ANSUYA: Even though I look at it every day, I don’t tire of the Himalayas.
CHITRA: Arre Didi, yeh kamra kuchh badla-badla-sa nahin lag raha?
(Looking around.)
What’s happened? It’s so empty.
DEEPAK: (Taking a deep breath.) But the smell is the same. I still remember the wonderful smell of this house.
AMRITA: (Embarrassed.) You’ll want some tea.
ANSUYA: I’ll get it, Amma.
CHITRA: (Callously.) What happened to the big painting on this wall?
(Sudden silence. They look at each other in embarrassment.)
AMRITA: (Lying, not convincingly.) It’s gone for being restored.
ANSUYA: Amma! Why don’t you tell her the truth?
(Pause.)
It was sold in an auction.
CHITRA: Why?
ANSUYA: (Glaring.) We needed the money.
CHITRA: (Looking around.) Even the chandeliers are gone? You must have got a lot of money for those, ji. How much? (Another uncomfortable pause. Deepak is particularly uneasy.)
ANSUYA: (Trying to control herself.) We did not. We didn’t even get a tenth of what they were worth.
CHITRA: The painting—how much did it bring?
DEEPAK: (Sternly.) Ma!
(Chitra is quiet.)
AMRITA: You must be feeling tired and dusty. You will both want to bathe after such a long journey. I’ll ask the cook to bring two baltis of hot water.
CHITRA: Baltis, Didi? What happened to the boilers?
ANSUYA: They too were sold—by mistake.
DEEPAK: For heavens sake, Ma. Stop this crude talk.
CHITRA: Lekin Didi, aap ko yeh sab karne ki kya zaroorat hai? Aapke pas to itni millen hain, itni zamin hai!
ANSUYA: (Containing herself bravely.) The mills and the lands are sold.
DEEPAK: (With finality.) Ma!
(Turning around to the others with a smile.)
I say, how are we going to celebrate Diwali with this war and the blackout and everything?
(Enthusiastically, to Ansuya.)
Let’s think of something, yaar. Tell you what, I’ll quickly have a bath and then we’ll go down to the Mall, all right?
AMRITA: (To Chitra.) Chitra, how do you like living in Bombay?
CHITRA: I like it very much, ji. There are so many parties. We’re invited out a lot because Deepak is doing so well. His boss says that he is the smartest boy they have had in years.
AMRITA: (Genuinely proud.) Deepak was always so intelligent.
CHITRA: He makes one thousand, two hundred and eighty-six rupees per month, Didi!
DEEPAK: (Glaring.) Ma!
CHITRA: Just look at him, getting embarrassed before his own family. And his name was in the papers the other day.
MAMU: Yes, you sent us the cutting.
DEEPAK: (Embarrassed.) Trust her, sending cuttings to the whole world.
AMRITA: (Genuinely pleased.) She’s proud of you, son.
CHITRA: (In a hushed voice.) We rushed here, Didi, because Deepak’s company is bidding for a licence, and the big Government uffsar is here, in Simla.
AMRITA: Who?
DEEPAK: P.N. Rai, Aunty. He is the Secretary in the Ministry. He hasn’t given us an appointment in Delhi for weeks.
CHITRA: If Rai Saheb says ‘yes,’ Deepak’s company will get the licence. And he’s a friend of yours, Didi.
AMRITA: Of course! Bunty is coming over this evening. Deepak will meet him.
CHITRA: Bunty?
DEEPAK: That’s what Mr Rai’s friends call him, Ma.
CHITRA: Didi, will you also put in a word?
AMRITA: Once he meets Deepak, it won’t be necessary. Such a charming boy.
CHITRA: Oh, thank you, Didi!
(Deepak smiles gratefully.)
MAMU: (To Deepak, confidentially.) Tell us, Deepak, will your company have to bribe him for the licence?
DEEPAK: (Taken aback.) I … I … I say, what sort of question is that?
AMRITA: Oh, Karan, you’re impossible! (To Chitra.)
Come dear, you should wash and get comfortable. And I shall send you tea upstairs.
CHITRA: Thank you, Didi.
(Chitra and Deepak leave. Ansuya, sensing that she has hurt her mother, goes up to her.)
AMRITA: (In tears.) Why did you have to go and blabber about the auction? I would have slowly told her in my own way.
MAMU: But Chitra knew the moment she stepped into the house.
ANSUYA: What difference does it make, Amma, what she thinks? We have to learn to live without our mills and our lands.
(Pause.)
And now, even this house will be gone.
AMRITA: (Hysterically.) No. It won’t.
ANSUYA: (As if she is comforting a child.) We can’t afford it, Amma.
AMRITA: (In a dream.) It’s the only beautiful thing we have.
(Musing.)
When your father brought me here for the first time, how everyone fussed over us. You were born here, and this is where you spent your happiest days. It is for your children and their children.
(Uncomfortable pause, while Mamu watches Ansuya closely, looking her up and down)
MAMU: And in whose honour are we all dressed up today?
ANSUYA: (Blushing.) I thought it was Diwali, and we were having visitors—so I decided to wear a sari.
MAMU: Achcha, I’m off to the Mall.
AMRITA: Why don’t you pick up some whiskey for this evening?
(Mamu and Ansuya exchange glances.)
MAMU: Whiskey?
AMRITA: Scotch.
(Mamu and AnsuyA again look at each other.)
ANSUYA: Amma, it’s expensive.
MAMU: Why can’t he drink Indian whiskey?
AMRITA: (With finality.) No. Scotch.
(Exit Amrita. Mamu shrugs his shoulders, exchanges a glance with Ansuya and leaves. Pause. Deepak enters from the other side. He sneezes.)
ANSUYA: You poor thing!
DEEPAK: (Sneezing.) I swear, yaar, it’s a weird cat. I just ran into the non-sleeper. There it stood, quiet, composed, with a disapproving look; it watched me with a cruel expression, as if it were watching a mouse.
ANSUYA: I sometimes think it has more life and free spirit than any of us.
(Pause. She moves away to the window.)
You know, Deepak, I’m angry with you.
DEEPAK: Arre … Why?
ANSUYA: I thought you came to Simla to see me. What’s this about Rai Saheb and licences?
DEEPAK: I have come to Simla to see you, Anu.
(Goes up to her.)
But then I discovered that Rai Saheb was also up here, and I told Ma, why not combine business with pleasure.
ANSUYA: And I’m ‘pleasure,’ am I?
DEEPAK: No, yaar. I didn’t mean it like that.
ANSUYA: What did you mean?
DEEPAK: I say, yaar, don’t be upset. Ma blabbered it out. I
