ANSUYA: (Smiling ironically.) One never sees me on the Mall these days.
RAI SAHEB: (Tempo increasing as he speaks.) But what is there to do in Simla, my dear—except go to the Mall every evening; find your friends eating ice cream at Scandal Point; drag them to the Green Room for the latest gossip; rush to Rivoli for the new picture; plan picnics to Anandale and Mashobra; and throng to the Sunday morning for bingo and beer!
MAMU: (With irony.) A remarkable way to live, don’t you think, when our jawans are dying on the front?
RAI SAHEB: (As if noticing him for the first time.) Eh, I say … The professor speaks! (Turning to Amrita.)
I say, is it true about your house?
AMRITA: (Turning pale.) What about this house?
RAI SAHEB: (Realizing his mistake.) No, nothing.
AMRITA: (In a loud, unnatural voice.) What about this house, Bunty?
RAI SAHEB: I must be mistaken.
AMRITA: (Almost screaming.) Bunty, what about this house?
RAI SAHEB: (Sheepishly.) Well, that it’s up for sale.
AMRITA: (In tears.) Who says it’s up for sale? Filthy lies!
RAI SAHEB: (Trying to make up.) You know Simla, my dear. There’s nothing else to do but gossip. Why, when I heard it, my reaction was, ‘What nonsense!’
AMRITA: (Recovering.) Bunty, have some coffee?
RAI SAHEB: (Looking at his watch.) No, thank you, my dear; must be getting along, if I don’t want to get caught in this storm. I say, ta-ta, cheerio. Happy Diwali and all that! (Exit.)
ANSUYA: (Mimicking him, as she closes the door behind him.) ‘I say, ta-ta, cheerio, Happy Diwali and all that.’
AMRITA: (Giving her a disapproving look.) Ansu!
ANSUYA: (Mimicking.) ‘I say, one rarely sees you on the Mall these days.’ (Mamu laughs.)
AMRITA: Stop it! It’s not nice.
ANSUYA: The conceit of the man, Amma!
AMRITA: How do you like my new sari?
(And she turns around to show it to everyone.)
MAMU: It’s beautiful!
ANSUYA: It should be. It’s the most expensive sari in Simla.
AMRITA: And how do you know?
ANSUYA: Because Leela Ram’s man delivered it this afternoon.
AMRITA: And you saw the price?
ANSUYA: Someone has to think of money, Amma.
AMRITA: (Animatedly.) The Colonel complimented me on it, and Mrs Dewan kept looking at it the whole evening.
(To Ansuya.)
Oh Ansu, it’s not right to stay by yourself all evening long, evening after evening. Why don’t you go out at least once in a while?
ANSUYA: No.
AMRITA: (Angrily.) Then you won’t get married.
ANSUYA: I don’t care.
AMRITA: Of course you do.
ANSUYA: These boys don’t want to marry me, Amma.
AMRITA: How do you know?
ANSUYA: Because no boy has the guts to marry without a dowry. Look at Dinky. We all thought that he would marry …
AMRITA: (Defensively.) I suppose it’s my fault that you don’t have a dowry?
ANSUYA: Amma …
AMRITA: If your father hadn’t squandered all that money away …
ANSUYA: He did not.
(In tears.)
Why do you keep saying that?
AMRITA: Your grandfather married off nine daughters like princesses.
ANSUYA: (Wearily.) What’s the use, Amma!
AMRITA: You’re stubborn, like your father. Proud and vain …
ANSUYA: Why blame him? Look at yourself.
AMRITA: (Cut to the quick.) What!
ANSUYA: (Defensively.) Well, look at what’s happened to the mills ever since he died.
AMRITA: Mind what you say, girl!
ANSUYA: All we keep doing is selling off our properties.
AMRITA: We have debts to pay off.
(About to break down.)
You don’t understand these things.
ANSUYA: And now, even this house will be gone.
AMRITA: No … it won’t.
ANSUYA: Everyone seems to know about it except us.
AMRITA: (Pointing to the drapes.) See those drapes, Ansu? Your father brought them from England, and they were the talk of the town that season. Oh, the parties we used to have, Ansu! The servants were forever polishing the silver. Why, the whole of Nehru’s first Cabinet must have dined here some time or another.
ANSUYA: It’s over, Amma; this house is as good as gone.
AMRITA: No!
(Covering her ears with her hands.)
I don’t want to hear about it.
ANSUYA: But, Amma, you can’t keep running away …
AMRITA: (In tears.) Don’t say it!
ANSUYA: Amma, please, you’ve got to …
AMRITA: (Beginning to cry.) Well. I’ve done my best. What more do you want me to do? It’s too much. It’s not fair! (Ansuya goes and embraces her.)
ANSUYA: Oh Amma, don’t cry! Please, my darling Amma. Don’t cry!
(Fade.)
Act Two
[Stage Centre. Spotlight on Karan, the narrator.]
KARAN: They say you never get a second chance to make a first impression. So, what sort of impression have we made on you?
Pretty lot, our family. No one’s happy. But then, most families are like that, aren’t they? Yes, all families want to be happy, but they live in a way that they can’t help but be unhappy.
What is happiness, anyway? You are dropped into the world one fine day, and you are snuffed out another, without so much as a warning.
And in between, you try to snatch a few moments of happiness … and discover too late that it wasn’t happiness after all. And it doesn’t matter whether you are at the top or at the bottom of the social scale.
(Pause.)
As you can see, our life had a certain rhythm, a certain quality, even as we were slowly getting poorer. It is this rhythm which was shattered when Deepak and Chitra came into our lives.
(Lights come on gradually. The same room.)
It is the next morning, around noon. It is bright and fresh, the way Simla feels after a shower. The sun is peering in from the open window. From the window, you can glimpse the Himalayas in the distance; a bit hazy today, but usually you can see the white peaks gleaming in the sun.
(He takes the newspaper from under his arm.)
The paper has arrived with more dismal news from the Eastern front. Tawang has just fallen and General Thapar says we are preparing to put up
