SCENE (2) – ANADHA SEEKS SHELTER AT NUR QUTBI ALAM’S KHANQAH
Characters
- ANADHA
- NUR QUTBI ALAM
Setting
- The outer room of the khanqah, night.
- A single lamp. The door ajar. Distant shouts fade.
(ANADHA stumbles in—breathless, shaken. Her cloth is torn.)
ANADHA
Close it. Close it please.
(NUR QUTBI ALAM closes the door calmly.)
NUR QUTBI ALAM
Sit.
(She does not. She listens for sound.)
ANADHA
They followed me from the river road.
NUR QUTBI ALAM
They follow fear more than faces.
(He pours water, offers it. She drinks, hands shaking. ANADHA trying to steady herself.)
ANADHA
If I sit, they find me. If I run, they follow.
I came to your khanqah. Because men ask questions before they strike.
(ALAM studies her—this is wit, not panic.)
NUR QUTBI ALAM
You speak as if you have already counted the exits.
ANADHA
I counted the men first.
(She forces a thin smile.)
They are louder when they believe no one is listening.
(She glances toward the door, then back at him.)
ANADHA (cont.)
If I am seen, I am taken – I need to be placed.
NUR QUTBI ALAM
You are not asking for hiding.
ANADHA
No.
I am asking for direction.
NUR QUTBI ALAM
You may stay here tonight. Perhaps tomorrow.
(She looks at him—hope flaring.)
But not forever.
ANADHA
Then where?
NUR QUTBI ALAM
Where power pretends to protect.
ANADHA
The palace?
(He nods.)
ANADHA (cont.)
The harem.
I am Hindu. I cannot enter the harem.
NUR QUTBI ALAM
You already have— by being noticed.
When a temple falls, its girls do not become invisible.
They become unclaimed.
ANADHA
So, the harem is—
NUR QUTBI ALAM
—an enclosure. Not a reward. Not a choice.
(He meets her eyes.)
NUR QUTBI ALAM (cont.)
– but it is a boundary others respect.
ANADHA
I will be alone there.
NUR QUTBI ALAM
No.
(Gently.)
Most women there were not born to it. They came from courtyards like yours. From temples. From homes that no longer exist.
They learned to survive by being renamed.
ANADHA
You cannot protect me.
NUR QUTBI ALAM
I can protect you from the street. Not from the world.
(He steps closer—but does not touch.)
Inside the harem, eyes are counted. Violence requires permission.
Outside, it does not.
(ANADHA sits at last.)
ANADHA
Will I lose myself there?
NUR QUTBI ALAM
Only if you forget – how to stop.
ANADHA
Stop what?
NUR QUTBI ALAM
Others – from deciding – who you become.
(A long silence. He opens the door slightly. Dawn light begins.)
NUR QUTBI ALAM (cont.)
Go at first light. I will send words ahead.
(She stands, steadier now.)
ANADHA
Will I see you again?
NUR QUTBI ALAM (with a smile)
If you remain alive — Yes.
(She exits.)
(NUR QUTBI ALAM remains, listening as the city wakes.)
(Lights fade.)
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