INDI A

SINGAPORE

M A L AY S I A

Notion Press Media Pvt Ltd No. 50, Chettiyar Agaram Main Road, Vanagaram, Chennai, Tamil Nadu – 600 095 First Published by Notion Press 2021 Copyright © Satish Khot 2021 All Rights Reserved. ISBN 978-1-63997-618-8 This book has been published with all efforts taken to make the material error-free after the consent of the author. However, the author and the publisher do not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause. While every effort has been made to avoid any mistake or omission, this publication is being sold on the condition and understanding that neither the author nor the publishers or printers would be liable in any manner to any person by reason of any mistake or omission in this publication or for any action taken or omitted to be taken or advice rendered or accepted on the basis of this work. For any defect in printing or binding the publishers will be liable only to replace the defective copy by another copy of this work then available.

Exits and Entrances

All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances… As You Like It II vii

For Mo – my better half (in every way) – whose entrance into my life I cherish!

Contents Foreword�������������������������������������������������������������������6 1. Café Alibaba����������������������������������������������������8 The play explores the friendship, rivalry and angst of four young professionals brought together by the chance of everyday life.... and the convenient meeting place of a cafe near their bus stop. However, the gentle turbulence in their interaction spirals out of control with unexpected developments – a deepseated resentment, a knife rashly wielded… 2. Manto and the Dhoban���������������������������������62 We are transported to the Partition era: An unsophisticated village girl surprises Manto (the legendary Urdu writer) with her cool strength, spirit and derring-do. 3. Raghu Raghunath�����������������������������������������90 Friendship comes in many hues, with different expectations and varying shelf lives. For Raghu his partner is his “north, his south, his east and west”.

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Contents

4. Timshel (Thou Mayest!)������������������������������116 Life is a drama of complex relationships. But when the dreaded C word intrudes, and death is imminent, it can either get hopelessly even more complicated… or else, is suddenly simplified. 5. Life in the Time of Corona – 1��������������������148 6. Life in the Time of Corona – 2��������������������166 7. Life in the Time of Corona – 3��������������������184 A trilogy of plays depicting life in these unprecedented, restricted times of the Covid 19 pandemic. Restless and despondent, three couples from different walks of life - a middle class aging couple, young professionals, and spunky millennials – find ways to navigate the obstacle course. 8. Waiting…����������������������������������������������������200 The play exposes the near-tragic situation of a middle aged couple who have nothing to live for. They get on each other’s nerves in a way that smacks of the acerbic but is also comic. They plan to leave this world with a bang, not a whimper. But who ever said that life is so simple as to go according to plan? Glossary����������������������������������������������������������������247 Acknowledgements�������������������������������������������������263

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Foreword When and why I started thinking in a writerly way is a mystery to me. But I know the moment when words started fairly pouring out of me! And arranging themselves in acts and scenes too! For years I had been swearing I would one day write the great Indian novel. It had become a family joke: my “threat”, as it were. And then Shashi Tharoor chose that very title for his magnificent reworking of the Mahabharat. That stopped me in my tracks and promptly put paid to whatever credibility I might ever have had as a future writer! I remember that, long long ago, as 16 year old backbenchers in a class at IIT, bored out of our minds, my classmate and I shared our ambitions. I wanted to be a writer and he wanted to be a politician. Yet we had both signed up for Engineering! But all things come in good time. Not at 16 but at 60 writing seemed something I could really put my mind to. I was 70 by the time my first play was actually staged. It was thrilling to find the play reviewed (favourably) in all the three leading newspapers. The Times of India gave me a large space and entitled the review “70 year old activist makes his playwrighting debut”. How I laughed! But I could not deny it. I was 70 indeed. What can I say? Well, 6

Foreword

better late than never! I’ve worn several hats in these many years. Why not that of a writer? So be it. For, writing is what I do now. Writing is how I think, observe, note, store, adapt. And it is an incredibly rewarding way of negotiating the pathways of life. There is material for plots, storylines, characterization wherever you look. And it is the privilege of the writer to gather it, hone it, transform it… and produce a play. A feeling of being blessed descends on me when I complete a work. Wasn’t it Coleridge who said that the creative artist was an awesome personage because “he on honey dew hath fed and drunk the milk of Paradise”?

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CAFÉ ALIBABA

CAFÉ ALIBABA A play in seven scenes

Scene 1 An Irani café. Opening time: early morning. Stage right front: A waist high table which serves as the Manager‘s counter for collecting money. It is set right next to the door of the café. Stage Centre: A couple of tables, each with 4 chairs (like in a typical Irani cafe) Alibhai stands in front of the Cashier’s table, next to the door. He is 60+, maybe closer to 70, wears white trousers and shirt over which he wears a blue and white checked apron and sports a white skullcap/Parsi cap. He also has a wooden ruler stuffed into his waistband. He has a stoic look on his face and wears an expression of “I have seen everything”. The spotlight is on him while the rest of the stage is dark. ALIBHAI: They say that the story of your life is remembered and told by your children. And that’s how a man continues in the minds of his dear ones, his near ones. 9

Exits and Entrances

I can tell you about my grandfather who came as a young boy from Iran. He was brought to work for - as a slave, yes, that’s right, as a slave. He slaved day and night, no holidays, for that bakery in the Camp area. Until he ran off and started this Cafe Alibaba. The whole story is there in my head, in my blood. But what about my story? Who is there to tell that? No-one!! Maybe I tell my story to you. Hopefully you will remember? You will, na? My name is Alibhai. Or rather everyone calls me Alibhai. My real name is Aspandiar… What does it matter? After so many years of Alibhai, if they called me by my real name I might not even respond. I own this café – Café Alibaba - and because of that they think it’s been named after me. Or I have been named after it. My grandfather started this café and after him my father was to run it. It’s near the station, so the business was always good. But as a young man I didn’t want to be behind this table (patting the cashier’s table behind him). It’s quite old. Older than me. In the last few years, the business has grown. There are these Call Centres where boys and girls work all night talking to America. They are all dropped here near the railway station in the morning and this is where they come to have their breakfast. But now it’s opening time and my story can wait. Business first. Everything else later. 10

Satish Khot

Moves to the door and opens it. Stands aside. All lights are switched on. Two young men rush in, grab one table and try to keep others off by saying: YOUNG MEN: Reserved hai. Aa rahein hain. Stage freezes except Alibhai. All lights off and Spotlight on one of the men. ALIBHAI: This is Madhu. Never seems to be hassled, never gets angry. I see him read a lot. Sometimes he comes here at any old time. Sits there. Orders one tea and reads… Madhu is a “cool” guy. Jeans and T-shirt and sandals on his feet. Tall, slim. Upper middle class, clean cut, Brahminical. Spotlight moves to the other man. ALIBHAI: And this is Diwakar. That may not be his name, but everyone calls him that. He’s from Latur. I don’t know where that is but Diwakar told me that. Diwakar wears clean trousers and a bush shirt and Kolhapuri chappals. A “Vernacular” sort. MADHU: Why don’t the girls come on time? I do hope they didn’t have to stay overtime. Diwakar, did you see them get on the bus? DIWAKAR: My name is Dnyaneshwar. And what a good name it is. After Sant Dnyaneshwar. Not Diwakar. But you all insist on calling me that. I keep telling you. But you continue to do so. Try calling me by my correct name. 11

Exits and Entrances

MADHU: How often do you want me to tell you? Do you want us to call you “TubeLight”? Isn’t Diwakar better than that?? DIWAKAR: Hmph! I saw them get on the 3rd bus. MADHU: Aah!! There they come… Two girls stroll in. NEHA: You know you should wear jeans and T shirt. You have a nice figure. I can give you one of my jeans and a top. You will look really good. Sexy. RADHIKA: Nakko baba. Ai and Baba will throw a fit. Particularly Ai. They don’t let me cut my hair either, let alone wear jeans and a T shirt. NEHA: Come on! You are your own person, you know. 24, aren’t you? You should do what you want to. Look at Arvind. RADHIKA: Who? Your BF? NEHA: Yes. His parents were very upset when he left his job - very well paying too - to start his own IT company. They are well-to-do, but didn’t give him even a rupee of funding. But see, he is trying to raise it, all by himself. RADHIKA: You don’t know how much fuss Baba and Ai made when, after my B. Ed, I said I didn’t want to teach. They said it was all a waste of money doing my B.Ed. But I didn’t want to be a teacher. They turn and talk to Alibhai 12

Satish Khot

NEHA: Good morning, Alibhai. How are you? Stage freezes. Spotlight on the girl. Wears jeans and a flashy top. Good looking and knows it too. ALIBHAI: This is Neha. I don’t know why she is working at a call centre. She stays in Camp… with a boyfriend. He has a car and I have seen him drop her. But not recently. I wonder why. RADHIKA: Alibhai, Namaste. Kaise ho? Stage freezes. Spotlight on the girl. Salwar kameez. One single plait. Chappals. Jhola bag. ALIBHAI: Radhika’s father teaches in that convent school and her mother also works in the girls’ school. NEHA: Alibhai, why do you wear that foot patti? Alibhai ignores the question. NEHA: So Alibhai, what will you give us today for breakfast? Something new, something very delicious. Yum yum! ALIBHAI: Omelette Sandwich. It’s the best for you. Go to your table. ALIBHAI: Hey, Ram. Kahaan ho?? Table 2, Char omelette sandwich aur char special chai… Jaldi. Ram comes out from the back of the stage left. He is wearing white shorts and a vest – both quite shabby. A towel/napkin slung over his shoulder. No footwear. Hears the order, nods his head and goes back in. 13

Exits and Entrances

ALIBHAI: Omelette sandwich is my speciality. The omelette mixture I make myself. And the bun – it’s not the bunpao – but a special bun made for me by___.. I wont tell you who. And the sauce on top is a special creation of mine. That’s why they all come for this Omelette Sandwich. And my tea is also special. I mix the tea powder myself. This special tea is like magic too. Ram brings in omelettes and tea and puts them in front of these four. Then goes to Alibhai and whispers in his ear. ALIBHAI: (pointing) Hey, Ram!! RAM: (with a big smile) Ram Kishan Maurya. ALIBHAI: He is from Bihar. RAM: Gaon: Khadakpur, Taluka: Badlaghat, District Gopalganj, Bihar. Diploma Civil Engineer. ALIBHAI: I found him one winter morning lying outside my door, shivering. He had been beaten, robbed, no money, hungry. I took him in and gave him my special chai. And he recovered. He has been with me for the last 5 - .7 years. He says he came to Pune looking for work. But he was mugged. Everything he had was stolen. I taught him to work for me. Hey Ram, now stop smiling and go back to work. MADHU: Alibhai must be Gandhi reincarnated. Because he keeps on saying “Hey Ram!!” All the time. They all laugh. 14

Satish Khot

MADHU: I asked him the same question about the footpatti, when we had just started coming. And you know what he told me? To keep discipline, like his school teacher, who was the best disciplinarian ever. Imagine a foot-patti for controlling the restaurant’s customers? And for Hey Ram. NEHA: I got my 7th star in a row. I had the maximum sales once again. RADHIKA: How do you do it, yaar? My sales are less than half yours. NEHA: I chat them up. RADHIKA: But so do we. MADHU: Neha flirts with the clients. DIWAKAR: Flirts? What’s that? MADHU: Diwakar, tu nahin samjhega. DIWAKAR: My sales are very low, the lowest among us. I want to learn to flirt. They all laugh. RADHIKA: It’s how you talk to them. DIWAKAR: But how? NEHA: Put on a sexy voice like this. And make his heart go dhakdhak. RADHIKA: But that’s not correct. 15

Satish Khot is an engineer and manager by training (he has degrees from IIT Bombay and IIM Calcutta) but by inclination… a bit of a philosopher! Growing up as an Army brat, he has lived in many cities in India and some abroad. His curiosity and desire to explore and discover has taken him to many countries to see and experience the differences in different peoples… and also the ultimate similarity of all people on the planet. Having worn the hats of an engineer, management consultant, environmentalist and activist, Satish Khot has now reinvented himself as a writer. He is currently putting together a collection of short stories.

Café Alibaba The play explores the friendship, rivalry and angst of four young professionals brought together by the chance of everyday life.... and the convenient meeting place of a cafe near their bus stop. However, the gentle turbulence in their interaction spirals out of control with unexpected developments – a deep-seated resentment, a knife rashly wielded‥‥ Manto and the Dhoban We are transported to the Partition era: An unsophisticated village girl surprises Manto (the legendary Urdu writer) with her cool strength, spirit and derring-do. Raghu Raghunath Friendship comes in many hues, with different expectations and varying shelf lives. For Raghu his partner is his “north, his south, his east and west”. Timshel (Thou Mayest!) Life is a drama of complex relationships. But when the dreaded C word intrudes, and death is imminent, it can either get hopelessly even more complicated‥‥ or else, is suddenly simplified. Life in the Time of Corona A trilogy of plays depicting life in these unprecedented, restricted times of the Covid 19 pandemic. Restless and despondent, three couples from different walks of life – a middle class aging couple, young professionals, and spunky millennials – find ways to navigate the obstacle course. Waiting… The play exposes the near-tragic situation of a middle aged couple who have nothing to live for. They get on each other’s nerves in a way that smacks of the acerbic but is also comic. They plan to leave this world with a bang, not a whimper. But who ever said that life is so simple as to go according to plan? Price 350