SCENE 11 — SWYAMPRABHA IN HER HOUSE / BODHISATWA PACKING SUITCASE AT HOTEL
CHARACTERS
- SWAYAMPRABHA
- BODHISATWA
STAGE DEVICE: split stage.
STAGE LEFT: SWAYAMPRABHA’s bedroom at home.
STAGE RIGHT: BODHISATWA’s hotel room in Kolkata—suitcase open, clothes, books, conference badge, exhibition catalog.
Lighting isolates each side.
TIME: night. Same hour.
SFX: city hum. Occasional elevator chime (hotel side). Faint neighbor kitchen sounds (home side).
STAGE LEFT — SWAYAMPRABHA’S BEDROOM
(Lights up. SWYAMPRABHA enters quietly, closes the door softly. She stands at the mirror—outfit still on, hair slightly undone.)
SWYAMPRABHA (barely)
So…
(inhales, long exhale)
It happened.
(She removes bangles one by one. Touches her lips for a second—stops. She begins unpinning the saree, moves into shadow. The saree comes off like a layer of story. She changes into a cotton house dress. Folds the saree as if packing a chapter of her life. No hurry.)
STAGE RIGHT — BODHISATWA’S HOTEL ROOM
(Lights up. BODHISATWA folds clothes with practiced efficiency. Suitcase open. He places clothes, books, brochure. He pauses with the brochure, stares. Small smile. A breath containing ache. He sets it down gently.)
BODHISATWA (to himself)
Kolkata…
knows how to reopen old doors.
(He checks his phone. Hesitates. Sets it aside—still within reach.)
SFX: Messenger “ding.” (shared moment)
(One “ding” is heard at both ends. Both react almost at once.)
SWYAMPRABHA (stage left)
(glances at her phone on the dresser, then away—NOT NOW.)
BODHISATWA (stage right)
(glances at his phone, flips it face-down—NOT NOW.)
STAGE LEFT — SWYAMPRABHA CHANGES
(Her shoulders lower. Body relaxes. She clips her hair up. Wipes away kajal with cotton, washes her face. Water sound—visible or in shadow. She looks at herself in the mirror. Calm. Almost neutral.)
SWYAMPRABHA (soft, sincere)
What am I now?
A wife… a mother…
or… just SWAYAMPRABHA?
(She turns her phone face-down—like closing a drawer in her mind.)
STAGE RIGHT — BODHISATWA PACKS THE LAST ITEMS
(He closes the suitcase halfway, remembers something—returns to the desk. Picks up a small gift bag: souvenir from the exhibition, maybe a signed catalog. He opens the catalog, looks at a page. The audience can’t see what he sees, but they see the effect: warmth, restraint.)
BODHISATWA (quiet)
Don’t carry her like a new sculpture.
Carry her like truth…
and let it be.
(He places the catalog carefully, zips the suitcase fully. Checks passport. Boarding pass.)
SFX (hotel side): faint elevator chime / corridor footsteps.
(He lifts the suitcase handle, tests the weight. Looks around the room once—the way one looks at a place that held something unplanned.)
BODHISATWA (soft)
Okay.
(He exits. The hotel room remains lit—empty.)
STAGE LEFT — SWYAMPRABHA EXITS TOWARD LIFE
(SWYAMPRABHA switches off the bedroom light, exits toward the living room/kitchen. As she leaves, she pauses—like her body checks whether last night still lives on her skin. Then she continues.)
(Both sides dim into a single wash of morning light, preparing the transition.)
BLACKOUT.