LAWRENCE: Sher Singh …
SHER SINGH: (Interrupting.) I want to resign, sir. I too want to go away. I’m tired of this place.
LAWRENCE: Don’t be a fool, Sher Singh. This is political life. There are ups and there are downs.
SHER SINGH: Not when your Mother’s banished.
LAWRENCE: I didn’t know you felt so strongly about her.
SHER SINGH: She’s the Mother of the Punjab.
LAWRENCE: A tough Sardar like you believes in these myths?
SHER SINGH: She’s flesh and blood. You’re separating her from her son. The Angrez is clever. He needs the boy for legitimacy; and the mother is thrown out.
LAWRENCE: But these separations take place.
SHER SINGH: Larins Sahib, in our land the relationship between mother and son is sacred.
LAWRENCE: So many young soldiers die. They get separated from their mothers.
SHER SINGH: They die in battle—a-noble death.
LAWRENCE: This is also battle.
SHER SINGH: No. She’s Ranjit Singh’s wife. And the Angrez have insulted the Punjab.
LAWRENCE: There are reasons of state policy, Sher Singh.
SHER SINGH: She was the Queen, wasn’t she?
LAWRENCE: There are queens and queens.
SHER SINGH: No, there is a way of treating a Queen. I have tasted enough English brandy. Now I must go. Time is up.
LAWRENCE: Stay, Sher Singh. Did you know her?
SHER SINGH: You knew her.
LAWRENCE: She wan’t the most exemplary ruler.
SHER SINGH: You should say that, sir? I thought you respected her.
LAWRENCE: I do. I do, Sher Singh.
SHER SINGH: I thought she was your special friend.
LAWRENCE: She was.
SHER SINGH: Then why did you do it?
LAWRENCE: I am executing my government’s policy.
(Pause.)
SHER SINGH: You hypocrite! You never loved anyone. You don’t deserve anyone’s friendship. You turned into a hypocrite when you saw how powerful you’d become. You imagined that you had become Ranjit Singh.
LAWRENCE: (Shouting.) Stop it. Do you know to whom you are talking?
SHER SINGH: To a friend, who was …
LAWRENCE: No. You are talking to the Angrez Badshah!
SHER SINGH: Your Angrez Badshahs, your chogahs, your jewels, purple cushions—they were signals. I understand you now! You’re evil. (Laughs bitterly.) You still think you’re doing it for the Punjab—as though … as though nothing had happened. If you realized it, I’d call you ambitious. Not evil. But you don’t know yourself and that terrifies me.
LAWRENCE: Stop it! Stop it!
SHER SINGH: (Quietly.) I thought we were friends. We have nothing more to say to each other. I might as well go.
LAWRENCE: Stay, Sher Singh.
(Pause.)
SHER SINGH: (Quietly.) Did you banish the Rani because Dalip insulted your government today?
LAWRENCE: No.
SHER SINGH: Yes. You were looking for an excuse to do this, and today’s incident gave you that excuse.
LAWRENCE: No, no.
SHER SINGH: Then why did you do it?
(No reply.)
I know. Reasons of state policy.
(Pause. Looks at Lawrence, who remains silent.)
But they can be met if one believes in oneself.
LAWRENCE: Perhaps one has stopped believing in oneself.
SHER SINGH: That’s not true, sir. It’s a matter of choice. You’ve chosen. You could have chosen the way of the heart. Because she was your friend—you won’t deny that? Or you could have chosen to obey your country’s order. Your duty to her or your duty to your Queen. You’ve chosen. In my terms, Larins Sahib, it’s a choice between the Punjab and England. Your Queen and my Queen. That’s where we part. I won’t have anything to do with the Company Raj. Farewell!
LAWRENCE: Stay, my friend. Stay, Sher Singh.
SHER SINGH: I feel sad now. For you were our hope—our golden evening. You gave us a sense of life—to me, to the Rani, to Dalip. We returned it with the only thing we had: our love. But we were mistaken.
LAWRENCE: Everything isn’t lost. The Punjab is still there. Together we’ll make it into a rich, prosperous land. Together we’ll make it shine like the sun. The Jats, the Sikhs, the Paharis, the Pathans—they depend on you and me. You can’t leave it all half done. Remember what you promised me in Delhi.
SHER SINGH: Yes.
LAWRENCE: You said the One-eyed Lion would be proud of us.
SHER SINGH: But I didn’t think you’d start acting like him.
(Suddenly becomes embarrassed.)
LAWRENCE: (Barking.) What do you mean?
SHER SINGH: (Embarrassed.) No, nothing.
(Pause.)
LAWRENCE: (Softly.) Do you think what I did was dishonourable?
SHER SINGH: Why bother with empty words? One of our wise men has said: ‘Honour is only what you think other people think of you, and the attention you pay to their opinions.’ We’ve chosen. You’ve chosen to serve the British Raj. I’ve chosen to serve the Punjab. We’re now in opposite camps.
LAWRENCE: We’re still friends.
SHER SINGH: What’s friendship to do with it? Anybody can be friends. When my Rani is heartbroken, you talk of honour and friendship.
(Pause, Lawrence silent.)
Farewell, Larins Sahib. Before I leave, let me tell you: I shall return. When I do, I shall be on the other side. I shall come to avenge my Queen. I shall be armed and the whole Punjab army will be behind me. The Angrez will be thrown out of the Punjab or I shall die. Larins Sahib, you’ve made a man of me, and I thank you. It was another Sher Singh who wanted to be an English gentleman. He’s as dead as the One-eyed Lion. You taught me the magic of the Lion’ name, Larins Sahib. Now I shall go from village to village, from house to house, and shout his name. I shall shout (and he shouts.) ‘Come on men. Take your swords. Remember the Lion, and save your land.’ I shall rally every son and father. We shall kick out the Angrez. And we shall save our land. Farewell, Larins Sahib, we shall meet on the battlefield again.
(Exit. Long pause. Lawrence initially looks dejected. He collects himself slowly takes a deep breath, raising himself to his full height. Aglow returns to his face. Goes to the mirror again, and adjusts
