Wednesday, May 14, 2008

The father and the son

(Dedicated to a pearl, a Wicked pearl)
Scene 26.
Characters : The son, The guard, some prisoners.
Day/Ext/ In side jail
(The son comes inside the jail. Fourteen different wards have been made in to different rows. With a little scare and bewilderment he walks slowly between the two rows, watching the prisoners and the jail guards. The guard stops at the ward number five. Some prisoners of the ward number five are sitting in premises of the ward. It is a big premises. In side the premises there is a big banyan tree. The gate of the ward is open)
The guard
(With a loud voice) Time is over, I am going to lock the gate.
(All the prisoners enters into the ward one by one. The son looks them carefully)
A prisoner
(Stops and looks the son and then turn to the guard)
It is a new bird?
The guard
(In angry tone) Mind your business.
(The prisoner enters into the ward silently)
(The guard looks to the son)
It is your ward. Foods will be provided to you from the evening, till now you have to wait. Just stay peacefully, do not create problem here.
(The son enters into the ward and the guard locks the gate.)
Cut to…..
Scene 27
Characters : The son, 78 prisoners.
Day/ Int / A big room
(It is a big hall, having two small windows. There is no fans in the hall. Some prisoners are sitting here and there, some are laying on the floor. Some are talking to each-other. It is like a big railway platform. The son feels alone in this un-know crowd. He does not know what to do here. He walks slowly and tries to find out a proper place for him. A short prisoner comes to him)
The short prisoner
You have come today?
The son
Yes.
The short prisoner
What cast you are?
The son

Brahmin.
The short Prisoner
Good! Come to me.
(The son follows him. He leads him to a man, having golden chain in his neck. He is in typical Indian dress—Lungi and Gangi and sitting on bed, the only one bed in the ward.)
The short prisoner
(Looking the golden chain man) Brother, he is a Brahmin.
The golden chain man
(Looking to the son. His eyes were brown)
Have you eaten something or not ? (He looks to a man) Give him something to eat. You have broken a bottle of wine over a man's head?
The son
How do you know it?
The golden chain man
It is the jail. Everything is watched here very keenly. You just see the today's newspaper. All newspapers have covered your crime act and I have been waiting for you since morning.
The son
Why?
(A man brings some local sweets and gives them to the son )
The golden chain man
Eat. You are an aggressive boy, and it is not good for you. How much wine have consumed yesterday night?
The son
Some bottles of beer.
The golden chain man
You will have to stay here for long. Where will you sleep? You can use my bed if you want. It is your first day. You will learn everything. The gate will be open at 5.30 pm. Till now you can enjoy the ward. If you face any problem, just tell me.
The son
Problems ! What problems ?
The golden chain man
It is the central Jail. Are you a student?
The son
Yes!

The golden chain man
What do you read?
The son
Everything.

The golden chain man
What everything. Do you smoke?
The son
History, physics, chemistry, Geography, biology…
The golden chain man
Wait! Wait!!...I am not asking of your subjects…You are in school or college?
The son
school.
The golden chain man
Then you will enter into university…Jail is a big school. It will teach you a lot of lessons. Do you smoke?
The son
No.
The golden chain man
It is good. You body is strong. You do exercise everyday? Smoking make you hollow. You feel free to move here but do not mix-ups with thieves. They will distort your reputation. Here speaks less and understand more.
The son
What crime you have done?
The golden chain man
(Very easily) Just killed two people ! Have you ever killed anyone?
The son
No.
The golden chain man
But you have killing instinct. Do you know how to operate revolver?
The son
I know. In the evening you will eat with me. Do not eat the jail's food. It is not good. Now go and enjoy the ward.
(The son turns and looks to the people who are in side the ward. )
Cut to….

Scene 28 (a)
Character : The son and Prisoners
Day/Ent/Inside the ward.
(Prisoners are sitting here and there. Some are laying on the ground. Some are playing cards. A prisoner is very good singer. He sings a song. It is a love song. The theme of this song is like this…A woman is alone, her husband has gone to far from her to earn money and she is waiting for him. Her nights are more painful than her days. She has strong desire for her husband. All the prisoners comes and sits around the singer. He is singing with real local dialectical sprits. All the prisoners are silent and their minds are moving with the love song. The son stands in a corner and listen this song.)
Cut to..
Scene 28 (b)
Character : The son and Prisoners
Day/Ent/Inside the ward.
(The son is sitting against a wall of the ward. Still prisoners are chatting. A young bearded man comes to him, and gives him a smile.)
The young bearded man
Love affairs?
The son
What love affairs?
The young bearded man
I am sure You involved in fighting due to a girl. All young boys are always ready to fight for girls. What are you thinking? You want to go back and kill your enemy.
The son
You are searching in wrong direction. I am not involved with any girl.
The bearded man
By caste I am a Yadav. I do not believe in cast, but unfortunately whole the crime word is divided on the cast basis. In my gang I well come young boys of all castes.
The son
What you wants from me?
The bearded man
The situation of this jail not good. I have just prepared a letter for the jail authority. I need you sigh.
The son
I do not want to involve in this.
The bearded man
(Giving a page) You just read the letter and think over it.
The son
(Taking the page and reading it.) Sorry I do not understand anything about it. (He returns the page.)
The bearded man
I have been shifted here from another jail, You will know about me a lot of thing latter. See you again.
Cut to…
Scene 29

Characters : The father and the mother
Day/Ext/out side the beautiful house.
(As soon as the father comes to his house with his Jeep, the mother, after listening the sound of Jeep runs to him from the door. She looks to him, but says nothing)
The father
He has been sent to jail. The bail is rejected.
Mother
My son is staying among the criminals !
The father
I tried my best.
The mother
I do want to listen anything. I want my son back.
The father
It will take time.
(He says and advances to the door.)
The mother
(Follow him) You are neither a good husband nor a good father. You have spoiled our life…
The father
Do not eat my head. I am already very much worried.
The mother
How can I tolerate you in this house while my son is in jail?
The father
(Looks her angrily,) You go to hell.
(He turns back and sits on the Jeep and starts it)
The mother
(Angrily) You are a dog…You always escapes …
(The father looks to her and goes away with his Jeep.)
Cut to…

Scene 30
Characters : The son and all the prisoners of the ward.
Evening/ Ent/ in side Ward.
(A jail guard opens the gate. All the prisoners rush to the gate. The son who is sitting against the wall looks to the door. He stands up and advances to the open door. )
The golden chain man
(Coming to the son) How do you feel?
The son
I cannot say.
The golden chain man
The gate is opened for an hour. You can use toilet, because after an hour the gate will be closed and for toilet you will have to wait till morning.
The son
Thanks for your suggestion.
The golden chain man
No need. You were talking to the bearded man?
The son
Yes.
The golden chain man
Do you know he is Yaday, a milkman ?
The son
He told me so.
The golden chain man
You are a Brahmin, So you should not talk to him. He is trying to create disturbance here….Did he ask you to sign over any letter?
The son
Yes, I did not do it.
(Both of them come out of the ward)
The golden chain man
It is good. The jail authority was not ready to accept him in this jail. What would you like to eat tonight?
(Some prisoners from the ward were preparing their material for food. Some are rushing to the three toilets inside the ward number five premises, and some are filling their vacant bottles of water from a pipe. Some prisoners from the other wards are meeting their friends. It seems that it is a village fair.)
The food provided by the jail authority is not good. Rice, pulse and vegetables will be good. We will eat them with ghee.
(He looks around and calls a man)
Make Rice, pulse and vegetables.
(The man goes away)
You can move freely for an hours. I have to meet someone in the next ward. I will see you later.
(He goes out of the premise. The watching the people moves out. A pale boy runs behind him)
The pale boy
Excuse me, Big brother !
(He turns to him, and looks at his pale face.)
Are not going to take your food from canteen?
The son
Food from canteen!
The pale boy
Your food is being made here, Please take your food from canteen and give it to me.
(An old man comes from a different direction)
The old man
No, please provide this food to me.
The son
Are you not taking your food?
The old man
We take, but it is not enough. Please, give me your food, I have spent here four years and anyhow I am managing my food.
The pale boy
(In loud voice, to the old man) You try to catch all the prisoners who do eat jail's food. You go away! I will take his food.
The old man
I am dieing of hunger, you are young, you can exist. Let me eat his food.
(Both of them starts fighting, and some prisoners gathers around them. They provoke them to fight professionally. The son goes away.)
Cut to….

2 comments:

Elsie said...

Alok,

You have been working hard! This flows like a movie. I can't imagine what the prison looks like. Can you add a description? Do you sleep in cells or a common room? How old are the prisoner? Are the children mixed with adults? Can you lie about your caste and get treated better, or is that not done? Did this really happen to you?? You are quite the story teller. I can't imagine where this will go next.

This will make a fanatastic movie. will it ever return to the adult life. I liked the departure backwards after the scene in your Omen and your father.

Good work!!! Do you ever sleep?

:) Lara

Alok Nandan said...

Lara!
I sleep like a dead man. I love sleeping.I can sleep anywhere any time. I close my eyes and sleep. I am feeling sleepy now.
I am highly concentrated over all the activities that was going on around me at that time. I was unable to understand at that time, and did not want to remember them. Now I have an insight, and can see everthing very clearly. do you know deeply about the cast-system of Indian, particulary of India. I think I am touching fundamental elements of this country. Through it one can understand very well about Indian and its social, politcal, economical, religious and cultural system.
I am glad you liked it. Your words
make me realize that I am towards right direction.
Thank you very much for your kind attention.

Alok nandan