COMRADE KUMBHAKARNA* Written by Ramu Ramanathan For the freedom of Arun Ferieira, Shridhar Srini!a"an# Vernon Gon"a&!e" and K D Rao' CENE 1' An o)enin* s+ene from a p&ay' Mu"i+. Ca"t enters. They rin* bel&". They pro"tate before the audien+e. And then they ho&d u) the curtain' CHORU - ha.e the curtain' Fan the flame' Grind the teeth' tam) your feet. Cea"e your cou*hin*". Your sneezin*"' /our shiftin*". Your whi")erin*"' O audien+e, we wel+ome thee' ,o the Shubh Muhurat of A+t-333' /es, it4" true. In fa+t it i" a matter of fa+t. ,hi" p&ay doe" not ha!e a First or Second A+t. 5ittle son* and dan+e' ,hi" i" the beginnin* of our s)ecia& sho1' We’re on the mo!e. We’re on the go' Comrade Kumbha.arna i" what it wi&& be ca&&ed' ,he title i" unori*ina&, nonetheles" gi!e it a thou*ht. No star-ca"t. No finan+ia& e6)enditure' From start to fini"h, it i" Kumbha.arna Sir' Con+h, et+' *Comrade Kumbhakarna is published in the third edition of हाकारा। hākārā, an online bilingual journal of creative expression published in English and Marathi in January 2018. For performance rights, please contact Ramu Ramanathan on [email protected]. CENE 2' ,he “)&ay within p&ay performan+e” goes on' ,he a+tor s)ea."' A beat. A+tor: My father i" dead' ,hat4" my father4" body down there' ,hey are e6humin* hi" body. ,hey say there’" e!iden+e about him. That he wa" a re!o&utionary' 3 don’t know what re!o&utionary mean". But father4" body i" stin.in*' My twin si"ter (who committed sui+ide; gi!e" me a mo*ra. I smel& the flo1er' ,he stin. from father4" body di"a))ears' 2 | P a g e When I wa" youn* - my twin si"ter (who committed "ui+ide; - and I u"ed to p&ant seed" into the ground. She "aid to me: “5et4" grow money and sa!e our"el!es from )o!erty'9 Whene!er po""ib&e, she p&anted 1<2)ai"e coin" in the *round' Ne6t mornin* we u"ed to wa.e u) and run out"ide, but 1e ne!er became ri+h' Father said- “/ou4&& ne!er become ri+h. The Aryan" wi&& ne!er a&&ow you to become ri+h'9 Mother said, “Don’t feed the boy4" brain" with Aryan rubbi"h'9 Father said- “3t" better he learn" the truth. In"tead of dan+in* and pran+in* on your sta*e'9 Mother said- “What i" wron* with my sta*e=9 Father said- “,here are more li*hts in your p&ay – than in our life. You put ha&o*en" on sta*e - but there’" darknes" in the s&um". Pah. That4" what i" wron* with your p&ay"'9 On cue, Mother started to beat father' Whene!er mother u"ed to beat father, he u"ed to run a1ay' 3t wa" a pattern' One day, I fo&&o1ed him. He c&imbed a stair+a"e and went u) to a terra+e. There 1a" a printin* pres" on the ground floor. Father wou&d +arry printed co)ies to the nearby rai&1ay station where it wou&d be so&d for a few anna"' 3 started to hel) father' He said- “,hi" i" better than bein* an a+tor? No=9 3 | P a g e 3 said- “O.9' He said- “One day, you shou&d be ab&e to write boo." &i.e thi", no=9 3 said- “O.9' He said- “Do you know what i" the name of thi" boo.=9 3 said- “No'9 He said- “3t4" Ra!ana Ka!iyam – a great poem written by Pu&a!ar Kuzhandai'9 3 said- “O.'9 He said- “A fo&&o1er of Periyar Saar'9 3 said- “O.'9 He said- “/ou know Periyar Saar?9 3 said- “No'9 He said- “?ah. Then you know nothin*. Periya Saar wa" the greatest man in thi" country'9 3 said- “O.'9 He said- “Don’t worry. One day, you mu"t become li.e ?eriyar Saar'9 3 said- “O.'9 He said- “For that you mu"t learn to read and write'9 3 said- “O.'9 ,he ne6t day, there wa" a fun+tion. 3 attended it. ,hou"and" of peo)&e in b&a+. shirt"' A bi* saar on sta*e san* a son*' 4 | P a g e 3t wa" a son* about Lord Ra!ana - the strai*htforward and ri*ht thin.in* and nob&e' E!eryone san* a&on* with the bi* saar' 3 wa" ca&&ed on sta*e' 3 wa" gifted a b&a+. shirt. aar to&d me to go to s+hoo&' 3 bo1ed to a photo*ra)h of Lord Ra!ana' When I did so' 3 wa" very ha))y' For the first time in my life I wa" wearin* a shirt. Father and I rea+hed the mar.et. It wa" cro1ded' o we c&imbed into a lorry whi+h wa" fu&& of cabba*es# and tra!el&ed home' When we rea+hed home, mother wa" an*ry' Mother said- “Why i" my son wearin* a b&a+. shirt?9 Father said- “3t i" a gift.9 Mother said- “Don’t corru)t hi" mind with po&iti+"'9 Father said- “Woman, thi" i" not po&iti+", its self-re")ect.9 Mother said- “Why doe" he smel& of cabba*e=9 Father said- “,hat4" becau"e he ate a lot of cabba*e, today'9 My mother said- “3" that so=9 And then she bo6ed my father on hi" head. Father4" brain" po))ed out. My mother shouted, " ho!e your brain" into your headA S+rew them in. You’re on p&anet earth# where e!en the stu)id one" need their brain". For*et a&& thi" po&iti+" and a&&' It4" not goin* to ta.e you 5 | P a g e anywhere. We need food in our stoma+h. Not idea" in your head'@ ayin* so mother step)ed into the ne6t room. She returned with a sto&en chi+.en and to&d father and me to s.in it. We were hun*ry. She said- “ ha&& I coo. you "ome chi+.en and hot sou)=9 ,hat wa" the la"t mea& a&& of u" had' 3 remember the day' 3t wa" the death anni!er"ary of my Taatha' Father made a s)eech. He said- “,oday i" the day Anna Saar died. 1B mi&&ion )eo)&e attended hi" funera&' Your Taatha too. He wa" tra!el&in* on the roof-to) of the Janata E6)res". That4" 1hen your Taatha wa" cru"hed to death'9 3 mi"" my father' My twin si"ter (who committed sui+ide), said to me: 8Don’t mi"" him. It4" pointles" to mi"" anybody, these day"'9 My twin si"ter (who committed sui+ide), a&"o said- “3n any ca"e, how do you know he wa" your father?9 3 said- “What?9 My twin si"ter (who committed sui+ide; said9 Don’t you .no1. There are some peo)&e in our theatre com)any 1ho are their o1n father". Did you know that?9 When I grew o&der I wa" an6iou" becau"e I thou*ht my &ife wa" a fa"t-forward phenomenon. That i", I wou&d Duadru)&e my a*e. My twin si"ter (who committed "ui+ide), said- "3f thi" goe" on, by the time you4re fi!e, youE&& be 1,3GH years o&d'@ ,hat4" o&d na= My twin si"ter (who committed sui+ide), said- “No one 1ou&d marry their dau*hter" to you'9 6 | P a g e Whene!er I get no"ta&*i+ about the pa"t, it brin*" ba+. memories' HaA Our mother say"- “E!eryone in thi" country ha" a )hoto*ra)hi+ memory' Some ju"t don't ha!e fi&m. They ha!e sto))ed manufa+turin* fi&m, you kno1'9 My p&an i" to li!e fore!er - so far, I4!e mana*ed' 3 am more than one la.h years o&d. (Lau*h"; 5a"t ni*ht some drun." came. They wanted to s+rew mother and some of our a+tres"es. When I wo.e u), the men were shoutin*. They said, "/ou, swines of the earth, you’re a tra!el&in* theatre com)any, aren’t you=9 I said, 8/e"9' They said- “How come you’re not tra!el&in*'@ I said, 8 ometimes we perform tooA@ ,hey said we are liar". That a&& a+tor" are liar". 3f I were a liar, I'd be a writer' Becau"e writers tel& the mo"t beautifu& lies' 3 want to ha!e a lar*e co&&ection of lies, whi+h I sha&& "+atter on the road" when we tra!el, here and there. On+e we were tra!el&in*' ,hat wa" the time, my twin si"ter committed sui+ide' he dran. the die"el from the barrel" whi+h wa" meant for the tru+.' he left a sui+ide note – in in!i"ib&e in.' ,he mana*er treated u" to a grand mea&.