I said… In fact, I said nothing. I indicated with a gesture that it would be
so.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Ba
contemplated the fading evening through the bus window and I was left alone to
quietly contemplate the whole exchange. My heart was for some reason aching.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Half an hour passed and I don’t
know how many times I looked at the watch and how many times I resisted the
temptation to do so. I was trying to be calm, so calm. Well, the half-hour did
pass and she threw a half-glance in my direction and I threw a half-glance in
hers. But I was determined not to say anything. She would have to be the first
to speak to prove to me yet one more time that she did want to talk to me, that
I wasn’t imposing myself upon her.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>She
burst out laughing. And she raised her eyebrows in a laughing query.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I
laughed back and shrugged my shoulders.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>‘Are
we ever going to speak,’ she said, in a gesture.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>‘Well,
it’s entirely up to you,’ I said, in a gesture.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>‘What?’
she said, in a gesture. She had not quite understood my gesture.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Words
were forbidden so I used another gesture.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>‘If
you speak, I speak,’ I said in a gesture.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>‘You
may speak,’ she said in a gesture.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>‘Not
if you don’t,’ I said in a gesture.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>There
was silence for a while and there was no gesture.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>‘I
am <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not</i> going to speak,’ I said
comically, in a gesture.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">All right!</i>’ she said, comically, in a
gesture.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>‘Oh
yes,’ I said, comically, in a gesture.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>‘Oh
no,’ she said, comically, in gesture.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I
tried to take the conversation forward, comically, in a gesture.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>‘You
don’t want to speak to anyone,’ I said accusingly, in a gesture.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>‘You
won’t <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">let</i> me speak,’ she said
accusingly, in a gesture.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>‘Oh,
but I have little control over you,’ I said, secretly despairingly, in a
gesture.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>‘You
are the one who won’t speak to me,’ she said, secretly sadly, in a gesture.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We
were both comically sad in our gestures.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But
in our hearts we were really, really sad, and not only in our gestures.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But
all I wanted was to be in touch with her, if only through a gesture.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And
so I continued to speak, but only in a gesture.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>‘You
are a child,’ I said, speaking through a gesture.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>‘I’m
not your child,’ she said, replying through a gesture.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Then
she touched my hand and this was a gesture.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I
touched her hand back in reply to her gesture.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But
it was only play and it was all in gestures.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We
could not quite take ourselves seriously and so we continued with our gestures.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I
pressed her nose but making sure it was a gesture.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>She
pushed me away, making sure it was a gesture.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I
said my hair is grey and I would not find a wife, in a gesture.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>She
agreed that I would not find a wife, in a gesture.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Even
this play was hurting but I hid it in a gesture.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>What
her heart was feeling she hid in a gesture.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
And so we continued to play with
our gestures…</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Oh
Lord, how we continued to play with our gestures…</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Words
were dead and there were only our gestures…</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But
some urges were too strong, even for gestures…</div>
</div>
vipul rikhihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16894948970160091492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5151771299064197883.post-17122206159243176392013-10-01T21:33:00.000+05:302013-10-23T00:02:12.442+05:30House out of Time<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
This extract is from a novel called <i>House out of Time</i>. This is part of Chapter 6.<br />
<br />
<br />
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:RelyOnVML/>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-IN">6.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Pigeon
among the Cats</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-IN"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-IN">When Mr Shah came
to, he perceived a few people gathered around him, while most others carried on
with their hurried movement hither and fro. His office bag with the tiffin case
containing his lunch was beside him on the floor. It took him a couple of
minutes to figure out where he was. He was on the floor of a Metro platform. He
was on his back because…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-IN">Ah, yes. He must
have fainted. That’s why all these people are here, looking concerned and
asking questions.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-IN">Yes, I’m fine,
thank you. I’m getting late for office. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-IN">Nothing happened.
The blood just rushed to my head. It’s just that I’m epileptic. In fact, my
fits are quite regular, often turning very violent. As a matter of fact, I’m
mad. I’ve received electric shocks in insane asylums and that’s why I faint
from time to time on the Metro platforms. Can I go now, having given you all my
psycho-medical history?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-IN">So cursing all
solicitous enquiries along such ungrateful, sarcastic lines, but maintaining a
perfectly polite and courteous exterior, Mr Shah pushed along on his way to
office. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-IN"></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span lang="EN-IN">The day was as
regular as his sleep and his snoring (and his wife’s nagging him about it). He
was fortunate enough to have regular hours despite working in a group of
publications. He worked almost like one of the administrative staff and felt
out of the league of the people employed in the journalistic and editorial departments.
He was in fact neither here nor there. Not many people noticed him, and
certainly they were too busy competing with each other to take into account
someone who did not even look like he had it in him to compete. It was almost
like a government job for Mr Shah, in its monotony, regularity and reassurance.
While many people around him rushed and whirled and danced and whistled to the
tune of daily affairs, Mr Shah remained content to simply comment with pen and
pencil on these affairs in the manner in which he had been specifically
directed. If his illustrations were rejected, he drew other ones. He had no
attachment left to them. And if these too were rejected, he could always draw
still other ones. Eventually, someone would get tired or impatient and accept
them. In fact, most of his time in office went into doodling. He had a computer
to work on, too, but he rarely used it. He had been directed to surf the
internet for ideas, for ‘fresh, creative concepts’, but he had yet to open even
an email account other than the one the company had opened for him. It was as
if he was stubbornly trying to hang on to a time that had gone by, and to which
he had not even belonged. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-IN">When the markets
opened up, and the globalised world rushed into India in the early 1990s – in
the form of foreign-made cars, satellite television and Pepsi cola (in the
indigenised guise of ‘Lehar Pepsi’) – Mr Shah and Mrs Shah were in their
mid-twenties. The change caught them by surprise. Suddenly there were more
movies on television than you could possibly watch, whereas earlier they had to
wait for a week in order to get one. Suddenly they were able to see slickly-made
television shows in English, whereas earlier their diet was restricted to a
home-made fare set in a world that was fast vanishing, at least from the
cities. Suddenly there were more eating joints, more shopping joints, more
drinking joints, more amusement joints, than there had ever been or could have
been imagined. Suddenly there were jobs of a nature and pay not witnessed
before. People began to grow out of their ambition to join the government
service. Money became important to an extent that had been previously
inconceivable. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Possessing money</i> and
showing it off became important in a way that they had simply not been used to.
Their world changed and they kept pace with it to the extent that they duly
changed their clothes with it. But as for their mental habits, they simply
could not transform into creatures of obsessive, compulsive and conspicuous
consumption. They were left out, or rather they dropped out of the radar of the
social class they were in. The middle-class now quite openly respected only
wealth and its symbols, whereas earlier there had been a sense of sleaze
attached to the overt display of wealth. The Shahs purchased a car when they
could afford it but they did not think of it beyond its functional purposes. In
this they were both alike. It simply did not enter their imagination to seek
happiness through the exhibition of symbols of wealth. They did not understand
the minutiae and rules of this symbolic economy. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-IN">But nor were they
radicals, sympathetic of the socialist or communist points of view, their
hearts bleeding for the poor and the deprived. They did not read the latest
theories and they did not participate in protest marches and dharnas. They were
simply middle-class, in a way the middle-class had now ceased to be. They were
relics of a bygone age, outwardly conforming to the ethos of the new economy
(clothes, house, car), but inwardly not sure what place they had in the social
spectrum any more. They were drop-outs without being failures, they had bought
the prescribed new clothes but still wore the old ones underneath them.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-IN">Their salaries had
increased and they had let them increase without consciously pursuing the
growth. They had stuck to the jobs they knew, not even acknowledging the new
temptations to jump ship for a better pay packet elsewhere. They were efficient
without being brilliant or extraordinary in the way it was now thought
requisite in order to ‘grow’. They did not compete, but plodded. They
represented the presumed solidity of a middle-class that was melting away. They
were in the new world, but not of it. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-IN">This had quite a
few implications for their work-lives. Since they could not cut throats, they
were misfits, and out of the mainstream of office politics. And yet, they were
valued in an unacknowledged way because they were loyal, committed and
dedicated. So they stayed on in their respective organisations but they did not
belong. Both of them secretly dreaded promotions and the prospect of coming
into positions of authority. And since they did not want them, they did not get
them. They were like the pillars of a building that had collapsed.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-IN">Mr Shah was the
most peculiar creature in his organisation. Even the peons and helpers
displayed more eagerness to get ahead than he did. Consequently, he did not
have many friends. In fact, he had none. He was a dreamy fellow, content to
pass the day lost in his thoughts. He did just the amount of work he was
required to do, trying to maintain his composure and wakefulness the most he
could, especially when interacting with others or attending meetings. In all
the office meetings for ‘creative brainstorming’, which they had every other
day, Mr Shah looked forward to the tea and jam biscuits. He made no suggestions
at these meetings, nor was he ever asked for them, but he was always required
to come, as part of the ‘creative team’, to eat the jam biscuits he supposed.
During the routine work-day, he sat in his little corner near the window and
often snored. Even this, when noticed, was overlooked, since he did not matter.
He was there, like the floor, or like furniture, performing his functions.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-IN">In fact, Mr Shah
was beginning to suspect that he did not have a personality at all. He did not
conceive that dreaminess could also be a personality trait – to that extent he
had unquestioningly imbibed the new culture’s values, which said that dreams
without utility, purpose or possibility of pursuit were of no importance and
did not count. Mr Shah himself thought that he did not count, and was therefore
equal to a cipher – without a personality, hope, or a ‘future’. When he
wondered about himself, Mr Shah would not get very far because he would get
lost in a dream before he even reached stage two of self-analysis. In his
personality-less self-conception, he was like an amoeba, or a blob, who could
acquire any shape at any time, without having a fundamental shape to call his
own. This gently distressed and consoled him at the same time. Distress because
he felt the force of the new culture’s ideological pressure to have a
recognisable shape and pattern of growth. And consolation because he felt that
in the final analysis, unlike others, he could do without it, and this made him
free – that he was different, that he was irredeemable and beyond hope, that
perhaps he wasn’t even there! This provided him with a strange sense of
freedom.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-IN">If he wasn’t there
what pressure could there be on him to have a shape and a form? Or a pattern of
growth or chart of evolution? Or a graph of progress? He was here – and yet,
perhaps he wasn’t.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-IN">Perhaps his job
was no-job. Perhaps his marriage was no-marriage. Perhaps his life was no-life.
Lost in these thoughts Mr Shah exited from his office at 6 pm, as always, and
wandered about randomly on the streets in the failing light. His feet were the
masters of his direction, and since he had no shape nor path, he could afford
to let them lead him where they would.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-IN">He was in no hurry
to get home. He could always tell Mrs Shah there was extra work at office. He
had resisted buying a mobile phone till now, and he was quite thankful for it.
He could be lost, and not found. It was strange that Mr Shah had these fantasies
of getting lost, which many normally have as children, at this stage of his
life. Perhaps we have forgotten what it was like to feel that way – the urgent
pressure and need to escape! To have another world to get lost in and be lost
in. To be somewhere away, other than here, where one could never be found.
Perhaps it was the urge to re-imagine ourselves that made us feel that way as
kids – we did not like what we had been made out to be, and we knew that there
was a wonderland out there somewhere, and we could be its Alice. As kids, at
some age, we have that intense urge to escape. It returns in adolescence, but
by then it has taken other, more corrupt, forms. Peer pressure and cultural
paradigms determine the prescribed and accepted modes of escape, and therefore
there is very little possibility of a freely imagined wonderland any more. All
inhabit the same wasteland. By the time we are adults, our lives have become an
escape, no matter how hard we try to run away from them, and we are unable to
escape from the escape. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-IN">At 41, Mr Shah
frequently lapsed into fantasies that were extremely hazy, and which therefore
he could avoid labelling fantasies. Thus he devised his escape from having to
chastise himself by his culture’s standards for having impractical dreams. A
dreamer without a dream, he was lost in a haze. A mist, that clouded
everything, but which also comforted and reassured him. It was like the crowd
in the Metro. That, too, was a cloud of unknowing. If ignorance was bliss, Mr
Shah was doing his best to lapse into it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-IN">Perhaps he did not
want to become an ‘adult’ in the sense that everyone around<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>him understood it. If it meant accepting the
wheels in motion of the train of society, being driven by its values, it was a
task simply beyond Mr Shah. Perhaps what he really needed was a woman’s ample
bosom to sink into, and revert to primal childhood. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-IN">Mrs Shah did not
provide that comforting bosom. She was a woman whose jaw had set harder and
stronger with age. If she could not accept certain things or live by them, she
could not close her eyes to them either, like Mr Shah perennially attempted to
do. This is what irritated them most about each other – their quite different
responses to the same dilemma. Mrs Shah saw no way out of it, and condemned
escape for what it was – escape. While she did not feel tempted to get lost in
the culture of consumption and distraction, she could not accept losing herself
in infantile fantasy either. Life was there to be lived – and who could say
why? When she was despairing, she believed in God. And when she was not, she
believed in fortitude and endurance. There was no other trick to bearing with
life. One just bore it as best one could, with the tools one had been given,
and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">eyes open</i>. The open eyes were
extremely important to her. They signified the only bit of her humanity she
still found precious. At the same time, they did not mean a questioning or
interrogation, for that felt to her like an endless, spinning, vertiginous dark
hole, leading who knew where, probably nowhere, a whirling vortex that made her
lose ground and feel dizzy and disoriented. It was in this that her husband
disoriented her, and that was a feeling she disliked. She wanted to slap him in
the face like she would a child and tell him to wake up and get on with it! But
he was her husband, not her child, and so she could not slap him. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-IN">They did not have
a child. Perhaps it was just as well. It wasn’t planned, nor was it unplanned.
They had always had sex in their youth, but never with the explicit intention
of having children, and a child had never been conceived to them. And then, one
day, they simply stopped having sex as well. Mr Shah was annoyed with the game
of life and did not want an additional, unknown element in it; Mrs Shah was
scared of having a child and therefore a deeper engagement with life, with all
its dilemmas and questions. She was afraid of losing her equanimity, the little
of it that she had managed to gather, which kept her going through the daily
routine of life without thinking about it much. She was convinced it could not
bear much thinking about.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-IN">Meanwhile Mr Shah,
in search of an escape or some reason, wandered the endless streets of old
Delhi. There are numberless narrow lanes and bylanes in the old town, buzzing
with crowds, shops, movement and activity. Manouevring space is an art, which
almost everyone has mastered. Cycle-rickshaws, bicycles, two-wheelers,
hand-pulled carts with cargo, pedestrians, hawkers, street vendors, and at some
places even cars – all dissolve into this mobile labyrinth of activity, each
managing their own little space, occasionally bumping into the other but always
taking care never to hurt or be hurt. It required a surface alertness on the
part of Mr Shah to constantly manoeuvre in these crowded spaces. But it also
allowed him at a deeper level to get lost. He liked this subtle dichotomy of
alertness and being lost. It reflected the way he had always lived his life. ...</span></div>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/>
<w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
<w:Word11KerningPairs/>
<w:CachedColBalance/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
</style>
<![endif]--></div>
vipul rikhihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16894948970160091492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5151771299064197883.post-92187999628831756162013-10-01T12:00:00.000+05:302013-10-22T22:57:53.326+05:30The Last Day of the Last Year<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<b>31 December 2006</b>
<br />
<br />
On the last day of the last year, something significant happened to me, which I thought I’d share. It was a kind of rebirth. <br />
<br />
I had always thought of myself as having had a “difficult” childhood.
The details do not matter. The practical impact was a sense of lack of
love and the resulting sense of pain that seemed to accompany me since
then, whether loudly, or subtly, as a background noise. <br />
<br />
I had been gradually and consciously letting go of it for a long time
now. I had been growing up. The last day of the last year is I think
when it finally substantially happened. This is what took place. <br />
<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>A friend of mine in Delhi requested that I meet a friend of hers in
Bombay while I was here, to give her a book. So I met V. December 31 of
last year was only my second meeting with her. <br />
<br />
At one point in the afternoon in the middle of conversation, when talk
had suddenly turned round to my childhood, she asked what was holding me
back. What would it take for me to let it go? Something happened, as
the sun slanted in through the large, open windows, to put me in a
stunned state at her words and just have me listen. <br />
<br />
So, I listened. She said: All the love you ever need you can give to
yourself. It is all inside you. Who are you waiting for to give it to
you? A woman? But if you cannot give it to yourself, do you imagine
anyone could? A whole new life is waiting for you, patiently, waiting
for you to cross this bridge, to make this final move. Surrender! This
is what she said to me: Surrender! There are things that you are called
upon to do in this world. There is so much that is just waiting to flow
through you into the world and it is blocked. Let go! Open up! Just let
go of the pain. <br />
<br />
And I did. She took me to a Japanese Buddhist temple in Worli. She said
that it was important that I make a ritual gesture of surrender, at a
place of holiness outside the context of our daily lives. So, I did. <br />
<br />
Sitting in that temple before a marble-white Buddha with closed eyes, I
let go of the pain. The long-held pain, that had been at my centre for
so long, which I had kept there to define my existence. I realized I
didn’t need to do that any more. So I let go of my little bag of pain
and placed it at the Buddha’s feet. I surrendered all the pain. And I
took responsibility for all my love – my state of love. They both meant
the same thing. <br />
<br />
And I said: I accept the new life that awaits me. And I said: I give myself all the love I need. <br />
<br />
And the evening prayers started at this time. The drum began to beat and
a chant went up in prayer. And as I sat there, a breeze blew in from
behind me and enveloped me in its embrace. That is when I realized: Each
time that the wind has enveloped me in its embrace, it is love. I have
been loved. Each time that the sunlight has gently kissed my face, it is
love. I have been loved. Each time that a drop of rain has run down my
skin, it is love. I have been loved. Each time that I have seen, heard,
said, touched, thought, anything beautiful, it has been love, and I have
been loved. Where had there been a lack of love? How could I say that I
had not been loved? When it was simply not true! There was all this
love that I had never fully acknowledged, that I was being showered with
even now – the sheer love of pure consciousness, of being alive, of
living and being able to have all these experiences! What else was love?
And when had I not been loved? Ever? <br />
<br />
I saw all this and it was as if I had been delivered to myself. V. had
sat beside me all this while and she had been my angel, to deliver me
back to myself. We sat, surrendered, left all that behind, and walked
away from that temple, to have a nice cup of coffee, and embrace a new
year and a new beginning! <br />
<br />
And the word on my lips, the word for all agreement, affirmation,
accord, was Aum, Aameen, and Amen. I agree with this life. I agree with
this world. <br />
<br />
And so I say it again, here, in a ritual gesture of affirmation: Aum.
May we all realize just how blessed and loved we are. Amen. <br />
<br />
<br />
January 5, 2007</div>
vipul rikhihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16894948970160091492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5151771299064197883.post-75039582584948371532013-10-01T01:30:00.000+05:302013-10-22T23:15:07.489+05:30The Monk in His Madness<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="post_content">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">This is a film script I wrote some while ago, called <i>The Monk in His Madness</i>. Here are the first few scenes.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">INT. MONASTERY, A MONK’S CELL – NIGHT<br />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
In a dark cell in a monastery there is much commotion. Initially a
confused impression of intense activity: hands and legs moving at rapid
speed across the screen, but no sense to what is happening.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Gradually
we make out that SEVERAL MONKS are in the process of trying to restrain
A YOUNG MONK (TASHI) who seems to be in the middle of having AN
EPILEPTIC FIT. His body is convulsing in a tremendous way and the monks
around him are having a hard time trying to keep him in control. They
try to stuff his mouth, which is by now foaming at the sides, with cloth
so that he doesn’t swallow his own tongue, but without success. Some of
them are trying to shove a big iron key into his hand and make him
grasp it, but that endeavour is not succeeding either. Some are trying
to rub his feet with their hands but he is convulsing too much for them
to really do anything. The young monk’s eyeballs are rolling and he
almost looks like he will die.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br /></div>
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/null" id="post_content_extended" name="post_content_extended"></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB"></span></div>
<a name='more'></a>INT. MONASTERY, CORRIDOR – NIGHT
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">A
flurry of activity in the corridor as well, lit by flaming torches at
the corners. MONKS are moving up and down the corridor, as if something
of great import were afoot.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">INT. MONASTERY, ANOTHER CELL – NIGHT
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">SOME
MONKS are hunched together and whispering to each other among the
general hubbub that can be heard and felt around them. They look
semi-frightened and semi-conspiratorially at each other, as they feel
the full significance of what is going on.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">INT. MONASTERY, THE YOUNG MONK’S CELL – NIGHT
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">The
young monk having a fit erupts in another violent seizure and almost
single-handedly throws off the monks trying to restrain him.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">INT. MONASTERY, CORRIDOR – NIGHT
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">A
monk is seen hurrying, carrying a thick rope in his hand. Another is
seen with a heavy metal object in his hands. It is unclear what this
object is but it looks dangerous, like it could be used to subdue, or
even kill.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">INT. MONASTERY, THE MASTER’S CELL – NIGHT
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">AN
OLD MONK with a wizened face is seen deep in meditation. His eyes are
closed in complete and utter serenity, seemingly oblivious to the
commotion that is making itself vaguely felt in the background.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">EXTREME CLOSE-UP of the old monk’s face. It is as if he were having an especially deep experience tonight.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">His
face is deeply-lined but in a way that is deeply indicative of
authority – spiritual authority. He is simply referred to as THE MASTER
in the monastery, and his face shows it.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">INT. MONASTERY, DOOR OF THE MASTER’S CELL – NIGHT
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Several
monks are hunched outside the Master’s door, terribly impatient to
apprise him of the happenings but not daring to disturb him. They
crouch, look at each other and wait.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">INT. MONASTERY – NIGHT
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">HOLD:
A CANDLE is burning slowly. We stay uneasily, yet unflinchingly, on the
candle for a while. The wax is low and the candle is about to die in a
while.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">INT. MONASTERY, THE YOUNG MONK’S CELL – NIGHT
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">A terrible cry emanates from the mouth of the young monk having the epileptic attack.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">INT. MONASTERY, THE MASTER’S CELL – NIGHT
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Simultaneous to the young monk’s terrible scream, the Master opens his eyes. They are burning, intense, yet clear.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">INT. MONASTERY, THE YOUNG MONK’S CELL – NIGHT
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">The
young monk’s convulsions are already subsiding as the Master enters his
cell. As he comes in and looks at the young epileptic, his convulsions
die out completely and he collapses unconscious into the arms of those
surrounding him. The Master considers him silently for a moment more and
walks back out of the cell.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">INT. MONASTERY – NIGHT
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">The candle is at the end of its tether. In another second, it extinguishes and there is darkness.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">FADE IN:
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">EXT. THE MONASTERY HILL – EARLY MORNING
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">PRESENTATION
CREDITS ROLL as we obtain a view of the monastery from the outside. It
is perched on top of a hill, among a range of high-altitude mountains,
in the fashion of a typical Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Ladakh or
Spiti.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Its
extremely peaceful setting must be obvious, to contrast with all the
violence and disturbance that have gone before. It is morning and we
witness several peaceful, ordinary, daily events and activities that
typically populate any morning:
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">BIRDS have woken up and begin to fly out from their nests.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">DEW gathered through the night is falling from the leaves of trees.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">THE SUN is bursting all red and orange upon the land.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">PRAYER FLAGS on a bridge across the river just below the monastery flutter peacefully in the morning wind.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">CLOSE-UPS of the MASKS OF PROTECTIVE DEITIES that dot the roof of the monastery. We stay on each for a few beats each.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">INT. MONASTERY, PRAYER HALL – EARLY MORNING
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Finally,
as the presentation credit roll closes, we enter the prayer hall of the
monastery for the MORNING PRAYERS that are in progress.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">The
prayers go on for a while as we pause and linger on some of the faces
that we saw during the commotion of last night. Notably absent though is
the young monk’s face. Finally we arrive at the Master’s face. He is
sitting in the middle of TWO OTHER OLD MONKS, who however pale beside
him in the matter of evident spiritual power and authority. However, the
Master is not the absolute head of the monastery. That is the monk
sitting to the right of him, THE ABBOT. The other old monk is also a
senior in the hierarchy. He is called GESHE NAMGYAL. Both these senior
monks refer to the Master as Geshe, while everyone else calls him
Master.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">A
young monk comes and whispers something into the ear of the Abbot even
as the prayers are going on. The Abbot nods and looks at the Master.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">INT. MONASTERY, THE ABBOT’S OFFICE – DAY
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">The Abbot is in conference in his office with the Master and Geshe Namgyal.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">THE ABBOT
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">They say that Tashi is better. But he is still asleep.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Silence, as the morning light filters into the room through a window.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">GESHE NAMGYAL
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">(murmuring)
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">This is the first time. … And with such violence, too!
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">ABBOT
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">(softly)
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Not the first time, Geshe. Not the first time.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">The
Master remains silent, of steady gaze, reacting neither to the news nor
the comment. The other two are evidently expecting some reaction or
word from him.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">ABBOT (CONTD.)
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Well,
I don’t know what to do now. I thought all this was over with him. In
any case, this can’t be good for the monastery. … What shall we do?
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">GESHE
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">The spirits have taken possession of him.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">ABBOT
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">I’ve always had a suspicion of Tashi. I never was quite sure about him.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">THE MASTER
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Why? Because he’s the only one around who’s ever shown some tendency to true spirit?
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">This
is the first time that the Master has spoken and it has a shocking,
startling effect. His words carry all the more weight for that. He
speaks in a measured, forceful tone.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">ABBOT
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">(slightly taken aback)
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Why do you say that?
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">MASTER
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Tashi
is the brightest of our lot, so it’s no wonder you’ve had your
suspicions of him. The wise are always suspicious, aren’t they? … It is
no wonder that this has happened to him.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">GESHE
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">You mean you were expecting an attack? It was not fair of you not to warn us.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">MASTER
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">I
mean simply, Venerable Geshe, that the brain works at an extraordinary
speed during an epileptic attack. Were you aware of that fact? Do you
not find it of any significance?
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">GESHE
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">You mean…
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">The Geshe is not sure what to say what he thinks the Master might mean.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">ABBOT
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">He means that…
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">MASTER
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">I
mean that this was not an ordinary attack. It was not even the spirits.
It was something much more significant. That young man is going to
break down completely, and possibly die, or he may yet rise out of this
trouble. … It all depends on his soul.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">GESHE
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">How can you say that, Venerable Geshe? You know ‘soul’ is not a concept for us Buddhists.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Even the Abbot is moved to a murmur of dissent.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">ABBOT
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Geshe Namgyal is right, Venerable Geshe…
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">MASTER
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Well,
terms are not really important. Reality is. So I’ll let you call it
whatever you like. However, how do you intend to do about Tashi? I would
like some time with him alone as soon as he wakes up.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">ABBOT
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Of course. That was what I was going to suggest myself.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">GESHE
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Yes,
that is best. You are the one closest to him. He will confide in you. …
He must have a history of this which he has hidden from us till now,
when it has got too severe to hide any more.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">The
Master looks at Geshe Namgyal and does not say anything in Tashi’s
defence, though it looks like he could. He moves to the open window and
contemplates the vista.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">INT. MONASTERY, A CELL – DAY
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">The young monk who was having the seizure is TASHI, now lying peacefully asleep on a hard, bare bed.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">EXTREME CLOSE-UP of Tashi’s peaceful features in repose.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Tashi
is a young man of about 25, extremely youthful and innocent in his
expression. With eyes closed he looks like an angel asleep.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">PULL
OUT: To reveal FOUR OTHER YOUNG MONKS sitting around him. They, in
contrast, look frightened and still overcome from the events of last
night.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Faint
light is streaming in from a ventilator somewhere at the top. But there
is also a candle burning in a corner of the cell. This gives the
lighting of the cell an eerie feeling.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">PUSH: In to Tashi’s sleeping features again.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">CUT TO: The door of the cell opening abruptly. The Master enters.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">CUT
TO: Tashi opening his eyes from sleep at precisely the very instant as
the Master enters. Tashi blinks, and blinks again, getting used to
ordinary reality once more.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">PULL
OUT: To reveal the four young monks who have stood up abruptly at the
Master’s entrance. Wordlessly, they leave the cell, leaving the Master
and Tashi alone.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">INSERT: Shots of the fierce, fearful-looking protective deities that we saw during the presentation credits roll.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">CUT BACK: To the Master in the cell who has sat down beside Tashi by now.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Tashi
looks askance at the Master from his lying position for a few seconds.
Abruptly he tries to sit up, but is restrained gently by the Master. He
gratefully collapses back to his reclining position.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Silence as they consider each other for a few beats.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">The
Master, when he speaks, is extremely abrupt and direct. Tashi is a
little hesitant to begin with, as if still finding his bearings in
ordinary conversation.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">MASTER
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">I wish you to tell me: What did you see?
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">TASHI
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">(after an initial hesitation)
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">I cannot say, Master.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">MASTER
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Hmm. … Why did it come now, the attack?
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">TASHI
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">I think… I saw… someone… approaching.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">MASTER
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Someone is approaching us?
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">TASHI
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Someone is coming. In white. He is dressed in white.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">MASTER
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">The attack came upon you when you saw this person?
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">TASHI
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">I was dozing. … It was just after the evening meal. … I was not yet asleep. I was –
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">MASTER
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Yes, dozing. Then?
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">TASHI
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">I began to dream, a little feverishly. I was cold and trembling.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">As Tashi hesitates still.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">MASTER
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Be free, Tashi. Tell me what happened. It is important.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">TASHI
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">I had visions. Perhaps you would call them hallucinations.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">MASTER
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">I would not call them anything. I want to know what you saw.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Tashi speaks with a little more assurance now, his words coming in a flow for the first time.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">TASHI
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">I
saw many things which moved too fast and which I did not understand.
But in the end I saw a man, tall, lean, dressed all in white. He was
tall and had yellow hair. However, his face was covered in black. I
mean, covered by a black cloth as by a mask. I felt – I felt as if I
knew him, but I did not really know who he was. I mean, I could not
exactly place him. But that I knew him – that feeling persisted in me
for a long time – a long time.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">He
dreams again a little, as if he were seeing the man all over again in
his reverie. The Master stares impassively at him, patiently waiting.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">TASHI (CONTD.)
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Then, just as I had almost figured out who he was – I could almost say I <i>knew</i>
who he was, - lightning began to flash in my mind, bright white light
began to come down in waves, and suddenly I had no control over what was
happening to me any more.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">MASTER
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Where were you while this happened?
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">TASHI
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">(a little startled at this question)
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">What do you mean, Master?
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">MASTER
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">When you had the attack – where exactly were <i>you</i>?
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">TASHI
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">(hesitating again, understanding the full significance of the question)
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">I was in my body, Master. … I was not out of it, in the air, above it, like the other times…
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">MASTER
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">When was the last time that happened to you?
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">TASHI
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Some nights ago. No, maybe a month ago, maybe more. As usual, when I was asleep in the night.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">MASTER
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">And the last attack?
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">TASHI
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">The
last attack? I don’t even remember! It was so long ago, in childhood.
When I was a little child. They stopped after that. Never again since
then, Master! This is the first time! … I don’t know what to make of it.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">The Master takes a deep breath and considers the situation.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">MASTER
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">This
is going to be a testing time for you, Tashi. Things are going to get
difficult before they perhaps get easier. Do you understand me?
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">TASHI
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">(a little apprehensively)
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Yes, I think, Master.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">MASTER
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">(sighing)
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Maybe someone really is coming. If this person in white really arrives, your attacks might go completely out of hand.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">(murmurs to himself)
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">I wouldn’t know what to do then.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">(recovering himself)
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Come to me in my cell this evening at prayer-time if you’re feeling a bit stronger. I want to take you on a journey.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">TASHI
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">I don’t think I can travel yet, Master.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">MASTER
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">There
are many kinds of travel, Tashi. Each morning, and each evening, you
travel a bit further in your meditations, don’t you? And each night you
travel back to the godhead in your sleep. We travel all the time, Tashi,
only we don’t realise it. … We’ll see this evening if I can take you
somewhere I want you to go. Come. This evening.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">TASHI
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Yes, Master.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">He involuntarily closes his eyes and falls back asleep.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">CLOSE-UP of the Master’s face looking into Tashi’s sleeping face.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">INT. MONASTERY, PRAYER HALL/ MASTER’S CELL – EVENING
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent">
<span lang="EN-GB">The
evening prayers are in full swing. We move across the monks seated in
meditation or prayer until we come to where the Abbot and Geshe Namgyal
are sitting. The Master is conspicuous by his absence. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">We
now INTER-CUT the prayers with what is going on in the Master’s cell,
as the Master has a session with Tashi. As the chants proceed and build
up in intensity, so does the action in the Master’s cell.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Fast
inter-cutting of the dialogue that follows with the prayers in the hall
scene. Tashi is reclining on a hard bed as a candle burns in a corner.
His eyes are fast shut and his face has a serene look on it. He is under
hypnosis. The Master is sitting by his side, but as if looming over him
watchingly, speaking in a calm and deep voice.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">MASTER
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">You are now completely relaxed, Tashi, aren’t you?
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent">
<span lang="EN-GB">Tashi speaks also in a noticeably deep voice.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">TASHI
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Yes. I am relaxed.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">INTER-CUT: Prayers proceed apace.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">MASTER
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">You are now travelling, Tashi. Aren’t you?
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">TASHI
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">I am travelling.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">MASTER
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Where are you going, Tashi?
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">TASHI
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">I am going…
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">INTER-CUT: Prayers proceed apace.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">MASTER
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Where are you, Tashi?
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">INTER-CUT: Prayers proceed apace.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">MASTER
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Where have you reached, Tashi?
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">INTER-CUT: Prayers proceed apace.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">It is a startling effect now as we suddenly cut to Tashi who has started speaking in an unnaturally deep drawl.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">TASHI
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">I’m nowhere. I’m no one, nowhere. I’m not anywhere.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">The Master has a slightly concerned look on his face, but plunges ahead bravely.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">MASTER
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Come back to where you can see yourself, Tashi! … Tashi, come back to where you can see yourself!
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Tashi still speaks in a deep voice, but the startling drawl is now gone.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">TASHI
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">I can see myself!
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">INTER-CUT: Prayers proceed apace.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">MASTER
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">(urgently)
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Where are you? What do you see?
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">INTER-CUT: Prayers proceed apace.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">TASHI
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">I am suckling my newborn.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">MASTER
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">You are a woman!
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">TASHI
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">I’m a woman suckling a newborn. But I’m not happy.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">MASTER
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Why are you not happy?
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">TASHI
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">I can’t be happy. It is my fate.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">INTER-CUT: Prayers proceed apace.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">MASTER
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Why is it your fate? Why can’t you be happy?
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">TASHI
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">I can’t be happy. It is my fate.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">INTER-CUT: Prayers proceed apace.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">MASTER
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBlockText">
<span lang="EN-GB">Come a little forward, Tashi. Can you look back and see why you were unhappy?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">TASHI
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">(after a pause)
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">I can’t come forward. I’m stuck here forever. I can’t be happy. It is my love for another.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">MASTER
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">You love another?
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">TASHI
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">There is another. This is his child. He’s not my husband. He’s dead. I can’t be happy. I can’t move forward.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">The Master takes a deep breath as he takes in all this.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">MASTER
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Tashi, tell me this –
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">INTER-CUT: Prayers proceed apace.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">MASTER (CONTD.)
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Tashi, tell me: Why did you come here?
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">INTER-CUT: Prayers proceed apace.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">MASTER (CONTD.)
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Why have you come here, to this monastery? Why did you take birth close to this place?
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">TASHI
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">I’m stuck here. I can’t move forward. …
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">INTER-CUT: Prayers proceed apace.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">TASHI (CONTD.)
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">But he will come here. We will meet again.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Tashi smiles even in his hypnotised state.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 2in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">TASHI (CONTD.)
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 1.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">We are meeting again!
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">The Master looks very concerned.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">INTER-CUT: Prayers, proceeding apace, abruptly come to an end.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">CUT TO: CLOSE-UP of Tashi abruptly opening his eyes!
</span></div>
</div>
vipul rikhihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16894948970160091492noreply@blogger.com