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Collection: Part 10 · VIDEHA MITHILA MAITHILI DISCUSSION CRITICISM SERIES PART 10
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Detected language: en (0.997413)
Duration: 23:35
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Timestamped machine output

0:08–0:12विलीज अछि। आप दिस्ट्रक्ट अप्ष्वेर, इन विलीज अछि।
0:12–0:16अछि। अछि। अछि। अछि। अछि।
0:16–0:24ब्रुदर भासकर, अछि। आप योर्ज अछि।
0:24–0:29ये ब्र०र, अछि। अछि। अछि।
0:29–0:33विलीज आप योर्ज अछि। अछि।
0:33–0:36I sit with the collector morning and evening.
0:36–0:38I remain there for hours.
0:38–0:44Whenever I get up to leave, he stops me, seats me again, and starts another conversation.
0:44–0:50Only then will the people of this village understand who has influence and how far it reaches.
0:50–0:53Very well, brother.
0:53–0:56I shall tell you if the need arises.
0:56–0:59I do not even know the collector's name.
0:59–1:03He has a very long name IAS Prashant.
1:03–1:07Now, who would dare ask him what IAS stands for?
1:07–1:10So everyone simply calls him Prashant.
1:10–1:15IAS is the abbreviation for the Indian Administrative Service.
1:15–1:18It cannot be part of his name.
1:18–1:20Ah, then that must be it.
1:20–1:25That is why it is written beneath his name on the nameplate IAS.
1:25–1:28Very well, brother.
1:28–1:31I shall tell you if I need anything.
1:31–1:39First I must weigh whether I shall receive help or merely hear another story.
1:39–1:41What a remarkable man.
1:41–1:46Last year, when I needed something, he kept saying,
1:46–1:49Why did you not tell me last year?
1:49–1:52Whose work have I not managed to get done?
1:52–1:55But this time there is no possible arrangement.
1:55–2:01You had never asked me for anything before, and now, when you finally have, I cannot manage it.
2:01–2:09That truly torments me. Satyarthi's children are very difficult.
2:09–2:12They never once came back to visit me.
2:12–2:17And today, when they need something, they have come.
2:17–2:21An old memory rises in Bhaskar's mind.
2:21–2:26A friend of his father's, speaking once to a Bengali gentleman.
2:26–2:32Look, Dada. This is Basker, the son of my dearest friend, Sadiarthi.
2:33–2:36But his son was very small.
2:37–2:44This is the same boy. You saw him many years ago, when he was little. Now he has grown up.
2:45–2:48I was saying that his father left nothing for him.
2:48–2:58My own father died in 1960, but in those days he left me 12 cat as of land in town, a house, and a scooter.
2:58–3:05Now, if this boy goes to someone for help, he will be asked, why did you not come last year?
3:05–3:10Behind his back they will say he came only because he needed something.
3:10–3:15People offer less help and demand more accounting.
3:15–3:19That is wrong.
3:19–3:23But when the boy was in difficulty, you should have asked after him.
3:23–3:24You did not.
3:24–3:28Now that he has come to you, you speak in reverse.
3:28–3:33And if he does not come for help, manages the work himself, and that gentleman later
3:33–3:40hears of it, he will arrive as though bestowing a favor and ask, Was the work completed?
3:40–3:42Why did you not tell me?
3:42–3:47The boy will answer, it was completed by God's grace.
3:47–3:53So Dada, whenever someone comes to you with some work, understand that he has not come
3:53–3:54gladly.
3:54–3:57A problem has driven him to your door.
3:57–3:59Help him.
3:59–4:05This lesson that help is most necessary where a person cannot ask for it directly settles
4:05–4:07in Bhaskar's mind.
4:07–4:14In time, unlike Sankarshan, he will put it into practice.
4:14–4:21out. Can you not see that a discussion is in progress?
4:21–4:27Sometime later, when Baskar comes out, Sankarshan also emerges. His back is turned, so they do
4:27–4:33not come face to face. Yet, anyone who hears of the scene will assume Sankarshan is close
4:33–4:36to the collector.
4:36–4:41Tell me, Sankarshan. Where are you coming from?
4:41–4:47Oh, what can I say? But collector Sahid would not let me leave. That is why I
4:47–4:54was delayed. Sometimes one must also endure the insistence of important people.
4:54–4:58Did you happen to meet his stenographer as well?
4:58–5:04No. Though the way out does pass through the stenographer's room. But those people freeze
5:04–5:07with fear in my presence.
5:07–5:14Sankarshan, listen. I shall tell you a story. There were three black dogs, identical in
5:14–5:21color and appearance. They decided to go, one after another, to Mauder's sweet shop and eat
5:21–5:28piping hot jalapees. This is not a story about honor. It is about the sickness of calling an injury an honor.
5:30–5:36The first dog reached Mauder's shop. Seeing him enter, the owner hurled a scale weight at him.
5:36–5:41The poor dog was badly hurt, but hear what he told his companions.
5:41–5:45Well, brother, how was it?
5:45–5:48You are coming back with such a swagger.
5:48–5:53Ah, what can I say? I received tremendous honor.
5:53–5:59They weighed out jalapees for me with their weights, large weights, small weights, every weight they had.
5:59–6:03They kept weighing and serving, weighing and serving.
6:03–6:07Then why should I lag behind in receiving such honor?
6:07–6:11Look, he has come back again.
6:11–6:13Last time I hit him with a scale weight.
6:13–6:19Since even that did not stop him, this was the only remedy left.
6:19–6:22What sort of honor did you receive?
6:22–6:24What can I say?
6:24–6:27They fried piping hot jalapees and fed them to me.
6:27–6:30The owner of Mauder's shop is a wonderful man.
6:30–6:37He kept frying them and feeding them to me, hot from the oil.
6:37–6:39Lord Mahadev is drinking milk.
6:39–6:45Come, let us go and offer him some ourselves.
6:45–6:50drink milk from everyone else's hand. But if I tell people he did not drink from mine,
6:50–6:53they will say I am a sinner, and that is why God refused me.
6:54–7:00Yes, Lutijah, I have lived such a respected life. If Mahadev drank from everyone else's hand,
7:00–7:07he certainly drank from mine too. Lutijah, do not let him escape. Two visits were not enough
7:07–7:16for him. Bring a rope. Bring a stick. You took so long. What honors did they shower upon you?
7:16–7:23enormous honor. They would not let me come away. They kept saying, eat more, eat more. I
7:23–7:28barely escaped with my life, saying that I could eat no more or my stomach would burst.
7:28–7:37You heard the story, Sankarshan. When the collector was driving you out, I was the man
7:37–7:43sitting before him. My back was towards you, so you did not see me. Then you sat for a while
7:43–7:49in the stenographer's room. When you came out, people might well have assumed that you were close
7:49–7:53to the collector. But calling a wound in honor does not heal it.
7:54–8:01Baskar, do not tell the village what you saw. People listen to tales of honor, not humiliation.
8:02–8:05Come. Let us make a puffed rice snack.
8:22–8:27Sankashin. Thank goodness I found you. I was going to knit your carcar,
8:27–8:33but it would take too long to reach him. The little one is terribly ill. Fever, vomiting,
8:33–8:40and diarrhea have all begun at once. Nonsense, you fool. Give the child the juice of the paisage
8:40–8:47thorn. I am going towards the grazing ground to tend the buffaloes. Do not worry. It is a powerful
8:47–8:52medicine, one dose and every illness is finished. Physicians look in books. I understand
8:52–9:01merely by looking at the symptoms. Jayram, what are you bringing from the field boundary?
9:02–9:08What can I say, Karkar? The little one has fever, vomiting, and diarrhea all at once.
9:09–9:12Sankarshan said that if I gave the child the juice of the Passage Thorn,
9:12–9:15every illness would end. I went to fetch it.
9:16–9:22Sankarshan is a dangerous fool. Last year he poured the juice of the Passage Thorn into
9:22–9:28into the pond and killed every fish in it. If you give that poison to the child, the illness
9:28–9:34will not improve, the child will die outright. For one who knows nothing, even silence can
9:34–9:41be medicine. Come, let us go to the pharmacy. I shall get medicine for the child.
9:41–9:52Brother, are you coming from the village? Yes, brother.
9:52–9:56I thought I heard wailing from Jerem's neighborhood.
9:56–9:57Not wailing.
9:57–10:01The village council is sitting at the shrine of the Qadian spirit.
10:01–10:06I have come to summon you.
10:06–10:08I admit my fault.
10:08–10:11From today I shall wear the confi.
10:11–10:15I shall pay the fine by tomorrow evening as well.
10:15–10:22Words released by the tongue can sometimes strike harder than a blow from a hoe.
10:22–10:27For the first time, Samkarshan's vanity produces a concrete consequence.
10:27–10:32Whether the lesson reaches his heart or remains only on his lips will soon become clear.
10:34–10:38Well, look at that. Leave the other work, we are going straight home now.
10:41–10:47Brother Samkarshan, what have you done? You have become a Vaishnav, yet you are carrying fish.
10:47–11:07Oh, Goner! You may be my equal in age, but how did I become your brother? Do you not know that the place where you are standing is called Baba Dogahi? Even a child born here is a Baba in relation to the people of the village. First understand the rules of kinship, then ask your question.
11:07–11:13You are quite right, some Christian. But what I was saying was...
11:13–11:23I gave up eating fish, not killing it. What are you looking at?
11:23–11:29I have written down telephone numbers in this diary. I am searching for one of them.
11:29–11:35And what if the police stop you somewhere on the road and ask what you are carrying?
11:35–11:41What are you saying? Is a person not even allowed to keep telephone numbers?
11:41–11:43That is true.
11:43–11:47But if they ask why you have so many numbers, and you cannot answer, will the police not take
11:47–11:51you for a terrorist and put you in prison?
11:51–11:54Your name will appear in the newspapers.
11:54–11:56Then you will understand.
11:56–11:58How could they arrest me for that?
11:58–12:05I shall tear this diary into pieces and throw it away at once.
12:05–12:10Some cushions baseless, but confident words turn even an innocent man's ordinary habit
12:10–12:12into a source of fear.
12:12–12:30This is the final lesson of the second wave.
12:30–12:33People fail to notice the glow on the young man's face.
12:33–12:36Sankarshan is lustrous black, not dull black.
12:36–12:38He is radiant.
12:38–12:41Bring him another sweet.
12:41–12:44Yes, give me one.
12:44–12:46Families with daughters will form a queue.
12:46–12:48Do not become impatient.
12:48–12:51The matchmaker leaves.
12:51–12:55Another arrives, makes similarly flattering suggestions and goes.
12:55–13:01Such smooth-praised breads through Sankarshan's family the same hunger for prestige that Sankarshan
13:01–13:04spreads outside it.
13:04–13:07A prospective breads family is coming today.
13:07–13:11Loll Kaki telephone from Delhi.
13:11–13:13Then keep sherbet ready.
13:13–13:18It seems all the kagsi lemons have been used up serving sherbet to matchmakers.
13:18–13:22See whether any jambiri lemons remain on the tree.
13:22–13:26Even the lemons have grown tired of hearing suncussion praised.
13:26–13:32My friend, what is your bride like?
13:32–13:35You like her, did you not?
13:35–13:38Yes, yes, brother Jagannath.
13:38–13:40She is very beautiful.
13:40–13:43Have you seen Hema Malini?
13:43–13:45Exactly like her.
13:45–13:49Though her complexion is a little darker than mine.
13:49–13:52I see.
13:52–13:58But her complexion is a little darker than mine.
13:58–14:04My friend, do you people also have to clear Dong early in the morning, as I do?
14:04–14:08Some karshan notices Goner's wife standing nearby.
14:08–14:13If he answers now he may embarrass her, so he walks on without speaking.
14:13–14:18When he returns, he meets Goner alone, and the conversation resumes.
14:18–14:22Brother, in those days one had to pay money for a marriage.
14:22–14:25You must have had to pay as well.
14:25–14:28It must be why you married at an older age.
14:28–14:33Yes, money certainly had to be paid.
14:33–14:36But we did not have to pay anything.
14:36–14:41That is why I do not have to clear dung either, my wife is not so pampered, you see?
14:41–14:45The household runs because I am not pampered.
14:45–14:50The day I become pampered, who will clear away the dung of your vanity.
14:50–14:56That single sentence, the wife's voice from offstage, holds a mirror to Sunker Shun's
14:56–14:58entire vanity.
14:58–15:04Yet he hears it and pretends not to, as though his ears were made only for praise.
15:04–15:08Jaggery is very good for a cold, it clears the congestion.
15:08–15:11Drink tea with jaggery, my friend.
15:11–15:16A few days ago, Goner said that at a pilgrimage he had renounced Jhamni, and therefore
15:16–15:19he continued to eat Jham.
15:19–15:21What harm was there in that?
15:21–15:25Push an argument too far and the whole meaning drowns.
15:25–15:30When I went to Lord Jagannath at Puri last year, I had to give up one fruit, so I gave
15:30–15:32up sugar cane.
15:32–15:35Jaggery is made from sugar cane.
15:35–15:42Give me tea made with that thin Russian beet sugar instead.
15:42–15:43People.
15:43–15:46Listen, everyone.
15:46–15:52Alkaka arranged my marriage, but he never told me that marriage also produces a son.
15:52–15:55My grown son has run away from home.
15:55–15:57What shall I do now?
15:57–16:05I spent my life teaching everyone else, yet I could not teach my own son the road home.
16:05–16:08Most likely he has gone to Delhi.
16:08–16:11Everyone who runs away goes there.
16:11–16:15Now I too must take the road to Delhi to search for my son, and if I do not find
16:15–16:37him, to look for a job for myself.
16:37–16:41would you please give me a little space on the seat?
16:41–16:46Mother, I am no boy. This boy has three boys of his own.
16:46–16:53What is this?
16:53–16:58Sir, these are only bundles of Kasari greens.
16:58–17:04Oh! Do you take me for a fool? Mahansing, tell me what this is.
17:04–17:10It is Ganja, sir. He looks like a Ganja smoker.
17:10–17:16Now tell me, passenger. I never told Mohan Singh that this was Ganja.
17:16–17:23But because it is Ganja, Mohan Singh said so. Do you understand the language of the law or not?
17:23–17:30Sir, they are bundles of greens. My wife packed them as a gift for Lal Kaki.
17:30–17:34Take him to jail. He can explain everything there.
17:34–17:47Tears stream from Sankar Shanzay's. For a moment he remembers the humiliation in the collector's chamber, the tail of the dogs, and the paisage thorn. But the constable is shrewd.
17:47–17:49How much money are you carrying?
17:49–18:04Ah, that is good news. Our friend worries over everything until he nearly bursts. Did you hear? Your son has reached the village.
18:04–18:07Wonderful. Thank God.
18:07–18:13But, son, swear that you will never again play a cruel joke like the one with the passage
18:13–18:15thorn.
18:15–18:18What happened about this joke?
18:18–18:21I am not made for jobs, khaki.
18:21–18:25I swear I shall never again make a joke like the Paisage Thorn Affair.
18:25–18:30What happened on the train was not a matter of human intelligence, it was fate.
18:30–18:34Now let me prepare to return to the village.
18:34–18:37At least see Delhi before you go.
18:37–18:40Visit the Red Fort.
18:40–18:46For the first time, Sankarshan accepts a truth about himself, although he dismisses it as fate.
18:46–19:05He has yet to acknowledge his vanity fully.
19:05–19:08What are you hiding?
19:08–19:11It is beyond your means.
19:11–19:12Tell me.
19:12–19:16What rare treasure are you holding so close?
19:16–19:20I am waiting for the owner of some great motor car, someone who will step out, recognize
19:20–19:25the true quality of these shoes, and pay their proper price.
19:25–19:28Name the price.
19:28–19:30Since you insist, listen.
19:30–19:34They cost 400 rupees.
19:34–19:38I have only 360 rupees.
19:38–19:40I warned you from the beginning.
19:40–19:42Where is your home?
19:42–19:45Jun Kapoor.
19:45–19:47Then we are neighbors.
19:47–19:49Why would I profit from you?
19:49–19:53You will also need 10 rupees for the DTC bus fare.
19:53–19:56Very well, give me 350.
19:56–20:02Even in this age, there are still people like you who value their neighbors.
20:02–20:04Everyone in Delhi is one of our own.
20:04–20:08Even if you spit here, it lands on one of your own people.
20:08–20:12I recognize my own people before I name a price.
20:12–20:17The man who taught lessons and cleverness to everyone in the village is being cheated to
20:17–20:23his face in Delhi's thieves market without realizing it.
20:23–20:27My friend, why are you carrying your shoes in your hands?
20:27–20:31Garner, how can I let water touch them?
20:31–20:34If the skin of my feet rots, new skin will grow.
20:34–20:38But if these shoes rot, where will another pair come from?
20:38–20:43They are a remembrance of Delhi.
20:43–20:46What are you doing, my friend?
20:46–20:49Why are you having such handsome shoes stitched?
20:49–20:52Goner, I was thoroughly cheated.
20:52–20:57Whenever I saw water, I let my feet suffer and lifted the shoes into my hands.
20:57–21:00I cannot have worn them for more than four days.
21:00–21:04Today the entire soul came out of the shoe before my own eyes, like a heart torn out
21:04–21:07of a body.
21:07–21:09Who managed to cheat you?
21:09–21:12Your name is counted among the cleverest of men.
21:12–21:15Friend, what can I say?
21:15–21:20Whenever anyone calls me clever or praises these shoes, I feel as though I shall burst.
21:20–21:24Somehow I shall have them stitched and salvaged what I paid.
21:24–21:29I boasted so much that, being a mathel, I had no equal in cleverness.
21:29–21:32But after the way I was cheated in Delhi, I feel like bowing continually before the
21:32–21:34people there.
21:34–21:38The traders in the thieves' market behind the Red Fort could grind the wisdom of many
21:38–21:41a Mahama Hopadaya into dust.
21:41–21:45And here we are, distributing Bharat Ratnas and then arguing over them.
21:45–21:50The true Bharat Ratnas are behind the Red Fort, not one or two, but in abundance.
21:50–21:57Yet, to tell you the truth, Ghanar, the swindle did not strike the shoe, it struck my pride.
21:57–22:00Bharat Ratnas, all of them.
22:00–22:03Everyone else keeps teasing me about this affair.
22:03–22:07At least you, my friend, do not remind me of it.
22:07–22:11But if you do remember it, say that for the first time Sankarshan did not call being cheated
22:11–22:20an honour.
22:20–22:22Sankarshan is not a distant character.
22:22–22:27He sits in some corner of every village, every city, and every home.
22:27–22:32In the collector's chamber, in the passage thorn, in the punishment of the concy, in
22:32–22:37the question of dung, and in Delhi's thieves market, he did the same thing again and
22:37–22:42again, he called injury honour and being cheated cleverness.
22:42–22:47But the true turning point of this play comes when Sankarshan calls his deception by its
22:47–22:48name for the first time.
22:48–22:52The swindle did not strike the shoe, it struck my pride.
22:52–22:57The admission may seem small, but that single sentence contains more courage than he has
22:57–23:01shown anywhere else in the play.
23:01–23:06A person who recognises his own vanity is not wholly defeated, he has already taken
23:06–23:08the first step towards change.
23:08–23:13Sankarshan's story ends here, but his question remains for the audience.
23:13–23:19Is there also a Sankarshan hidden somewhere within us, forever calling injury honour?
23:19–23:22I was wounded and called it honour.
23:22–23:24I called the soul prestige.
23:24–23:27Now ask yourself, where have I too been cheated today?

Plain text

विलीज अछि। आप दिस्ट्रक्ट अप्ष्वेर, इन विलीज अछि। अछि। अछि। अछि। अछि। अछि। ब्रुदर भासकर, अछि। आप योर्ज अछि। ये ब्र०र, अछि। अछि। अछि। विलीज आप योर्ज अछि। अछि। I sit with the collector morning and evening. I remain there for hours. Whenever I get up to leave, he stops me, seats me again, and starts another conversation. Only then will the people of this village understand who has influence and how far it reaches. Very well, brother. I shall tell you if the need arises. I do not even know the collector's name. He has a very long name IAS Prashant. Now, who would dare ask him what IAS stands for? So everyone simply calls him Prashant. IAS is the abbreviation for the Indian Administrative Service. It cannot be part of his name. Ah, then that must be it. That is why it is written beneath his name on the nameplate IAS. Very well, brother. I shall tell you if I need anything. First I must weigh whether I shall receive help or merely hear another story. What a remarkable man. Last year, when I needed something, he kept saying, Why did you not tell me last year? Whose work have I not managed to get done? But this time there is no possible arrangement. You had never asked me for anything before, and now, when you finally have, I cannot manage it. That truly torments me. Satyarthi's children are very difficult. They never once came back to visit me. And today, when they need something, they have come. An old memory rises in Bhaskar's mind. A friend of his father's, speaking once to a Bengali gentleman. Look, Dada. This is Basker, the son of my dearest friend, Sadiarthi. But his son was very small. This is the same boy. You saw him many years ago, when he was little. Now he has grown up. I was saying that his father left nothing for him. My own father died in 1960, but in those days he left me 12 cat as of land in town, a house, and a scooter. Now, if this boy goes to someone for help, he will be asked, why did you not come last year? Behind his back they will say he came only because he needed something. People offer less help and demand more accounting. That is wrong. But when the boy was in difficulty, you should have asked after him. You did not. Now that he has come to you, you speak in reverse. And if he does not come for help, manages the work himself, and that gentleman later hears of it, he will arrive as though bestowing a favor and ask, Was the work completed? Why did you not tell me? The boy will answer, it was completed by God's grace. So Dada, whenever someone comes to you with some work, understand that he has not come gladly. A problem has driven him to your door. Help him. This lesson that help is most necessary where a person cannot ask for it directly settles in Bhaskar's mind. In time, unlike Sankarshan, he will put it into practice. out. Can you not see that a discussion is in progress? Sometime later, when Baskar comes out, Sankarshan also emerges. His back is turned, so they do not come face to face. Yet, anyone who hears of the scene will assume Sankarshan is close to the collector. Tell me, Sankarshan. Where are you coming from? Oh, what can I say? But collector Sahid would not let me leave. That is why I was delayed. Sometimes one must also endure the insistence of important people. Did you happen to meet his stenographer as well? No. Though the way out does pass through the stenographer's room. But those people freeze with fear in my presence. Sankarshan, listen. I shall tell you a story. There were three black dogs, identical in color and appearance. They decided to go, one after another, to Mauder's sweet shop and eat piping hot jalapees. This is not a story about honor. It is about the sickness of calling an injury an honor. The first dog reached Mauder's shop. Seeing him enter, the owner hurled a scale weight at him. The poor dog was badly hurt, but hear what he told his companions. Well, brother, how was it? You are coming back with such a swagger. Ah, what can I say? I received tremendous honor. They weighed out jalapees for me with their weights, large weights, small weights, every weight they had. They kept weighing and serving, weighing and serving. Then why should I lag behind in receiving such honor? Look, he has come back again. Last time I hit him with a scale weight. Since even that did not stop him, this was the only remedy left. What sort of honor did you receive? What can I say? They fried piping hot jalapees and fed them to me. The owner of Mauder's shop is a wonderful man. He kept frying them and feeding them to me, hot from the oil. Lord Mahadev is drinking milk. Come, let us go and offer him some ourselves. drink milk from everyone else's hand. But if I tell people he did not drink from mine, they will say I am a sinner, and that is why God refused me. Yes, Lutijah, I have lived such a respected life. If Mahadev drank from everyone else's hand, he certainly drank from mine too. Lutijah, do not let him escape. Two visits were not enough for him. Bring a rope. Bring a stick. You took so long. What honors did they shower upon you? enormous honor. They would not let me come away. They kept saying, eat more, eat more. I barely escaped with my life, saying that I could eat no more or my stomach would burst. You heard the story, Sankarshan. When the collector was driving you out, I was the man sitting before him. My back was towards you, so you did not see me. Then you sat for a while in the stenographer's room. When you came out, people might well have assumed that you were close to the collector. But calling a wound in honor does not heal it. Baskar, do not tell the village what you saw. People listen to tales of honor, not humiliation. Come. Let us make a puffed rice snack. Sankashin. Thank goodness I found you. I was going to knit your carcar, but it would take too long to reach him. The little one is terribly ill. Fever, vomiting, and diarrhea have all begun at once. Nonsense, you fool. Give the child the juice of the paisage thorn. I am going towards the grazing ground to tend the buffaloes. Do not worry. It is a powerful medicine, one dose and every illness is finished. Physicians look in books. I understand merely by looking at the symptoms. Jayram, what are you bringing from the field boundary? What can I say, Karkar? The little one has fever, vomiting, and diarrhea all at once. Sankarshan said that if I gave the child the juice of the Passage Thorn, every illness would end. I went to fetch it. Sankarshan is a dangerous fool. Last year he poured the juice of the Passage Thorn into into the pond and killed every fish in it. If you give that poison to the child, the illness will not improve, the child will die outright. For one who knows nothing, even silence can be medicine. Come, let us go to the pharmacy. I shall get medicine for the child. Brother, are you coming from the village? Yes, brother. I thought I heard wailing from Jerem's neighborhood. Not wailing. The village council is sitting at the shrine of the Qadian spirit. I have come to summon you. I admit my fault. From today I shall wear the confi. I shall pay the fine by tomorrow evening as well. Words released by the tongue can sometimes strike harder than a blow from a hoe. For the first time, Samkarshan's vanity produces a concrete consequence. Whether the lesson reaches his heart or remains only on his lips will soon become clear. Well, look at that. Leave the other work, we are going straight home now. Brother Samkarshan, what have you done? You have become a Vaishnav, yet you are carrying fish. Oh, Goner! You may be my equal in age, but how did I become your brother? Do you not know that the place where you are standing is called Baba Dogahi? Even a child born here is a Baba in relation to the people of the village. First understand the rules of kinship, then ask your question. You are quite right, some Christian. But what I was saying was... I gave up eating fish, not killing it. What are you looking at? I have written down telephone numbers in this diary. I am searching for one of them. And what if the police stop you somewhere on the road and ask what you are carrying? What are you saying? Is a person not even allowed to keep telephone numbers? That is true. But if they ask why you have so many numbers, and you cannot answer, will the police not take you for a terrorist and put you in prison? Your name will appear in the newspapers. Then you will understand. How could they arrest me for that? I shall tear this diary into pieces and throw it away at once. Some cushions baseless, but confident words turn even an innocent man's ordinary habit into a source of fear. This is the final lesson of the second wave. People fail to notice the glow on the young man's face. Sankarshan is lustrous black, not dull black. He is radiant. Bring him another sweet. Yes, give me one. Families with daughters will form a queue. Do not become impatient. The matchmaker leaves. Another arrives, makes similarly flattering suggestions and goes. Such smooth-praised breads through Sankarshan's family the same hunger for prestige that Sankarshan spreads outside it. A prospective breads family is coming today. Loll Kaki telephone from Delhi. Then keep sherbet ready. It seems all the kagsi lemons have been used up serving sherbet to matchmakers. See whether any jambiri lemons remain on the tree. Even the lemons have grown tired of hearing suncussion praised. My friend, what is your bride like? You like her, did you not? Yes, yes, brother Jagannath. She is very beautiful. Have you seen Hema Malini? Exactly like her. Though her complexion is a little darker than mine. I see. But her complexion is a little darker than mine. My friend, do you people also have to clear Dong early in the morning, as I do? Some karshan notices Goner's wife standing nearby. If he answers now he may embarrass her, so he walks on without speaking. When he returns, he meets Goner alone, and the conversation resumes. Brother, in those days one had to pay money for a marriage. You must have had to pay as well. It must be why you married at an older age. Yes, money certainly had to be paid. But we did not have to pay anything. That is why I do not have to clear dung either, my wife is not so pampered, you see? The household runs because I am not pampered. The day I become pampered, who will clear away the dung of your vanity. That single sentence, the wife's voice from offstage, holds a mirror to Sunker Shun's entire vanity. Yet he hears it and pretends not to, as though his ears were made only for praise. Jaggery is very good for a cold, it clears the congestion. Drink tea with jaggery, my friend. A few days ago, Goner said that at a pilgrimage he had renounced Jhamni, and therefore he continued to eat Jham. What harm was there in that? Push an argument too far and the whole meaning drowns. When I went to Lord Jagannath at Puri last year, I had to give up one fruit, so I gave up sugar cane. Jaggery is made from sugar cane. Give me tea made with that thin Russian beet sugar instead. People. Listen, everyone. Alkaka arranged my marriage, but he never told me that marriage also produces a son. My grown son has run away from home. What shall I do now? I spent my life teaching everyone else, yet I could not teach my own son the road home. Most likely he has gone to Delhi. Everyone who runs away goes there. Now I too must take the road to Delhi to search for my son, and if I do not find him, to look for a job for myself. would you please give me a little space on the seat? Mother, I am no boy. This boy has three boys of his own. What is this? Sir, these are only bundles of Kasari greens. Oh! Do you take me for a fool? Mahansing, tell me what this is. It is Ganja, sir. He looks like a Ganja smoker. Now tell me, passenger. I never told Mohan Singh that this was Ganja. But because it is Ganja, Mohan Singh said so. Do you understand the language of the law or not? Sir, they are bundles of greens. My wife packed them as a gift for Lal Kaki. Take him to jail. He can explain everything there. Tears stream from Sankar Shanzay's. For a moment he remembers the humiliation in the collector's chamber, the tail of the dogs, and the paisage thorn. But the constable is shrewd. How much money are you carrying? Ah, that is good news. Our friend worries over everything until he nearly bursts. Did you hear? Your son has reached the village. Wonderful. Thank God. But, son, swear that you will never again play a cruel joke like the one with the passage thorn. What happened about this joke? I am not made for jobs, khaki. I swear I shall never again make a joke like the Paisage Thorn Affair. What happened on the train was not a matter of human intelligence, it was fate. Now let me prepare to return to the village. At least see Delhi before you go. Visit the Red Fort. For the first time, Sankarshan accepts a truth about himself, although he dismisses it as fate. He has yet to acknowledge his vanity fully. What are you hiding? It is beyond your means. Tell me. What rare treasure are you holding so close? I am waiting for the owner of some great motor car, someone who will step out, recognize the true quality of these shoes, and pay their proper price. Name the price. Since you insist, listen. They cost 400 rupees. I have only 360 rupees. I warned you from the beginning. Where is your home? Jun Kapoor. Then we are neighbors. Why would I profit from you? You will also need 10 rupees for the DTC bus fare. Very well, give me 350. Even in this age, there are still people like you who value their neighbors. Everyone in Delhi is one of our own. Even if you spit here, it lands on one of your own people. I recognize my own people before I name a price. The man who taught lessons and cleverness to everyone in the village is being cheated to his face in Delhi's thieves market without realizing it. My friend, why are you carrying your shoes in your hands? Garner, how can I let water touch them? If the skin of my feet rots, new skin will grow. But if these shoes rot, where will another pair come from? They are a remembrance of Delhi. What are you doing, my friend? Why are you having such handsome shoes stitched? Goner, I was thoroughly cheated. Whenever I saw water, I let my feet suffer and lifted the shoes into my hands. I cannot have worn them for more than four days. Today the entire soul came out of the shoe before my own eyes, like a heart torn out of a body. Who managed to cheat you? Your name is counted among the cleverest of men. Friend, what can I say? Whenever anyone calls me clever or praises these shoes, I feel as though I shall burst. Somehow I shall have them stitched and salvaged what I paid. I boasted so much that, being a mathel, I had no equal in cleverness. But after the way I was cheated in Delhi, I feel like bowing continually before the people there. The traders in the thieves' market behind the Red Fort could grind the wisdom of many a Mahama Hopadaya into dust. And here we are, distributing Bharat Ratnas and then arguing over them. The true Bharat Ratnas are behind the Red Fort, not one or two, but in abundance. Yet, to tell you the truth, Ghanar, the swindle did not strike the shoe, it struck my pride. Bharat Ratnas, all of them. Everyone else keeps teasing me about this affair. At least you, my friend, do not remind me of it. But if you do remember it, say that for the first time Sankarshan did not call being cheated an honour. Sankarshan is not a distant character. He sits in some corner of every village, every city, and every home. In the collector's chamber, in the passage thorn, in the punishment of the concy, in the question of dung, and in Delhi's thieves market, he did the same thing again and again, he called injury honour and being cheated cleverness. But the true turning point of this play comes when Sankarshan calls his deception by its name for the first time. The swindle did not strike the shoe, it struck my pride. The admission may seem small, but that single sentence contains more courage than he has shown anywhere else in the play. A person who recognises his own vanity is not wholly defeated, he has already taken the first step towards change. Sankarshan's story ends here, but his question remains for the audience. Is there also a Sankarshan hidden somewhere within us, forever calling injury honour? I was wounded and called it honour. I called the soul prestige. Now ask yourself, where have I too been cheated today?

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