Playwright: Kallol Nandi
OPENING SCENE (1) – SOLDIERS ATTACK THE TEMPLE
Characters
- PRIEST
- ANADHA
- TEMPLE GIRLS (dance chorus)
- VILLAGERS (offstage)
- MESSENGER
- SULTANATE SOLDIERS (enter later)
Setting
- A Hindu temple courtyard in the morning.
- Flowers. A bell hangs still.
- Soft temple bells. The PRIEST stands before the deity.
PRIEST
Om! Namah Shivaya, Namah Shivaya, Namah Shivaya
Om Tryambakam Yajamahe
Sugandhim Pustivardhanam
Urvarukamiva Bandhanan
Mrtyor Muksiya Mamrtat
(GIRLS step forward. Position themselves to start a ritual dance.)
Om Tatpurusaya Vidmahe
Mahadevaya Dhimahi
Tanno Rudrah Prachodayat
(The bells stop. Silence.)
(GIRLS start dance—measured, graceful, cyclical.)
(ANADHA dances among them—not the best dancer, but the most attentive.)
(The dance ends. Hands folded.)
(A distant sound. Not yet threatening. A drum—out of rhythm.)
(PRIEST pauses.)
PRIEST
Again.
(The GIRLS begin the final movement—but the rhythm falters.)
(The drum grows louder. Shouts—indistinct.)
(A MESSENGER stumbles in, breathless.)
MESSENGER
Stop— Stop the prayer—
PRIEST
This is consecrated ground.
MESSENGER
Not anymore.
The Sultan’s army— Azam Shah’s banners— They have taken the landlord.
(A collective intake of breath.)
(The bell rings—accidentally struck. Loud.)
VILLAGERS (shouting offstage)
They are coming this way!
(Offstage: People grab children, offerings, cloth.)
(GIRLS freeze—trained to wait.)
MESSENGER (to PRIEST)
They are asking for you.
PRIEST
And the girls?
(No answer from MESSENGER.)
(Drums now clear. Soldiers approach sound. Boots. Metal.)
(SULTANATE SOLDIERS’ voices offstage.)
SOLDIER (offstage)
Search the compound! Priest lives here!
PRIEST (to the GIRLS)
Run.
(They do not move.)
PRIEST (sharper)
Run!
(They scatter—some hesitate, some cry. ANADHA stands still.)
PRIEST
Child—
ANADHA
Where do we go?
(PRIEST has no answer.)
ANADHA (cont.)
I go wherever you go. I am not leaving you alone here.
PRIEST
I cannot escape. They came to capture me. You save your life. Run my child! Run now.
ANADHA
My survival is not an escape.
PRIEST
Save yourself now to survive.
ANADHA
I will remember your advice. You save yourself.
(ANADHA runs away and exits.)
(SOLDIERS rush in. The temple is suddenly too small.)
SOLDIER
There.
(They seize the PRIEST and drag him away.)
(The temple bell swings wildly now, ringing without rhythm.)
(PRIEST looks back—at the deity, the flowers crushed under boots, and broken things all around.)
(Blackout.)
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