SCENE 3 — FAMILY COURT ROOM
CHARACTERS
- SWAYAMPRABHA
- SUBHO
- SURJYA
- CHAT VOICE (BODHISATWA)
SETTING
Evening. The house is unusually dim. A single streetlight seeps through the curtains. Living room. Sofa. Coffee table. SWYAMPRABHA lies on the sofa, not sleeping—staring. Her phone rests on her chest like a weight.
SFX: occasional distant horn, ceiling fan low, far-off neighbor pressure cooker whistle.
(Lights up low. SWYAMPRABHA lies still. The phone vibrates once—Messenger notification. A blue glow briefly lights her face. She does not move. Another vibrates.)
SFX: Messenger “ding.”
(SWYAMPRABHA finally lifts the phone. Hesitates.)
CHAT VOICE (BODHISATWA)
SWAYAMPRABHA… I’m sorry.
If I said anything that hurt you, it wasn’t my intention.
When I wrote “I loved you,” I wasn’t asking for anything.
I was only… telling the truth of those days.
If my message disturbed your peace, please forgive me.
(The room returns to silence, but SWAYAMPRABHA’s breathing has changed.)
SWYAMPRABHA (to herself, barely)
Peace…
You think I had peace?
(She clutches the phone, then loosens her grip—ashamed of clutching. She sets it face-down on her stomach.)
SFX: keys. The front door opens.
SURJYA (enters—backpack slung, hoodie, earphones around his neck. He stops in the dim room.)
Ma?
Why are the lights off?
SWYAMPRABHA (jolts, sits up fast, tries for normal)
I… I was resting. Headache.
SURJYA (looking around)
Where’s Dad?
SWAYAMPRABHA
Inside.
SURJYA (steps closer, suspicious.)
You okay?
SWAYAMPRABHA
Go wash hands.
SURJYA
Ma, why are you talking like that?
SWAYAMPRABHA
Like what?
(SWYAMPRABHA forces a smile—fails. Turns away.)
SURJYA
Did you and Dad fight?
(SWYAMPRABHA doesn’t answer. That’s an answer.)
SURJYA
Okay. I’ll ask him.
(He heads toward the inner room. SWYAMPRABHA rises halfway.)
SWAYAMPRABHA
Surjya, don’t—
SURJYA
Ma, I’m not five.
I can handle.
(He exits. A muffled exchange: Subho’s low voice, Surjya’s sharper one. Not words—just the rhythm of conflict. After a moment, SURJYA returns. SUBHO follows, staying near the doorway—arms crossed.)
SURJYA
So this is the big earthquake?
SUBHO
Don’t talk nonsense.
SURJYA
Nonsense? Dad, you made it sound like Ma committed a crime.
SWYAMPRABHA (steps between them instinctively—referee who doesn’t want the match.)
Surjya, stop.
Both of you—stop.
SURJYA
Ma, I’m sorry, but I have to say something.
(to Subho) Dad—seriously?
This is why you’re upset?
SUBHO
I’m upset because she hid things.
SURJYA
She hid because you react like this.
SUBHO
You don’t understand marriage.
SURJYA
I understand boundaries.
SUBHO
Basic human respect is not chatting love messages with another man.
SURJYA
First—he’s not “another man,” he’s her old friend.
Second—he wrote he loved her then, thirty years ago.
Third—Ma didn’t ask for it.
So why are you acting like she booked a hotel?
SWAYAMPRABHA
Surjya!
SUBHO
So you’ll teach me morals now?
SURJYA
Yes, actually.
Marriage is not owning a woman like a family asset.
SUBHO
Don’t insult our culture.
SURJYA
I’m not insulting culture.
I’m insulting control.
SWYAMPRABHA (raises her hands—trying to stop the escalation.)
Enough!
Please—both of you—enough.
SUBHO
You talk like you’re modern.
But when you marry, you’ll understand the shame.
SURJYA
Shame for what?
For a conversation?
You can’t find your belt or shirt without her.
She runs this house—and you call her immoral for a chat.
(SUBHO tries to interrupt. SURJYA keeps going—momentum rising.)
SURJYA
And if she has a friendship with someone—
what’s wrong with it?
SUBHO
Friendship is okay.
But those lines… “Whatever I am today, it’s only for you”—
what is that?
SURJYA
That’s emotion, Dad.
Maybe you forgot she has a mind.
(SWYAMPRABHA flinches—not at his defense, but at how accurately he names what she never said aloud.)
SURJYA (contd.)
Why do you think she needs your permission?
SUBHO
You don’t know what it feels like—
to read those messages in your own house.
SURJYA
You already crossed a line… reading her phone.
You wanted proof.
You wanted something to accuse.
SWYAMPRABHA (whispers)
Surjya…
SURJYA (turning to her, gentler)
Ma, are you okay?
SWAYAMPRABHA
I… I don’t know.
SURJYA
Dad, is this really the reason you’re upset?
A man from thirty years ago said he loved her and she got shaken?
That’s not scandal. That’s… late honesty.
SUBHO
Gen-Z thinks everything is allowed.
SURJYA
Not everything.
Just autonomy.
People can feel without being criminals.
Dad, you think — Ma is your extension.
SUBHO
I never said that.
SURJYA
You don’t have to.
Your reaction says it.
SUBHO
What kind of son are you?
SURJYA
Exactly the kind you raised.
SWAYAMPRABHA
Surjya… don’t talk like that.
SUBHO
So you think there is nothing wrong. Even morally.
SURJYA
I don’t think it is – Even morally.
Ma didn’t cheat.
Ma had a conversation and got emotional.
That’s human.
SURJYA (picks up his bag, heads toward his room, then turns back—final.)
Dad, you’re upset because you’re scared.
Not because Ma did something.
(SWYAMPRABHA sits slowly, as if her legs give up. SURJYA exits. SUBHO stands in the doorway—wounded pride and old values battling reality. SWYAMPRABHA finally speaks—quiet, exhausted.)
SWAYAMPRABHA
Subho…
I didn’t—
(SUBHO turns away slowly, goes inside.)
(SWYAMPRABHA remains on the sofa. She flips the phone over.)
(Lights fade to near-dark.)