Cheddikulam, Nellikulam, Madurai Uchipatti. Amma sits in Ammamma’s chair. Seven weeks. Eight weeks.
There are one hundred and thirty-two refugee camps just in India. What is this world? Are we animals or are we citizens? We are parents and children who have never met. Simulacrums. Water and water. Running water …
The sound of baila music. Aacha and two young women in sarees dance onto the stage.
Siddhartha runs and runs.
The stage fills with people dancing.
Radha remains in Aacha’s chair, still and silent.
Siddhartha runs through the audience and leaves.
The music and dance becomes a great hubbub of Sri Lankan life—
SCENE THREE
Milagiriya Avenue, Colombo, 1977.
Apah and Aacha’s house. A wedding.
Nihinsa and a male servant walk through the audience, serving food.
We are on the porch: a thoroughfare between wedding preparations inside the home and the wedding in the front yard. People cross through the space throughout the scene.
At the centre of it all, for the entire scene, radha remains in Aacha’s chair.
A hopper Man (Sri Lankan crepes man) wheels his cart on.
AACHA: எங்க போறாய்? முன் முத்தம் கல்யாணத்துக்கு வாறாக்களுக்கு. சுத்தி அப்பிடியே பின் வழியாப் போய் நிஹின்ஸாவைப் பார். (Hey where are you going? Front yard is for wedding guests. Go round the back and find Nihinsa.)
He turns and goes back the other way.
Has anyone seen my idiot husband?
A young woman enters, carrying a huge garland of flowers.
If you damage those flowers I’ll damage you! Stop giggling! This is a wedding, not a disco at the Blue Elephant!
YOUNG WOMAN: Yes Aacha!
The young woman exits, giggling uncontrollably.
Hasa enters, rushing across the porch.
AACHA: Hasa. Young man come here. / Hasa!
HASA: Aacha, I can’t, my father’s late and wants me to find a man / called—
AACHA: Hasa. Vinsanda can wait. Come here this minute!
Hasa walks back to aacha.
AACHA: Today, Hasa. You understand? The astrologer has looked over your star signs, he confirms that it’s still a good match.
HASA: [smiling] Very good.
AACHA: He says the fourteenth of November, between eleven and two is auspicious—
HASA: So soon?
AACHA: We’ll have the wedding here, of course—
HASA: But Aacha—
AACHA: Trust me Hasa. You are sure on your end, no?
HASA: Of course.
AACHA: Then leave my end up to me. But you must ask her today.
HASA: Yes, Aacha. Thank you. [Beat] I do have to go. My father is running late from Parliament—
AACHA: Apah is running late too—
HASA: He wants me to— the guests—
AACHA: Yes yes yes. Go.
He goes.
AACHA: Bloody Vinsanda, always getting in the way.
YOung thirru enters, with a young woman, swathi. She wears simple clothes.
Thirru! I didn’t except to see you here?
YOUNG THIRRU: I came on the overnight bus, Aacha.
AACHA: Our house is being used for a wedding today. That minister’s son is getting married to a Tamil girl and we’re hosting the wedding here. As if we don’t have enough politics in the house! Now— is Bala okay? Your mother?
YOUNG THIRRU: My family are safe, Aacha. இது என்ர தங்கச்சி ஸ்வாதி. (This is my younger sister, Swathi.)
SWATHI: வணக்கம் அன்ரி . (Hello, Aunty.)
YOUNG THIRRU: கொழும்புக்கு இது தான் முதல் தரம் இவவுக்கு (It’s her first time in Colombo. In the city.)
AACHA: வா வா ஸ்வாதி. உங்கட அண்ணாவால எங்கள் எல்லாருக்கும் பெருமை. பழக்கடை வைச்சிருந்தவற்ற மகன் ஒரு எஞ்சினியர்! (Hello Swathi. Welcome. I’m so proud of your brother— [pinching his cheeks] The fruit seller’s son is an engineer!)
The banana tree man enters.
MALE SERVANT: ලොකු නෝනා, මෙන්න කෙසෙල් ගස් අරං ඇවිල්ලා (Loku nona, the banana tree man is here—)
AACHA: [to banana tree man] எவ்வளவு நேரம் உனக்காகப் பாத்துக் கொண்டு நிக்கிறது? (Why are you so late?) [To MALE SERVANT] ඉස්සරහ ගේට්ටු කණුවල බඳින්න කියපං. මේ! හරියට ගාණට කෙළිං බැන්දෙ නැත්තං මං සතයක් ගෙවන්නෑ! (Tell him to take the stems and tie them around the front gates, okay? And if they are not perfectly straight I will not pay him well!)
MALE SERVANT: හරි ලොකු නෝනා. (Yes, loku nona.)
The banana tree man puts up banana stalks. The male servant watches.
YOUNG THIRRU: Um, Aacha—
Sunil enters with a glass of whiskey.
SUNIL: [to Young THIRRU] Good day. [To AACHA] Good day.
He sits in Apah’s chair.
What a wonderful home.
AACHA: Do I know you?
SUNIL: I don’t believe so, no.
He extends a hand.
Sunil.
Aacha doesn’t take it. He withdraws his hand.
I’m here on the invitation of the government. Diplomatic entourage from India! Today is my first day in Sri Lanka, actually. I’m impressed, far less dusty / than Madras—
AACHA: I don’t care who you’ve been invited by, that’s not your chair. Get up!
Sunil jumps out of the chair.
This is my home, and when you are here, you will do what I say. Your politics don’t carry any weight in my house. Got it?
SUNIL: Understood. It’s a beautiful house, madam. I’m quite jealous!
YOUNG THIRRU: Aacha …
AACHA: Yes?
YOUNG THIRRU: ஸ்வாதி கொஞ்ச நாள் நிக்கலாமா? நான் நாளைக்கு யாழ்ப்பாணம் போகவேணும், ஆனா தங்கச்சி … (Would you mind if Swathi stayed here for a few days? I need to go back to Jaffna tomorrow, but my sister … )
AACHA: Yes?
YOUNG THIRRU: அவவுக்கு இங்க பாதுகாப்பு இருக்குமெண்டு நான் நினைக்கிறன். (I think she’d be safer here. For the time being.)
AACHA: I see.
A bride enters.
BRIDE: Aacha!
AACHA: What is it now Manohari?
BRIDE: I think my hair piece fell off!
AACHA: Moorooha!
BRIDE: I am the bride you know.
AACHA: Go back to your dressing room. I’ll be there in a moment.
BRIDE: [exiting] Aiyo! It’s my wedding day you know, not your wedding day.
AACHA: Of course, Swathi can stay here for as long as she needs to. [To SWATHI] வா பிள்ளை. கல்யாணத்துக்கு இப்பிடி உடுத்துக்கொண்டு நிக்கேலாது.. என்ன சொல்றாய்? (Come darling, we can’t have you looking like that at a wedding now can we?)
Aacha escorts swathi offstage.
SWATHI: அண்ணா … (Brother—)
YOUNG THIRRU: பறவாயில்ல தங்கச்சி … போங்கோ. (It’s okay little sister. Go.)
AACHA: Oh, and Thirru!
YOUNG THIRRU: Yes?
AACHA: Will you do me a favour?
YOUNG THIRRU: Of course.
A
ACHA: Stay here for me, and look out for my idiot husband. I told him, weddings are more important than politics. But does he listen? [To SUNIL] Why are you still here? Go and eat.
SUNIL: Of course madam, in a moment.
Aacha exits with swathi.
Whiskey?
YOUNG THIRRU: No thank you.
Sunil shrugs.
SUNIL: So you know the people of this house?
YOUNG THIRRU: I do.
SUNIL: [looking at his cheap clothes] Obviously you are not part of the family.
YOUNG THIRRU: This house has been my home away from home.
SUNIL: I see.
YOUNG THIRRU: I’m from Jaffna. Thanks to Apah I was educated in Colombo. Now I’m an engineer.
SUNIL: A Jaffna boy, hey? Is that why you seem so … uneasy?
Young thirru turns his attention to sunil.
Come now. How long has it been since the trouble up there? A few days or so?
YOUNG THIRRU: Two days.
SUNIL: Was your family caught up in it?
YOUNG THIRRU: Who are you?
Arif enters with a lot of vattalapam (a Sri Lankan dessert).
ARIF: Kolo! Vattalapam!
The male servant and nihinsa enter.
NIHINSA: අරිෆ්! අනේ බොහොම ස්තූතියි. [To male servant] කොල්ලො, පරිස්සමිං අරං පලයං මේක ඇතුළට. වට්ටන්නෙ එහෙම නෑ හරිද? [She mimes slapping him] ඇහුණ නේද? (Arif! Thank you so much. Boy take that inside and don’t drop it. Do you hear me?)
The male servant carefully and slowly exits with the trays of food.
NIHINSA: Thirru—
YOUNG THIRRU: Nihinsa.
Nihinsa takes Young thirru to a private space. Sunil sits down again in Apah’s chair.
ඇයි මොකද? (What’s wrong?) කියන්න (Tell me.)
NIHINSA: පොඩි මහත්තය … මගේ මිනිහ අද උසාවි යනවා. (My husband goes into the courts today.)
YOUNG THIRRU: දකුණේ කලබල හින්දද? (Because of the troubles down South?)
NIHINSA: එයා ගමේ වමේ කල්ලියක් එක්ක එකතුවෙලා. කතරගම පොලිසියට ගහද්දි එයත් ගිහින්. (He’s quite taken up by this Marxist group in our village. He joined the attack on Katagarama police station.)
YOUNG THIRRU: ආ. (Ah.)
NIHINSA: එයා නිදහස් වෙයිද හිරේ යයිද කියලා අද තමයි දැනගන්නේ. (We find out today if he’ll be set free, or given a sentence.)
YOUNG THIRRU: එහෙමද. (Yes.)
NIHINSA: මගුල්ගෙදර හින්දා මට යන්න බැරි උණා … පොඩි පුතා ඇරියා. තව ටිකකින් ඌ එයි පණිවිඩේ අරන්. පොඩි මහත්තයට පුලුවන්ද … (I can’t be there, because of this wedding. My younger son went instead. He’ll come here soon, to tell me the decision. Could you—)
YOUNG THIRRU: මං හෝදිසියෙන් ඉන්නං. ආවම පැත්තකින් වාඩිකරවලා ඇවිත් නිහින්සට කියන්නම් (I’ll look out for him. I’ll make sure he sits quietly in the corner, then come and find you.)
Nihinsa touches his face affectionately.
NIHINSA: ලොකු උදව්වක්! එතකොට පොඩි මහත්තයගේ පවුලෙ අය? උතුරේ කලබල එක්ක … ? (Thank you, thumbi. And you? With the troubles up North? Is your family okay?)
YOUNG THIRRU: දැනට හොඳින් … (Yes. For now.)
The male servant has only just made it offstage when he drops everything. Nihinsa runs after him and chases him, screaming at him in Sinhala.
Young Thirru notices sunil watching him.
SUNIL: You don’t have to worry, Thirru. I’m separated from all that business. Cleeeeeeany separated. If anything, I’m here to help. We Indian and Sri Lankan Tamils must work together, no? இந்தியத் தமிழரும், இலங்கைத் தமிழரும் இணைந்து தான் செயற்படணும். அனுமான் என்ன தனியா வந்தார்ணு நினைக்கிறியா? (Didn’t Hanuman travel from South India to Jaffna in one godly leap?) [Extends his hand to Young THIRRU] My name is Sunil.
Young Thirru does not take it.
Is there a problem?
YOUNG THIRRU: Why must only ‘Tamils’ hold hands and walk together? ‘Surely Tamils are not the only people in this country who believe in equality?’
SUNIL: Your words, or … ?
YOUNG THIRRU: Apah’s.
SUNIL: They tell me that the famous ‘Apah’ no longer holds the influence he once did—
YOung Radha enters, brightly dressed. Following her is a Middle Eastern man.
YOUNG RADHA: [entering] Whatever you are talking about, whoever you are—
Sunil jumps out of the chair.
—kindly leave my grandfather out of it.
SUNIL: You must be Radha.
YOUNG RADHA: Mister Mahadevan—yes?
SUNIL: Sunil Mahadevan.
YOUNG RADHA: Mister Mahadevan. This is Mister Levi. He has been searching high and low for you.
SUNIL: Mister Levi, my Israeli friend. Wonderful.
Mister LEVI: It’s a pleasure to meet you in person, Mister Mahadevan. I believe we have some business to conduct—
Aacha enters.
AACHA: Any sign of Apah?
YOUNG THIRRU: Not yet Aacha.
Nihinsa enters.
NIHINSA: ලොකු නෝනා … පොඩ්ඩක් කතාකරන්න පුලුවන්ද? (Podi nona? Do you have a moment?)
AACHA: මොකද ළමයෝ? (What’s it about, child?)
NIHINSA: පාර්ලිමේන්තුවෙන් පණිවිඩයක්! (A message from Parliament!)
Nihinsa whispers in aacha’s ear.
AACHA: That bloody Vinsanda!
Aacha exits into the house. Nihinsa follows her.
SUNIL: Interesting.
YOUNG RADHA: Mister Mahadevan. All talk of a political or business matter is to be conducted in the VIP section, in the back yard. My grandmother has a rule about politics in our house.
Sunil and Mister levi look at Young radha.
Off you go!
Sunil and Mister levi exit.
[To Young Thirru] Aacha says you brought Swathi with you?
YOUNG THIRRU: Hello, my mango-stealing friend!
YOUNG RADHA: Well did you?
YOUNG THIRRU: The slope of a vertical line is undefined. True or False?
YOUNG RADHA: Thirru! Is everything okay with your family in Jaffna?
YOUNG THIRRU: There are vector spaces that have infinite dimension. True or false?
YOUNG RADHA: Be serious!
YOUNG THIRRU: I got you!
YOUNG RADHA: No you didn’t. Both your statements are true. Obviously.
YOUNG THIRRU: Okay then. So: Aacha says I brought Swathi with me … ?
YOUNG RADHA: True.
YOUNG THIRRU: Everything is okay with my family in Jaffna … ?
YOUNG RADHA: True.
YOUNG THIRRU: So don’t worry.
YOUNG RADHA: Why did you bring Swathi with you? How long are you staying here?
YOUNG THIRRU: What is the sum of one half, plus one quarter, plus one eighth, plus one sixteenth—
YOUNG RADHA: One night! You’re staying one night?
The male servant enters.
MALE SERVANT: රාධා නෝනා (Radha—)
YOUNG RADHA: ඇයි ඇයි (What’s wrong?)
MALE SERVANT: කවුද හරකෙක් අගමැතිතුමාගේ ඇඟේ වයින් හ
ලලා! (Some idiot spilt wine on the Prime Minister—)
YOUNG RADHA: අයියෝ … ඉතාලියෙන් ගෙන්නපු ඒවා (For goodness sake. It’s foreign wine!) [To THIRRU] I’ll be back.
Young Radha and the male servant exit.
Maithri enters, poorly dressed, clearly out of place.
YOUNG THIRRU: නිහින්සගේ පුතාද? (Are you Nihinsa’s son?)
The boy nods nervously.
එන්න. මෙහෙන් වාඩිවෙන්න (Come. Sit.)
Young Thirru directs maithri to the back.
මෙතනම ඉන්න (Stay there.)
Hasa enters.
HASA: Er— Have you seen Radha?
YOUNG THIRRU: I believe she is cleaning the Prime Minister.
HASA: Right. Right …
Hasa exits. Nihinsa enters.
YOUNG THIRRU: Nihins—
A young woman rushes through with a collection of Hindu ceremonial items. Young Thirru and nihinsa wait. The young woman exits.
Nihinsa rushes to her son.
NIHINSA: ඉක්මනට කියපං. … මොකෝ නඩුකාරහාමුදුරුවෝ කිව්වේ? (Quickly. What did the judge say about my husband?)
Maithri whispers in nihinsa’s ear.
Beat.
Nihinsa takes maithri by the ear, pinching hard.
කාලකන්නියා … මේක උඹේ වැරැද්ද! (Aday! Good for nothing rascal! This is your fault, you know!)
MAITHRI: ආයි … අම්මේ! (Amma! Aiyo!)
NIHINSA: කියපන් ඉතින් … දැන් මොකද කරන්නේ? (What are we going to do now? Eh?)
MAITHRI: ඒ කිව්වේ? (What do you mean?)
NIHNSA: ගිය සතියේ උඹට තිබුනා පැක්ටරිය අයිති මහත්තයා හම්බවෙන්න … කෝ උඹ ගියාද? (Last week, you were supposed to go to the factory owner no? And did you?)
She lets go.
MAITHRI: අම්මේ එදා ලංකාව ඉන්දියාවට ගහලා ලෝක කුසලානේ ගත්තානේ! (That was the day of Sri Lanka’s cricket world cup win over India!)
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