Three Plays

by Gurcharan Das

  ACTRESS 3: Fools win wars, not wise men.

  ACTRESS 2: Victory comes with reason and tactics.

  ACTOR 2: Victory comes with courage.

  ACTRESS 1: Courage is blind, said the wise man.

  ACTOR 2: War is blind, said the fool.

  ACTRESS 2: War makes men noble.

  ACTRESS 1: War degrades life.

  ACTRESS 2: Life is an illusion, said the wise man.

  ACTOR 2: Give me more illusions, said the fool.

  ACTRESS 1: Life is sorrow, said the wise man.

  ACTOR 2: Give me more sorrows, said the fool.

  ACTOR 1: Victory is no sorrow or illusion. To victory!

  ACTOR 2: To victory and to the new Rana soon to see the sun!

  ACTRESS 1: Oh Jai!

  (Dance of the sacred cow.)

  ACTRESS 2: The Rani is soon to give birth.

  ACTOR 1: Call a feast of thousand brahmins. Let us celebrate!

  ACTRESS 2: Rani informs her cousin before her husband. Is the Rani giving us an heir?

  ACTRESS 1: Mira is desperate.

  ACTRESS 2: Is she or isn’t she?

  ACTRESS 1: I don’t know.

  ACTRESS 2: Extraordinary! Either she is or she isn’t.

  ACTOR 2: Perhaps we can ask her later.

  ACTRESS 2: No.

  ACTOR 1: Call a feast.

  ACTOR 2: She doesn’t seem well.

  ACTRESS 2: We must find out.

  ACTOR 1: Call the brahmins.

  ACTOR 2: She seems sick. Let’s wait till later.

  ACTOR 1: Ring the bells!

  ACTRESS 1: Stop! There is no son. There is no son.

  There is no son. No. No. Never.

  ACTOR 1: What is happening?

  ACTRESS 2: To be good takes a hundred years; to be bad takes only a day.

  ACTOR 2: I made it up. She didn’t say anything.

  ACTRESS 1: I feel like a monkey with a snake in its paw.

  ACTOR 1: Always the beautiful bird is caught.

  ACTRESS 2: To be good, you have to climb up, to be bad you have to climb down.

  ACTOR 2: She wants to give the Rana a son.

  She wants to very much. So she believes …

  ACTRESS 2: Very strange!

  ACTOR 1: Why did she do it?

  ACTRESS 2: To bring dishonour on Kali.

  ACTOR 1: Prince Jai said it is not her fault.

  ACTRESS 2: Prince Jaimal worries me. Why has he come?

  ACTOR 1: He is a brave fighter. Is Uda jealous?

  9. No More a Lovers’ Quarrel

  ACTRESS 1: Soft music to suggest it’s no longer a lovers’ quarrel. Rana! O Rana!

  ACTOR 1: Yes.

  ACTRESS 1: You are still here? I mean you haven’t gone up … I mean I came … I came to apologize. It was wrong of me to …

  ACTOR 1: Don’t talk about it.

  ACTRESS 1: I make so much trouble for the Rana.

  ACTOR 1: I am tired.

  ACTRESS 1: Don’t go. I want to talk.

  ACTOR 1: It’s late. Go to sleep.

  ACTRESS 1: Can I get you anything?

  ACTOR 1: No.

  ACTRESS 1: Rana …

  ACTOR 1: Tomorrow.

  ACTRESS 1: Can I come upstairs?

  ACTOR 1: No.

  ACTRESS 1: But I’m your wife. What’s wrong? I want to know.

  ACTOR 1: The Rana strikes her.

  ACTRESS 1: Do it again.

  ACTOR 1: He does.

  ACTRESS 1: Tell me what I should do.

  ACTOR 1: Go away.

  (And he shuts his door on her face.)

  ACTRESS 1: Mira looking very hurt, goes and picks up Krishna. She then sprawls on the floor against the same door. She wants to cry but she can’t. She brings up her knees, crosses her arms on them, and puts her face on her arms.

  (Musical transition to hear passage of the night. Dawn music.)

  10. I Live in a Golden Cage

  ACTRESS 1: I must have gone to sleep with you in my arm. What a strange dream I had! There I was in a field and I had a baby in my arms. He had shining black eyes, and a black dress and a black turban.

  (Song of the Black Boy.)

  ACTRESS 1: Mira passes her hand over her belly and takes a deep breath. She looks out at the stars and the mist; she smells the morning, the trees and the grass, then lifts her arms in a sigh.

  ACTRESS 3: Mira? What are you doing at this hour? And look at you with your legs sprawled out like a peasant and your feet facing god.

  ACTRESS 1: Mira self-consciously changes the direction of her feet—away from Kali’s image. Then changes direction again. And again. And again until she has made a full unlady-like turn. Oh Jhali, I can’t help it. I can’t put my feet anywhere because he is everywhere.

  ACTRESS 3: I woke up with a start because I heard the wolves howling. It was black as night. I lit the lamp and went to your room to see if you were safe and asleep. You weren’t there! The bed was smooth and cold and empty.

  ACTRESS 1: I live in a golden cage hung with silk; my food is honey and my drink is milk—but all I want is a nest in a tree.

  ACTRESS 3: Where has the Rani been all night?

  ACTRESS 1: Look at the day. How ecstatic it is! Smell the trees and the grass. And the mist and the wind in the sky …

  ACTRESS 3: There is no morning without a sun.

  ACTRESS 1: Nor a night without a moon.

  ACTRESS 3: You have been to see someone, haven’t you?

  ACTRESS 1: Yes.

  ACTRESS 3: A man?

  ACTRESS 1: Yes.

  ACTRESS 3: Mother, she has a man! A Rani of this house—after all I have done to keep her pure. What if anyone finds out? She also wants to make a liar out of me. I’m an honest woman.

  ACTRESS 1: You can tell the truth.

  ACTRESS 3: If I tell the truth I will be turned out of the house along with you.

  ACTRESS 1: Then do what you like.

  ACTRESS 3: Do what I like? But I am your servant. Oh no! I feel like crying. If the Rana finds out …

  ACTRESS 1: He knows.

  ACTRESS 3: Mother—help me! How did he find out?

  ACTRESS 1: He is the one I came to see.

  ACTRESS 3: He is ‘the man.’ You didn’t go to meet another man?

  ACTRESS 1: No.

  ACTRESS 3: Of merciful Mother! You mean everything is all right? What is the meaning of this? What have you been doing here? And with that doll?

  ACTRESS 1: He is not a doll. I fell asleep here. The Rana didn’t want me. I tried to go up with him but he shut the door on my face.

  ACTRESS 3: Oh no!

  ACTRESS 1: He doesn’t want me anymore.

  ACTRESS 3: No, Mira.

  ACTRESS 1: Love is like a creeper, Jhali; it withers and dies if it has nothing to embrace.

  ACTRESS 3: The Rana didn’t call for you, did he?

  ACTRESS 1: He will never call for me now.

  ACTRESS 3: If you are a proper queen the Rana will call for you.

  ACTRESS 1: I am sitting on the shoulder of a man who is sinking in quicksand.

  ACTRESS 3: If you didn’t go running after him all the time. You wander all over the palace and the streets after him. You’re trembling.

  ACTRESS 1: Will he call me again?

  ACTRESS 3: Do you have fever? I’ll get a blanket.

  ACTRESS 1: I think of my son sometimes, and I get afraid.

  ACTRESS 3: Let’s go in—I’ll make you something hot.

  11. I’ll Go Riding in the Forest

  (Dance of the white horse.)

  ACTRESS 1: Do my hair right. I am feeling hot. Here, take the comb. Feel how smooth my hair is. See how it falls on my shoulders. How it reaches down to my hips.

  ACTRESS 3: The walls have ears.

  ACTRESS 1: My long black hair on my round white hips.

  ACTRESS 3: Mira, we will do your hair later. We will bathe you in milk and dip your hair in curds.

  ACTRESS 2: There is evil in the air.

  ACTOR 1: Is Uda
looking after our guest?

  ACTRESS 2: Prince Jai is only interested in his cousin. Evil entered our house when she didn’t bow to Kali.

  ACTOR 1: You can’t make a horse by chopping a donkey’s ears.

  ACTRESS 2: Doesn’t the Rana care if his wife is barren?

  ACTOR 1: Barren?

  ACTRESS 2: That’s what they say.

  ACTOR 1: Who says?

  ACTRESS 2: She’s been here a long time and people are talking. Of course I am not saying anything. Barren women are always strange.

  ACTOR 1: She has been strange.

  ACTRESS 1: Jhali, make me beautiful. Let my hair flow down like a stream—and I shall go riding in the woods with Rana and Jai.

  ACTOR 2: Yes. I’ll take you for a ride in the forest.

  ACTRESS 1: We’ll go flying among the trees and the animals; we’ll climb hills and descend into cool streams with white horses ahead of us, black ones behind and my hair flying in the clouds. We’ll ride fast in the winds and the cold water of the streams will be nectar to my lips.

  ACTOR 2: She looks so frail.

  ACTRESS 3: No herb will cure love. She never eats anymore since the Rana stopped calling her.

  ACTOR 2: He hasn’t called for a month.

  ACTRESS 3: They’ve spread a rumour that she’s barren. All day she tells me she has let the Rana down.

  ACTOR 2: My cousin was born in the wrong place at the wrong time.

  ACTRESS 1: My head is uncovered. Let me cover my face and my shame.

  ACTOR 2: She is trembling.

  ACTRESS 1: Jai, I am afraid. Let me hold your dry, clean hand. My hand is wet and dirty. My heart is ahead of me again. It pains so much.

  ACTOR 2: My heart is heavy and I can’t bear to see you like this.

  ACTRESS 1: I feel safe with you. Don’t go away. I am going to close my eyes.

  ACTOR 2: Come back to Medta. I shall take care of you. Keep you safe in my arms, away from everyone. I have missed you very much. Since you left Medta, I have been wasting away in the desert. Let’s go away—tonight. We will ride through the forest, and no one will know. If they follow us, we can hide. I’ll take care of you … keep your warm.

  (Clapping dance.)

  ACTRESS 1: Jai, O Jai!

  ACTOR 2: Mira, come!

  ACTRESS 1: Jai, O Jai!

  12. Can You Give Me a Son

  ACTRESS 1: What are you doing? This is my home. Take your hand away from my body. Don’t touch me again.

  ACTOR 2: Oh, Mira.

  ACTRESS 1: Get out!

  ACTOR 2: Jai leaves.

  ACTRESS 1: Krishna says go; Kali says come.

  Krishna, you are all I have left now. Even Jai is gone. I have nowhere to go. What shall I do? I think I’m going to cry. No, I must be brave. Krishna, I never asked you for anything. Can you do something for me? Can you give me a son? I know it’s asking a lot. But what are friends for—especially if they are gods. O please, my dear god …

  (The dance of Krishna.)

  (Song of Krishna.)

  13. Don’t Throw Stones at a Broken Tree

  ACTRESS 2: Better to sink in the sea than among men.

  ACTOR 1: Our sister is still young. She should play and be gay.

  ACTRESS 2: A snake’s poison and a wasp’s sting are better than an unfaithful wife.

  ACTOR 2: Unfaithful wife?

  ACTRESS 2: All day she dances. All night she dances.

  And she sings these vulgar songs. She must have someone inside.

  ACTOR 1: Is it the Prince? Oh Mother, she is going mad …

  ACTRESS 2: This is known to happen to barren women.

  They become possessed of evil spirits.

  ACTOR 1: I have one foot on land and another in water.

  ACTRESS 2: Crows are black all over the world. This is Kali’s revenge.

  ACTOR 1: We must move her to another palace. O my glorious ancestors!

  ACTRESS 2: The Neem tree will not become sweet even if you water it with milk.

  ACTOR 1: Don’t harm her.

  ACTRESS 2: The snake stings the one who helps him out of the fire.

  ACTOR 1: Don’t throw stones at a broken tree.

  (And he leaves.)

  ACTRESS 2: A stain can be washed, only death removes evil. The witch must die.

  14. The Cup of Poison

  ACTRESS 1: Make him come to me. I remember it was dark. No one saw us. We went to a thicket and I was so shy. O, he was flattering. My couch was of leaves but his bed was my bosom. His lips were like nectar to mine. And I was drunk in his embrace. He held me tight, I could hardly breathe. After we were together, I felt sweated and moist, hidden away. I thrilled him so. His half closed eyes became restless and he desired me again.

  ACTRESS 3: You can’t hide love: when one eye meets another eye it somehow slips out.

  ACTRESS 1: Why doesn’t he come to me?

  ACTRESS 3: Let us talk to Krishna—maybe he will help …

  ACTRESS 1: Don’t mention his name!

  ACTRESS 3: You couldn’t be mad if you can scream like that.

  ACTRESS 1: Leave me to my sins.

  ACTRESS 3: Sins! Did I hear correctly?

  ACTRESS 1: Jhali, what does it mean to be attached?

  ACTRESS 3: It is the sweetest and the most painful thing.

  ACTRESS 1: I have the pain and none of the sweetness.

  ACTRESS 3: Who are you attached to?

  ACTRESS 1: Krishna.

  ACTRESS 3: Oh, is that all?

  ACTRESS 1: I want him in a different way.

  ACTRESS 3: I don’t understand you. You mean, you mean …

  ACTRESS 1: Yes, Yes.

  ACTRESS 3: You mean you lust for him?

  ACTRESS 1: Yes.

  ACTRESS 3: While I was driving a tiger from the front, I find a wolf has entered from the back.

  ACTRESS 1: Listen, I will tell you. When I first discovered this, I looked for the best way to endure it. I tried to hide it, I couldn’t. I tried to control it, I couldn’t. I finally decided it was best for me to die.

  ACTRESS 3: Die?

  ACTRESS 1: The sky is high but a woman’s heart leaps higher.

  ACTRESS 3: Are you mad?

  ACTRESS 1: I am going mad with passion.

  ACTRESS 3: Sugar killed the ant; passion killed the woman. (Pause.) How can you feel that way about a god? What arrogance!

  ACTRESS 1: I feel as humble as the earth who kisses the feet of peasants and kings. (Pause.) You are hurting me.

  ACTRESS 3: Keep quiet. A person of few words at least escapes slander.

  ACTRESS 1: Stop, you are smothering me.

  ACTRESS 3: Please don’t go mad!

  ACTRESS 1: I am not going mad, stupid woman.

  ACTRESS 3: Then look at the world clearly.

  ACTRESS 1: To be clear-sighted is to see yourself.

  ACTRESS 3: What do I see?

  ACTRESS 1: Alive, you don’ t see your soul. Dead, you don’ t see your corpse. My soul is the universe. The universe is my lord, Krishna. I am he who I love and he who I love is I.

  ACTRESS 3: Then where is your sin?

  ACTRESS 1: I crave him as a woman and that’s sinful. I want him as a woman.

  ACTRESS 2: Enter Uda with a cup.

  (Dance of the cup.)

  ACTRESS 2: The Rana has sent this medicine for Mira.

  ACTRESS 3: What is it?

  ACTRESS 1: My dear sister has brought me poison to drink.

  ACTRESS 2: It is medicine for the sick.

  ACTRESS 1: If my husband thinks I am sick, then I am.

  Mira takes it from her.

  ACTRESS 3: Don’t drink it.

  ACTRESS 1: I forgive my sister.

  ACTRESS 2: Uda is forgiven by Mira.

  ACTRESS 1: Mira drinks it and finds it nectar.

  (Song of the Cup.)

  Rana sent a cup of poison,

  Mira drank it and laughed.

  Bells on her flying feet,

  Mira drank it and danced away.


  15. Since when is She Mirabai

  ACTOR 1: Three months later.

  ACTOR 2: Sounds of an army in retreat. Jai and Rana are on camelback in the hot desert noon of Rajasthan, returning from the war with the Mughal. The up-and-down rhythm of the camel sets the tempo of the scene. The mood is philosophical.

  (Dance of the camels.)

  ACTOR 1: It is all over my friend, and I feel sad.

  ACTOR 2: Only a battle is lost—not the war.

  ACTOR 1: Fallow ground can be useful; even dead wood is of some use; but a king who has lost a battle is of no use at all. I have fooled myself long enough. If only I had not turned back at least I could have died honourably.

  ACTOR 2: The Rana doesn’t do honour to the Sisodia blood.

  ACTOR 1: You can’t carve rotten wood. We have lost all our men. Don’t speak empty words, Jai. (Pause.)

  Would you believe it if I told you that the only thing I want now is … Mira.

  ACTOR 2: Mira?

  ACTOR 1: I want to go back to her. I miss her.

  (Dance of the creation.)

  ACTOR 2: (Chanting.) Listen:—Brahma took a cluster of bees, gaiety of sunbeams, weeping of clouds, fickleness of wind, timidity of the hare, vanity of the peacock, hardness of stone, sweetness of honey, cruelty of the tiger, the warm glow of fire, coldness of snow, chattering of jays, cooing of the kokila, hypocrisy of the crane, and the fidelity of the rainbird—he put all of these together, made her into a woman, and gave her to man. Eight days later man returned the woman to Brahma lamenting:—‘She chatters all the time, cries for no reason, and is always ill. Take her back.’ Brahma took her back.

  Eight days again passed, and man returned to Brahma with a sigh:—‘Since she left there is no one to sing and dance with me, play with me, glance at me, and cling to me. Give her back.’ And Brahma returned her to man.

  Three days later, man returned crying, ‘I can’t live with her.’

  The story has no ending.

  ACTRESS 3: Many years ago, when Mira was a little girl, she saw marriage procession. She went in and told her grandmother that she too wanted a bridegroom. Her grandmother jokingly took Mira to Krishna’s shrine, pointed to him and said, ‘This is your bridegroom.’

  Since that day she has been very attached to it.

  ACTOR 1: Noble Jai, it’s time you married. What about the Princess Uda? We would be honoured to have you as our brother-in-law.