The living room has a door leading into the office chamber, behind which is the treatment room which is not visible. The wall separating the office chamber from the treatment room is not all the way to the ceiling. So if the lights come on in the treatment room, the glow can be seen from the front.It is seven o’clock in the evening. Outside there are sounds of a car screeching to a halt. Something out of the car is loaded into a gurney, which is rolled up to the front door. The appropriate sounds of such activity can be heard  inside the house. The doorbell rings shrilly.

A woman in her late twenties comes out of an inner room. She is wearing a sari and a doctor’s white coat over it, and hurries to open the front door. She is beautiful in a serene way. Of light complexion, middle height, straight eyebrows, a full yet shapely nose, and a mouth used to smiling, she is graceful in form and motion.  As soon as she unlocks the door, it bursts open and a gurney bearing a body covered in a blood stained comforter is pushed hard inside by another woman also in her late twenties. The second woman is a well-built girl with an intensity about her. She is darker, with level eyebrows, square jaw and firm chin.

The trolley nudges the first woman who hastily takes a few steps backwards. The two women face each other across the gurney.

First woman:  What! Who the devil is this? What is all this?

Second Woman:  ( pushing the gurney further in, and making the other woman retreat hastily again.) Anna, there’s no time to be lost. I’ll explain everything later. This man has suffered wounds ( probably stab wounds), and he is bleeding heavily. I found him on the road, my headlights picked him up. Almost ran him over. Just take him to the treatment room, and do everything you can to stop the bleeding.  I mean everything. He must live. Call your nurse right now to take him to the treatment room.

Anna: Okay. But you had better explain, Priya. Because this man is bleeding a lot, and may not make it. ( raises her voice calling out to Miss Joseph the nurse, who comes hurrying out from the treatment room. At Anna’s motion, she takes over the gurney and starts rolling it towards the corridor leading to the treatment room.)

Priya:  I’ll tell you everything, I promise. But first I have to get him blood from the blood bank. It’s B positive. He had an ID card in his shirt pocket. Please make out a request to that blood bank in Neem Street. Do that in one of your fake pads, which you use occasionally for med certificates and all that.  Quick. How much blood will he need roughly?

Anna: ( has already entered the office room and  dug out a pad from one of the desk drawers. She scribbles on a page, takes out a rubber stamp from the stamp holder, and presses it to the bottom of the page. She rips out the page, comes of the office and hands it over to Priya.)

Anna: Three bottles should be sufficient, if he survives that is. Better hurry up, his chances of making it depend on how fast you can get it. While on the way better get your facts mustered. If this is a police case, I am out on a limb for you. (she hurries to the treatment room and Priya exits through the front slamming the door.)

End of Scene 1

Scene 2

(Same scene as before, the light is on in the treatment room. Sound of car coming to a screeching halt outside, the slam of a car door. The front door bell rings, and Anna comes out hurrying from the treatment room and opens the front door. Priya comes in carrying a crate of bottles, and both hurry to the treatment room.)

Priya: Is he alive? Is he going to live?

Anna: He is alive. There were two stabs wounds.  One between the ribs, and the other higher up in the chest. That one is life threatening. Looks like vital organs have been missed, but he’s bled too much.

(They disappear into the treatment room and muted indistinct voices are hear that stop after a while. Priya comes out and walks slowly towards the living room. She puts on the light, and  plonks herself down on a sofa. Picks up a magazine stiffly from a side table and rifles through it. The lights dim in the living room.)

End of Scene 2

Scene 3

Same setting as before, Priya is sitting in the sofa staring moodily at the wall. Anna comes up and sits on the sofa opposite Priya.)

Anna: He’s stable now, and the bleeding has been controlled. But he’s s in shock. Pulse is still weak, but BP is good. We need to wait twenty-four hours during which he should continue to improve. Then we can say he is out of danger.

Priya: He must survive. After all, the pains we have taken to save him simply can’t come to naught. That would be disastrous!

Anna: Why? What’s he to you? Time to come clean, Priya. And time to call the police.

Priya: (abruptly, almost shouting) No! No police. That would undo everything, and put this man’s life at risk.

Anna: What do you mean by that? When the police take over, he will be safe and treated in a proper hospital. And he will be out of our hands, which should be our priority right now.

Priya:  I saw this man lying on the street right in front of my car. I managed to stop just short of him. He had blood all over him, and the first thought that came to me was to get him away from there and take him to a hospital. Then it occurred to me that doing that would kill the man as surely as just leaving him there and driving home.

Anna: How’s that?

Priya:  Anna, the nearest hospital is Capital Hospital which is a good fifteen miles from here. Our place was just two kilometres away. Had I gone to the hospital, he would surely have died on the way. And even if he had arrived alive, by the time I could get through the formalities for admission into Casualty he would have collapsed. All his money could not have saved him.

Anna: What do you mean by all his money?

Priya: Didn’t you notice anything about him? Anything at all? I am sure you did.

Anna: Well, he is a rich man for sure. His clothes are certainly designer stuff. Armani, Gucci, Rolex and Rayban, all together in one man. Must be the man. 

Priya: You guessed it! Indeed, he is the man. Wonder why you still haven’t recognised him. He is the one and only Mr Naval Tantra. He’s a wealth star. Owns many hotels, bars and restaurants in town.

Anna: ( takes out her cell phone) I don’t like celebrities. They are best restored to their world of gloss. I am going to call the police.

Priya: ( taking away the phone from Anna)  You’ll do nothing of that sort. Unless you want to put this man’s life at risk. We aren’t saving that man’s life to get him killed, are we?

Anna: You know, half the time I can’t figure what you mean when you are not saying what you mean. I suppose it all comes from being an actor. Always being someone else.

Priya:  That’s the problem, Anna. I am not being able to be someone else no matter how hard I try. And that is deadly for a lousy actress like me.

Anna: (sharply) Never say that! I think you are the best actor I have ever seen, and that means you will never get anywhere in the film or theatre world. And that means, I’ll have to bear with you all my life. Which is what I thank God for, everyday on my knees.

Priya: (with tears in her eyes and a thick voice) Don’t make me cry. That’s the only thing I do well without glycerine. Look, what I am about to say may get both you and I into trouble. We can’t go to the cops now, maybe later.

Anna: I must improve on my uptake. Seems to be a little slow of late.  Why must we not hand over Mr Rich to the law?

Priya: I haven’t told you what happened, as yet. I was driving at my usual sedate speed from the time I left the studio. When I was coasting along that stretch of road between Shankar Market and the Tower crossing ( which you know is a generally deserted piece of road),  I saw our man lying right in the middle of the road. He looked surreal in my headlights. He was soaking in blood around the middle. He was twitching and quivering. He tried to get to his feet. Then he collapsed in a heap.

Anna: There was nobody around ?   

Priya:  Not a soul. At first I thought I would wait till another car came along. But then I realized if more time was lost, this man could be soon be dead. Besides, I could hear the dogs barking and I knew it would be a matter of time before they reached. The dogs know me, so they wouldn’t have touched him. But they would bark their heads off, and come in the way. I had an old comforter lying in the trunk, and I managed to wrap it round the man. He was whimpering, and I had to drag him to the car. Then he started gasping in the most frightening way. Somehow, I managed to pull him into the back seat.

Anna: He is a big man. I wonder how you could get him into the car.

Priya: I don’t know. Somehow I did, though I almost wrenched off my two arms doing so. All I know is that I drove like mad after that, and got him here. And then you took over.

Anna: You certainly saved his life, if he survives. That you found him so soon after he was dumped, got him to the car with what I would say was superhuman energy, drove him at record speed here, then got him blood so quickly as to make a successful transfusion possible at all. Nothing short of a succession of miracles.  All I can say is that you played an angel for him. This was no luck, it was meant to be.

Priya: ( giving a start) Well, we both saved him because you did more than I to give him his chance to live. He should thank heaven for that, along with some earthly gratitude if he has any feelings at all.

Anna: What on earth does that mean? And coming back to my original question, why shouldn’t we get khakhi into this?

Priya: When I was driving here with him, and all the time I was sitting here, I did some thinking.

Anna:  Good Krishna! I knew it. Why can’t I see the light when it comes to you? Why do you have to mean so much to me that I can’t deny you anything? (sighing) All right. Out with it.

Priya: Okay, from now on you are my accomplice. The way I see it is this. Whoever knifed this man left him to die, bleeding to death.  I don’t think this was some hold-up or revenge killing. This was a kidnapping, not by one man but a group. And they were in a car. That I can be sure of given the blood  patterns  and footmarks I saw there. A gang, you could say.

Anna:  You mean they nabbed him to claim a handsome ransom? He was stabbed twice. The first looks inflicted almost tentatively. Maybe to frighten him, or keep him in check. But the second was serious. Meant to wound severely, to kill maybe. Certainly delivered in anger. But the gang idea is good, because he is a big man and he was held, not tied, when he was stabbed. Would require two or more to hold him.

Priya: So it was a gang, And they stabbed him, because he probably wouldn’t play ball.  Maybe some altercation occurred that caused the second assault.  And seeing all that bleeding and knowing he would die, they got scared. So they tossed him outside and fled. Is that a fair reading of the situation?

Anna: Fair enough. But this construction makes it an open-and-shut cop case. So why are we hesitating?

Priya: The people who kidnapped him and then left him to die, fled the scene. They must have gone really far away, to create alibis. Our guy will have seen them, so they would certainly want him dead. They would want to make sure he is dead.

Anna: Those are a lot of assumptions, but I’ll play for a while. How will they make sure?

Priya: They, or at least one of them, will come back in the morning to find out about their victim. They would know the corpse would be discovered by morning, and the police informed. They will make discreet enquiries, try to ascertain the details indirectly from the cops.

Anna: That’s the time they will be in for a shocker. No information with the police, no body in the morgue. So they will ask around if anybody had seen him, moved him somewhere for treatment.

Priya: They will check at nearby hospitals, clinics- quietly. They would know that if the man was receiving medical attention somewhere, he would need a lot of blood. They would check at the blood bank, and find out that someone bought bottles of blood last night. A young woman. They would find out the requisition is fake, and whoever has the man is deliberately hiding his corpse or trying to save him. How does that scenario score?

Anna:  As good as what CIB or a STF could figure out. Good Krishna! Why have you got us into this mess? If they find out that we……They will surely suspect the man has talked, and we too have to be eliminated!

Priya: You do have a vivid sense of imagination, though you are right there. But we have some things on our side too. Nobody saw me rescuing our man, and fetching him here. I am sure the blood bank people won’t recognize me, because I had my face covered and they were not inquisitive. There are a good number of clinics within a 10 km. radius, and they won’t be able to check all of them without drawing serious attention. I have washed the car thoroughly in the night, so no blood stains can be found unless someone goes through it with a microscope. But we must hide our man for some time. Till he recovers, and the trail is cold for the nabbers.

Anna: And where do you suppose we can hide such a hulk of a man?  I can knock him out. I presume you intend to order a coffin. Make sure it is made of balsam or some cheap wood. We aren’t exactly rolling, you know. Get some holes made in it, so he can breathe.

Priya: Coffins are for dead people, Anna. And our wealth star can afford much better accommodation. I am going to let him stay in my room till he is well enough, and it is safe for him to go.

Anna: And where, my dear, do you propose to stay? Certainly not in my room, because you snore like an overhead fighter plane. And a doctor needs all the sleep she can get. Unlike you, she can’t get away by just acting like one. By the way, you seem to be showing a rather unusual interest in this man. He looks old enough to be someone whose feet you should be touching! 

Priya: That was surely an unkind comment. But I am sure you will be humming my praises all day long, once I unfurl my grand plan. I will be staying in the ante-room next to my room. Fortunately, it’s big enough for one to stay for a while, and has a bathroom too. I can keep a close eye on the progress he is making. And playing up to him as well, because he is something I had never hoped to see in my life. A golden goose, no less. And I am not going to let this opportunity go.

Anna: Good Krishna! Do you mean what I think you mean?  Take over as his kidnappers? Hold him to ransom? I know a good place for manacles, shackles, belly chains, handcuffs and fetters. Actually he is my blacksmith. Makes chains for my wriggly and gung-ho patients. My tailor would certainly oblige with gags and blindfolds. And I could talk to my vet friend for a muzzle. 

Priya:  Go ahead. Your facetiousness will require all the restraints you have just mentioned. Maybe I’ll have you committed, and take over your room. Now, if you are done being funny, let me tell you I don’t plan to cash in on his helplessness. But I do intend to cash in on his gratefulness. Just think. We have saved his life, and will continue to play an active role in his well-being and safety. We don’t need to shake him down. If he has any conscience, he will confer his blessings in abundant currency. 

Anna: You are the devil! Outright wicked. You want to play on his emotions, and that’s why you want him in your room. And what’s to stop him from walking out when he’s well enough to do so?  He will simply call for his limousine, hand us a couple of hundreds for the trouble we have taken, and that’s that.

Priya: Diabolical people generally have something up their sleeves. He won’t walk away. He can’t. With the kidnappers still around he cannot afford to resume his old affluent and influential life very quickly. The moment he surfaces they will gun for him, and all his lucre will not bring him luck. His best bet is to lie low with us till all clear is blown, which may take quite some time. And I am going to drive all that into his head, right up to his pia mater!

Anna: But he will be on a missing list from tomorrow onwards, and both cops and robbers will be hunting for him fiercely. So will his own people. He is a wealthy and well-known man, Priya. The search will be intense and thorough.  And sooner or later he will be discovered, and we will be pushed into a cop car by the top of our heads, and from thereon to some dismal six by eight nook to languish on watery oatmeal.

Priya: Nobody will find him.  This guy is a bachelor, and an eccentric. He has no family, only some distant relations. Takes off without telling anybody, for days together.  So no missing report, no cops. Only the bad guys, and they have to search very discreetly. They wouldn’t want to attract any attention to themselves, would they?

Anna: You really seem to have it all figured out. How do you happen to know so much about the man? It’s almost as if you know him intimately.

Priya: Well, as it happens I do know him. Not intimately, of course. Quite some time back, our theatre group was to do a piece on him.  Life in high places sort of thing, with a slant on hotels, restaurants and the like.  I did some research on the guy.  His life-style, his home life, his habits and character quirks.  He is a low-key man, but nothing gets past him. And something else you’d like to hear. He is a generous man, donates to many charitable institutions. We will get taxable income out of him, I am sure.

Anna: Still, I don’t like this. Having a strange man in the house, and that too in your own room! Besides, I run a clinic and people will be in and out here all the time. Someone is bound to catch sight of him, and then things can just break loose.

Priya: I have thought of that, too. I am an actress working for a major theatre company. I have the kind of resources that we will need, to pull this off. We must set up a disguise for him, and I have all the make –up and apparel we need. I can also fabricate a set of false papers, and construct a whole background for him. He will be your distant cousin, visiting you for some treatment you can figure out.

Anna: Good Krishna! You have thought this out quite through and through, haven’t you?  It is almost as if this thing was bound to happen, and had to happen to us. But I wish it could stop here. Get back to where we were last night, before you came back from office.

Priya: Anna, do you remember the day we first met?  Our lives changed. We had never thought that day, that from that day onwards our lives would brighten so much.

Anna: (her eyes dreamy) I can never forget the day I met you! I felt like singing like Julie Andrews. ‘Somewhere in my youth, or childhood. I must have done something good.’

Priya: And on that same day we had together, we thought that one day our worldly lives would take off like a hound unleashed. Heading like an arrow, towards a target that can never elude it. This is our opportunity, Anna. We need this bounce. We will get it, and set ourselves up for a good life.

Anna: You sound as if our hostage will part with all his bank balance to recompense us for saving his life. You know something. Somehow, you have been sounding theatrical all this while. As if you had already thought out all you are saying now, and trying to convince me that you are being most sincere in your convictions. There are some scenes you haven’t played out as yet.

Priya:  In theatre business, you have to be what you are, no matter how kinky, how quirky. If you can do that, people who matter will know what you can be. How far you can be someone else.  Right now, I am trying to exploit a situation. The cards are falling right, so we play to win. And we have a small fortune to win here. Anna. I don’t want you to figure out persons now. Just figure out the situation, and play along.

Anna:  Well. Right now I am going to check on our patient. For all you know he might have given up on us. In which case all your shenanigans and histrionics, and too clever by half machinations will come to naught.

Priya: (half laughing and calling out to Anna’s retreating back )  Hey! Don’t lose my money grail!

End of Scene 3

Scene 4 

( Priya comes out of the treatment room rolling a wheel chair. Mr Naval Tantra is sitting on it. He is wearing hospital scrubs. He looks exhausted and enervated but his head is erect. She moves the wheelchair into her room which is at one end of the house, through the ante –room which is already set up as her room. Her own room (now for the patient) is sparsely furnished. A wardrobe, a medicine cabinet, table and a hospital bed with manual arrangement for Fowler’s position. Anna comes, and together they help the patient onto the bed and arrange a blanket round his legs.)

Mr Tantra: (in a weak voice) Thank you. Can I have a pain killer?  The stitches are hurting.

Anna: They will for a while. Just lie down, and move as little as possible. I will get you a pain killer by and by. Try to sleep. I have put a bell by your side. If you need someone, you can ring that bell. We should be able to hear it all over the house. ( Both Anna and Priya leave the room, close the intervening door and come to the living room.)

Anna: He made it. Could have gone either way.  It will take a few days before he can be ambulatory. I have called in Miss Joseph’s brother to look after him for a few days. He is staying in that room in the backyard.  He is a good cook too.  So he can make soups and broths, and light food for His Majesty.

Priya: You should talk more kindly of him. He has already taken to you. Which is very good.  Being less than effusively amiable, is neither wise nor prudent, you know.

Anna: Why?

Priya:  He’s our ticket to the good life. Remember? I would be pleasant with him, till we get what we want.

Anna: You know there is something in the way you are shaping this, that doesn’t quite look normal. This money thing doesn’t sit well with you. After all, you cannot hope to mulct him for a fortune.

Priya: I don’t like that word. I am not trying to wrest money here. We are talking here of munificence, not extraction. Look, we saved a man’s life in a course of events which could have happened to anyone. We just did what was needed. So far nothing very extra-ordinary has happened. We haven’t gone out of the way to come to this situation, but the significant thing is that this man is very rich. And yes, I put in that extra effort to get him quickly to medical aid, which saved his life. I had to save him because I could not let him die. I just couldn’t!  ( she has raised her voice in some passion, and Anna looks oddly at her.)

Anna: Never mind. I have upset you. Of course he will cough up a handsome reward for us for saving him, and you and I will live richly ever after. In any case, I will ensure that at least he recompenses us for the expenses we have incurred ( and will be incurring) on his account.

Priya: Do you think it was a wise thing to get Ramesh to help out here? After all, we have to keep this totally secret. The less number of people who know, the better.

Anna: We can’t take care of a male invalid by ourselves. He will have to stay put here for some days, and he will have bodily wants that need  male support care. And Ramesh is completely trustworthy. But no one else will know.  Are you getting his disguise stuff today? I feel so dramatic, like I have joined your theatre! He will need some pajamas, tops and inner wear for the moment. Will you put his things-his wallet (how come the kidnappers didn’t take that away?) belt, I-card, shoes, glasses and a ring away? All of that can go into that drawer by his bedside. His sodden clothes and other items of apparel I have kept by. We can get them cleaned later.

Priya: Ok. I will get everything he needs on my way back. Let the cleaning woman do all the rooms, except mine. Tell her we have a serious patient there, and we will be cleaning the room ourselves. Now let me get ready, and get to my studio before I am missed for my takes.

Anna: Suppose somebody comes enquiring about him, what do we say?

Priya: Say nothing. Just politely shoo them away. Besides, I am sure nobody will come to ask here.

Anna: How can you be so sure?

Priya: Just a hunch. The kidnappers will take time to figure out the way we expect them to figure out. By which time the trail will be cold for them. But we must be very careful. Sooner or later, they will come here because we are quite the nearest clinic from where they dumped him. Make no mistake, this gang is pro. Only big thugs go after the very wealthy.

Anna: You seem to be fairly up in villainy. All this cloak and dagger business, part of your standard repertoire?  Seems to be in keeping with the blood and gore you brought in. All in a day’s work, I presume.

Priya: If you are done with your sarcasm, go look after your patient. And don’t let him tell his story, until I come back. And be nice. The nicer you are the more the gratuity. (Anna sighs, and makes a moue of disapproval.)

End of Scene 4

Scene 5

( It is late in the evening, the sound of a car coming to a halt outside, then the ring at the front door. Anna comes hurrying to the door and opens it. Priya enters carrying some packages.)

Anna: I tried to call you in the afternoon, but you wouldn’t answer. A man came enquiring after our patient in a roundabout sort of a way. Can you believe it?

Priya: This is certainly unusual!  If they are reaching out so quickly, it has to mean that they are well organized and clever. What did he want to know?

Anna:  He asked if I had any indoor patients. He looked rough, and was trying to look inside here and there. I had a feeling he knew who was inside.

Priya: That’s ridiculous! For a doctor you have a pretty vivid imagination. But we must be careful. How’s our thrust-upon-us guest? 

Anna: He’s doing extraordinarily well. He’s got a good constitution and is very fit. Recovery is going to be fast. And that’s what I want. If you want that stockpile of wads, you have to start some hectic inveigling at once.

Priya: If you want any part of the bounty, you have to do some wheedling yourself. But first we need to hear his story. Is he awake?

Anna: Awake, and raring to go. He wants to go home and I had quite a time convincing him that he was simply in no condition to move. He was quite rude. And he doesn’t seem to realize that we saved his life, and he should feel some gratitude. Why don’t we simply let him go, and get done with it?

Priya: Have patience. Let me handle him. You simply drum up that he is too weak, and needs to stay out here. Tell him if the stitches open, he will bleed to death. They can get septic too. Just pitch it strong, that’s all.

Anna:  Well. I’ll do the best I can. It’s really up to you to work on him, and at least get him to cough up our expenses. You had better meet him right away, because he thinks you are the boss around here.

( They both head toward Priya’s room and enter. Their patient is sitting up against the elevated backrest. He stares at them as they go to his bedside.)

Mr Tantra: You are Priya. Call me, Naval. I am told you were the one who brought me here.

Priya: Yes. You came in front of my car, and I managed to get you here. You were bleeding profusely. You would not have survived, had Anna and I had not taken emergent measures to give you blood, and close your wounds. 

Naval:  Well. You did save my life. Those rascals had certainly left me for dead. They thought I would be easy meat, and can easily get away with my money. But, thanks to you, I got away instead.

Priya:  Can you tell us how they managed to kidnap you in the first place? After all, people like you would have some security.

Naval: I am sure they did some homework on my movements. They knew I go to visit my golf partner at Royal Park in Kashinagar, every Sunday morning. That place is near mine, so I walk down alone there. They collared me half-way down, tied my wrists behind me and took me blind-folded in some car to some place that smelt terribly musty.

Anna: Did they take you far? Like outside the city.

Naval: Not far at all. Maybe a fifteen minute drive, and then put me in a  place that smelled of so many things. Must have been a store of some sort. And then gave me shot of something, and I lost consciousness.  When I came to I was in that same place, I am sure.

Priya: Did they give you anything to eat at all?

Naval: They gave me some chaat kind of stuff in the afternoon. Tasted a lot like the chaat sold by a food stall in front of Sterling theatre. They put in some kind of masala, their speciality. It gives the concoction they serve an extra zing. I sometimes gorge on street stuff.  Reminds me of my college days. 

Anna: Isn’t the Sterling movie theatre the one near your studio, Priya? It could mean their hangout is near that theatre. But that’s an awfully busy place, and thousands of shops and houses are all around there. 

Priya: What else did you see, or hear? Maybe we could get some leads on their whereabouts.

Anna: Perhaps you would be able to recognize the voices of those who spoke to you. Voices are very distinctive.

Naval: Actually, they had me blindfolded all the time. I could hear some voices constantly in the outer rooms. Sometimes someone shouting directions, but the door was closed and I couldn’t make out what was being said.

Anna: Then what happened? Did they ask for some ransom, or threaten you about anything? Anything they said, which could tell us their motive?

Naval: Oh, their motive was quite clear. They wanted money, and one of them told me the ransom was twenty lakhs. I thought that was rather modest, and I was dealing with a not- so- high profile gang. They were in a hurry too. In fact, I solved their problem for them. Because, I couldn’t stand the blindfold and tied hands anymore.

Priya: You gave them the money? You had that much money with you?

Naval: I am not some kind of ATM! I keep a couple of blank cheques in my wallet. I often donate to charities, and some organisation or the other keeps popping up at odd places and asks me for help. I asked those thugs to take out one of the cheques from my wallet in my back pocket.  I wrote out a cheque for twenty lakhs in the name of one Rakesh something and signed it. They really hurried me into writing the cheque. I think they wanted me to be fuzzy about the name. And then they knocked me out again.

Anna: But surely a cheque can be traced to whoever would cash it?  To one of them.

Priya: Sure it could. But then it would probably have been made out to some third party indirectly associated with them. And by now, that party must have cashed the cheque and closed the account. I wonder if you would be able to get a kidnapping case lodged so clearly with the police. The cops would then have to trace the account holder and catch him. Then through him, trace the kidnappers. Once the victim is found alive and well, the cops would not be so enthusiastic to hunt for kidnappers who got away with what was a paltry sum to the victim.

Naval: Twenty lakhs is not a paltry sum! By the way, how come you are so well versed about cops and robbers and their modus operandi?

Priya: I work in the theatre industry, where I meet all sorts of people. We do research on people from all walks of life. We deal with scripts with all kinds of plots. But tell us what happened next?

Naval: When I recovered consciousness again, they hauled me out of the room and put me in a car. The same car I think, because when rolling it made the same sounds. I was still blind-folded but they had untied my hands. It must have grown dark by then, I think. Then they stopped abruptly somewhere and one of them said. ‘Thanks for the money. Now we will give you something to remember us by.’  I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my side, and I knew I had been stabbed!

Anna: Good Krishna! Why on earth did they do that?

Naval: I felt I was bleeding badly, and then I don’t know what came over me. I lashed out, and spat.  Actually, the blindfolding and the tied hands and the incarceration had set me on edge.  Besides, I had paid the ransom, hadn’t I? So there was no call for them to hurt me. I caught one of them hard on the chin, and he caught my spit as well. Probably he lost his temper. Because, immediately afterwards I felt a much sharper pain higher up my body. This one really hurt, and I felt it could be a mortal blow. Then I heard one of them say, ‘What the hell was that? Why did you knife him again?’ The one who had knifed me said, ‘Sorry, he hit me so hard and spat on me, I couldn’t stop myself.’ They had a door open by then and…..

Priya: (interrupting) What happened then? Did you jump out?

Naval: I had started feeling dizzy. I felt myself dragged out and dumped on the road. I lost consciousness then. After that, all I remember is sensing I lay in the back seat of a car. (he looks at Priya)  Must be your car, I think. Then it was all dark.

Priya: You are sure you never got to see any of them? 

Naval:  How could I? I was blindfolded all the time. Wait! I did see one of them. Momentarily. The face of the one I had hit, who had yanked my blindfold down was glaring at me. I could see his face was hard with rage. Probably he wanted me to see in his face that I was going to pay for it. He was the one who stabbed me. Then the blindfold was back.  They must have taken off the blindfold, when they dropped me on the street and driven off.

Priya: What did he look like? The man who stabbed you?

Naval: Dark and swarthy. Thin nose, and bushy eyebrows. Quite young. Hair combed back tightly. Shiny face. The kind that glistens a little.  Maybe sweat.

Priya: Would you recognize him if you saw him again?

Naval: Probably. It wasn’t a nondescript face.

Priya: What is more important, do you think he would know that you would recognize him if you saw him again?

Naval: Well. I think he would. He knows I got a good look at him.

Priya: That isn’t good at all. You are at risk now. I think the precautions we had planned to take are now absolutely necessary.

Naval: What precautions?  I don’t need any protection if that’s what you mean. I can take care of myself, thank you. In fact, I propose to get back to my house right away.

Priya: I can give you two highly persuasive reasons for you to stay put here. First of all the nature of your wounds are such, any undue  movement can aggravate your situation so much as to endanger your life. A few days more of complete rest here is most advisable.

Anna: As a doctor I endorse most earnestly, what Priya has said. You are still in a most fragile situation. Pushing it can be fatal.

Priya: Secondly, the people who kidnapped you left you for dead. Both Anna and I had figured they would try to reassure themselves that about that. They would make queries to confirm you were dead, because alive you would certainly be a source of danger to them. You have seen one of them, and that man is dangerous and will hunt you out.

Naval: How do you know that? Are you trying to frighten me? If they have got the money, that will be the end of it.

Priya: Your own description makes it clear that he is a violent man. Besides these small gangs are dangerous. They don’t have the clout to have you credibly threatened, or square things up with the cops. They run scared, and make sure by themselves that loose ends are tied up.

Naval: (agitated and trying to sit erect. Then sinks back with a groan and says weakly) I think you are exaggerating, and making this sensational! Which is this world are you living in?  Wonderland?  Perhaps you think you know more than I do. I encountered them, remember? And I know they are just a bunch of amateur crooks. Ridiculous!

Anna: You must not get excited, Naval. You will only harm yourself.

Priya: We do know more than you do. Today, a man came to our clinic enquiring after you. He asked Anna some questions, and from what Anna says he was trying to see inside and looked as if he thought you were inside.

Naval: (raising himself with a jerk on the bed, and with alarm on his face.) Was he the one, the dark one?  He is a bad one, and he is after me. How did he find out? Somebody has told him. I must get out from here, I must! (raising his voice to a shout) Why haven’t you called the police? No, don’t call the police. He will know for sure then. He must be stopped. He’s got a bad knife. You have got to hide me. Is there a basement? We must get this house barricaded. He’s a bad one. I saw his face, he stabbed to kill me. ( He stops speaking, quite overcome.)

Anna: Will you please calm yourself? You are safe here. We won’t let anything happen to you. But you’ve got to listen to us. We have a plan. After three-four days he will give up looking for you here. By then you will be up and about, and able to go about taking your precautionary measures. You can go back home safely. The fact that this hasn’t been reported to the police will convince them that you don’t intend to go any further in this.

Priya: I think Anna is right. I have got a disguise for you. They will never recognize you, On the remote chance they see you and ask about you, you are a cousin of Anna, who has come to visit her for a few days. We will change your hospital bed for a normal bed, and you can wear normal clothes as befitting your role. I have already got those for you, and you can change in a little while.

Naval: What kind of a disguise? I am sure those guys will easily see through it.

Priya:  Don’t forget, I am an actress and have access to disguises that can fool your grandmother. In the kind of get-up I will put you, you can never be the same again. And that’s not meant to be funny.  I am absolutely sure they won’t find you, because they won’t be looking for someone else. That’s you, from now on. Let’s do this now. Anna, will you call Ramesh?

End of Scene 5

Scene 6

(Same scene. Next morning. Priya’s room. Naval is sitting up on the bed. Still moving gingerly to turn the pages of the magazine he is reading, and drinking tea from the cup on the table by his bedside. He is in disguise.  Enter Priya. She is carrying some food in a tray which she sets on the table by the bed side. Naval looks at her, and smiles when she looks at him)

Priya: Hey, are you really Naval?  How was the night?

Naval: Didn’t get much of a sleep. Those stitches are really hurting! I took off the mask and the hair, but still I had nightmares.

Priya:  I hope you were at least yourself in your dreams. You look more composed today. I suppose the disguise is giving you a lot of ease. You look good in it.

Naval: I did some thinking last night, and began to realize I am in safe hands, And as long as you two are looking after me, I am safe. Besides, I have decided to take the advice of Anna, who really is a great doctor. As long as she is around I have nothing to fear.

Priya: I have kept your wallet, watch, belt and your other things in the cabinet behind you. Some money fell out, I counted all the money.  Eight thousand bucks in all in two thousand rupee notes. You will find it all there. Also the remaining cheque which is next to the money. Your phone has probably been taken away by the kidnappers, and if you can give us the number we will try to trace it. Meanwhile, we think you should do without a phone for a while as it might expose your whereabouts to the wrong people.

Naval: Never mind, I will do without a phone. Sometimes I do without  a phone  for days when I don’t want to take or make any calls. It becomes hard for my associates and staff, but they manage in their own way. They find me very eccentric.

Priya:  Perhaps you overdo your eccentricity, to cover up something worse in you. Have you ever loved anyone ? I mean not necessarily in a romantic way, but cared for someone without whom you could not imagine life? Could not bear to exist?

Naval: ( stares at her) Why do you ask such a question? One cannot love to the extent it can destroy you. When someone, or something you love ceases to exist, you have to accept the loss as something that leaves a hole. You have to fill up that hole, or even distance yourself from it so you don’t fall into it.

Priya:  You have not answered my question, just ignored it. For someone who has never experienced the hole, you are throwing out free advice how to confront it.

Naval: I am not the romantic kind. I like my life to be without the distraction of love, just the way it is. Plus at my age, love can hardly be a game-changer.

Priya:  You are not that old. Maybe someday, a different kind of love will come to you and change your life, change your way of thinking. And every day you will wake up wondering how you could be so blessed as to been given this chance to love someone so much. That life has acquired a radiance whose light is blinding you. And then maybe you lose that one, and it’s no hole but impenetrable darkness.

Naval:  Why are you telling me all this?  I am told you are an actress, in theatre. But I live in a real world, and have neither the time nor the inclination to think and reflect on such abstract things.

Priya: I know that. But will you not acknowledge to yourself, that you have been given a second chance in life? Maybe an opportunity for your life to take a new direction? Do things that you have never done before? Or make amends in those instances where you went wrong?

Naval: I intend to resume life as it was, before this……interruption. Yes, I got gypped by some rogues of twenty lakhs, who also caused me grievous bodily harm. And I intend to catch those thugs, and administer my own kind of justice.

Priya: Justice? What do you know of justice? Your kind of justice is not justice. It is simply settling a score. Or buying off someone maybe.

Naval: Think what you like. This conversation in leading neither you nor I anywhere. To some turning point as you say, from where onwards I become someone else. Besides, I am already someone else. Thanks to this disguise of yours!

Priya:  There was a picture in your wallet. Of a little girl. Who is she?

Naval: Is it your profession or upbringing that teaches you to pry? What were you trying to find out? My identity, which you knew from before? Or my worth?

Priya: The photograph fell out of your wallet, so I saw it. I put it back. I get to know people by asking and telling. It’s a continuous learning curve in theatre.

Naval: I am not telling, so please desist from asking. I am beginning to think if we can undo the knowing, we might get to the point where I don’t know you at all.

Priya:  I know she is your daughter, and that you lost her in an accident. That hole I am talking about……..

Naval: (interrupts, anger flashing in his eyes) Shut up! How dare you? I wish it had been someone else who had found me!

(Enter Anna with a food tray. She senses the tension between the two.)

Anna:  What have we here? Some serious difference of opinion?

Naval: Your friend is more than an actress. Perhaps the actress loses out sometimes, and when she is just herself she is very difficult to interact with.

Priya: I am sorry. I go too far sometimes and find it difficult to return. But I always return to my safe haven. Anna. She is my anchor, my light.

( There is a long silence which none of them want to break.)

Anna: I think you are doing really good, Naval. In a few days you will be ready to go home. But you must avoid sudden and strenuous movements for a while. All this will soon pass off as a bad dream.

Naval:  It won’t pass away so easily, Anna. Those people nearly killed me. They got away with my money. I don’t intend to dismiss that as a bad dream. I will hunt them, and find them. Make sure they have some bad dreams too.

Priya: You have a streak of revenge in you, which you pursue even beyond a cause.  It is something I share with you. I too can never forget, and must avenge. Break my transgressor. But I have justice, which I doubt you do.

Naval: ( looking angrily surprised) And I am unjust if  I try to recover my own money, and get back at those who hurt me?

Anna: Good Krishna! I am caught between two who are spoiling for a fight. I have no intention of getting caught in the crossfire. ( kneels down in a mocking fashion) Oh Lord! Forgive them for they know not what they do! ( the tension is broken, and Naval picks up piece of toast to eat. He spears an omelette with the fork and eats a piece with an appreciate air.)

Naval:  Anna. Were you not a healer, I would gladly appoint you as a chef in my best restaurant. You make a delicious omelette. Perhaps you friend too has talents, other than those she displays in drama.

Priya:  Well. I can cook someone’s goose most comprehensively, and I am told I shoot well.

Naval: Well, shooting could be your walk in life. But can you shoot the real thing?

Priya:  I was talking of the real thing. But that is not really a skill. The real ability is can you shoot to kill?  Like in a vendetta climaxing in a duel, twenty paces apart.  Those who seek revenge must know how to exact one.

Anna: Well, I am content if I can be just skilled to save. I have taken the Oath, and while death is familiar to me life is more dear.

Naval: That is a most laudable sentiment. But your friend here is seems inclined to tilt at windmills.  Priya, you are not an adversary. You are a saviour who gives others a second chance.

(Priya turns away her face, and walks out of the room.)

Naval: Your friend is a remarkable woman. She is very intense, and sometimes she scares me. Have I annoyed her in some way? I am afraid I was a little rude with her, but she provoked me.

Anna: Priya is an orphan, She lost her parents late in life. She has made her way all by herself.  Before we met she lived her life alone for many years, and her only companion was Wags.

Naval: Wags?

Anna: Wags. A puppy she found abandoned in a drain, near where she lived. It was a tiny beagle with those large dangling ears, a plump black body streaked with white, a snub nose and snapping black eyes.

Naval: Is that the dog’s picture on the wall?  That’s the only picture on the walls. No pictures of her parents. None of herself, or you, her fellow actors.

Anna:  Yes. That’s Wags. He was her life, and she was Wags’ life. She had him for five years. I never saw him, because I came into Priya’s life afterwards. But I know every bit of him, about him. I have seen more pictures and videos of Wags, than all the movie stars put together. Priya never sees them now. She doesn’t have the strength in her to do that.

Naval: I presume Wags is dead.

Anna: Yes. He died in an accident. In Priya’s arms. Run over by a careless driver. Priya collapsed after that. Just could not revive her spirits anymore. Take an interest, even meaningful cognizance of things and happenings in her life. Then we met. You called her a saviour. She saved me too.

Naval: What?  Were you too kidnapped, and rescued by her?

Anna: (laughing and sobering up immediately) No, of course not! I saw her several times sitting on the shore, and staring out to the sea. I used to go to the beach with some friends, and often found her sitting in exactly the same spot every time. If the sea was calm, I would saunter to the nearest waves and allow myself to be pushed to the shore.

Naval: I always take a coast guard with me. They take you well into the sea and bring you back spluttering, but safe.

Anna: On that day, the sea was rough and the waves were rolling in high and fast. I must have ventured a little too far, because a huge wave dumped loads of water on me. I tried to stand up, but I couldn’t find sand underneath.  And the wave came back pushing hard, and was taking me out. I thought I was gone then. I felt a merciless tug that took hold of my body. Then I felt strong arms round me, and I was drawn swiftly to the shore. She carried me way up the embankment, and sat me high and safe. My limbs were trembling, and the roar of the sea was pounding in my mind. Then she got me a green coconut, and its water was like nectar. I looked into her face and I knew she was for lifetime. And that’s how it has been since then. Shortly thereafter, she moved in with me. From then on I have prayed daily for one thing in my life. That the last thing I see before I close my eyes should be her face.

Naval: She never kept a dog afterwards. Why?

Anna: No. But she is the patron of the dog shelter near her office. I have been there with her several times. You can’t see her there. She is  always covered with dogs, clambering all over her. But she avoids beagles, and when she sees one a terrible look comes over her face. And she cries and chokes, and will never let go of me if I am there.

Naval: All for a dog! 

Anna: (whips back in anger, but doesn’t say a thing. She takes the tray and leaves the room.)

Naval: ( goes to the big framed photograph of a dog and gazes up to it.) 

Anna: ( comes in with a pale face) The man came again. He claimed you are here, though I have created some doubt in their minds about that. He told me they are waiting for you to go back to your house.

Naval: ( looks at her unfazed) Its ok. I too, am ready for them. But I think I must stay here for a day or two more. (he turns back to the picture and keeps gazing at it.)

End of Scene 6

Scene 7

Same setting.

( Next morning in Priya’s room. Naval is sitting up in the bed in a yoga posture. His eyes are open and he is breathing deeply. Enter Priya who goes to the cupboard, opens it and fiddles around for a while inside. Naval comes out of his trance, and  looks at her..)

Priya: I am sorry, for needling you yesterday. Since you propose to leave us shortly we can call a truce.

Naval: Truce? And how long will that truce last?  I get the feeling there is no saying how long our truce will last. I too want to apologize for my behaviour yesterday, which was quite boorish for one so obligated as me.

Priya:  Anna must have told you that the kidnappers haven’t cried off as yet. Perhaps you should stay here for a few days more. Then maybe they will lose interest, and leave you alone. After all they have got what they wanted, and you seem to be inclined towards bygones being bygones.

Naval: How do they know that?  I think you are taking them too lightly. But I will not do so at all. I think I know how to handle them, and soon they will have reason to fear me, not the other way round. But you are not only my saviour, but my benefactor as well. You saved Anna too. It appears you are making a habit of it. But you could not save the one, you had loved most.

(Priya turns her face away and there is silence for a while.)

Naval:  But you must have tried. Oh, I know how much you must have tried!

Priya: ( turns round fiercely) You know nothing. He died I my arms struggling with his pain, fighting to keep life from extinguishing. And I could not do anything, no matter how hard I cried and begged to help me take him to a hospital. No one stopped.  No one.

Naval: You tried. (stares moodily) But I didn’t. And I lost her, and I never found her again because I had erred too grievously. Wherever I go, she is not there. I killed her, and I never got a chance to be forgiven. You were right yesterday. There is a hole, and the only way I can live is to run from it.

Priya: How did she die?

Naval: I never knew that, as long as she lived. And even after that. She fell sick with a mild cough and fever, and I took it lightly. Then she got worse, and still I wouldn’t see her life was threatened. I gave her medicines I thought would get her well in no time. I pampered her with toys, all kinds of things she loved to eat. But I didn’t neglect my work, I neglected her. She never told me that she was feeling worse, day by day. She trusted me utterly, and her eyes told me I was doing my best to make her well. And I, in the vanity of my faith in myself, believed her.

Priya: Why didn’t you call in a doctor? 

Naval: That’s the question that hammers my mind every now and then, and I cannot answer that question. Have you ever made a mistake that you can never explain to yourself?

Priya: What was her illness?

Naval: I never found out. On that day, I had sent the household help away. She was sleeping peacefully when they left. It was a Sunday, and I was home. Then came the call from my colleague, some problem had developed in a restaurant and I was needed. I could have asked him to handle it but the work bug would not let me, and I went. When I returned a few hours later she was still sleeping. But when I tried to wake her up for dinner she wouldn’t. Then suddenly I realized she was unconscious, and a horrible fear came over me. I drove her to the Hospital, and could have crashed a dozen times on the way. I made it, but when she was wheeled away into the ICU I somehow knew it was too late. A couple of hours later they told me they couldn’t revive her. She was only five.

Priya:  What was the cause of death?  Surely they told you that.

Naval: I didn’t ask. And they didn’t tell me anything. They wouldn’t have known themselves. They only tried to save her. When they couldn’t, they just put a sheet over her and told me. And they left, and I was alone in the ICU cabin with my daughter shrouded. Alone with my guilt, with a mind that had lost all thought. Nobody knew of the enormity of my misdoing. They all thought they she had been suddenly taken ill and died before she could get medical attention. The household help was ignorant of what had happened. They all thought I had tried my best, but she had worsened suddenly and could not be saved. 

Priya: You mean to say you never came to know the cause of death?

Naval: She too never knew why she was not getting better. Why she was getting worse. She trusted me absolutely, that I was doing my best for her. In her last days she kept looking at me, as if she was thinking how much suffering she was causing me. And she couldn’t relieve that by getting better. She showed nothing of the pain, and other physical distress that was raging inside. (Naval cries softly with a hand across his face.)

Priya:  Just like my Wags. He too lay gasping for so long in my arms. And the pain in his eyes was not for himself, but of how keenly I would sorrow for him when he went.

Naval:  (looking surprised and aggrieved) How can you compared the two?  I lost a daughter. You lost only a dog!

Priya: (looking equally bewildered) I knew you would turn out this way. Sometimes, I wonder why I took all the trouble to rescue you.  You were better left dying on that lonely road. The fewer the people like you in this world, the better.

Naval: (stung) And I wish I had been saved by anyone but you! Who doesn’t understand the difference between a dog and a daughter.

Priya: (getting angrier) Now I wish it was a dog I had saved instead of you. When I think of how I staggered with you, to get you into the car. Drove at breakneck speed, to bring you here. Drove like a cheetah to get you the blood. Would I have done all that for a dog? Now there is blood on my hands, and I hate myself more than you do! (She buries her head in her hands and cries softly. Enter Anna.)

Anna:  Hate is a more powerful sentiment than love. Love breeds weakness and vulnerability. But Hate, it ignites power and strength. Only it has to be guided in the proper direction. Humanity is the quality that helps you do that.  I find that you two are right on track to serve humanity. But crying is not part of hate, so please dry your tears and use hammers and tongs instead. Please don’t mind me.

Naval: Your friend is all worked up because of me. We seem to keep getting on the wrong side of each other no sooner we warm up in conversation.

Priya:  There’s only one right side for me in this world. And that is Anna’s side. When a thing happens that changes your life forever, you cannot get back to that previous life. You have to begin afresh, and you have no clue how to start. All you can manage is routine and habit. That was what I was doing, when I saw Anna drowning. Anna always says I gave her a second chance, but it was she who gave me a second chance. But I swore I will settle scores with my past.  I haven’t yet. (she walks out of the room)

Naval: I am beginning to understand your friend a little, but I feel this urge to figure her out completely. Unless I do that I cannot leave here.

Anna: Don’t forget those kidnappers, who are still out there to get you. You had better stay here some time more.  I have no desire to stitch you up again.

Naval: You don’t have to. They will not dare attack me again. I think I have their number.

Anna:  How are you sure they will leave you alone? Your optimism is misplaced. You are still at risk. Priya too is of the view that a precipitate departure can lead to bad consequences.

Naval: She said that?  In that case, I suppose I had better think twice.

Anna: You had better add another thought to that.

Naval:  And what might that be?

Anna: Well. We intend to bill you for the expenses incurred and services rendered, and to be rendered. And for that we need to keep you alive. You have not overstayed your welcome, Naval. On the contrary we welcome your overstay. 

Naval: You have an interesting turn of phrase, Anna. Sharp as your scalpel and pointed as your needle. But since you are so solicitous about my health may I caution you too?

Anna: Now don’t tell me you are bankrupt, and intend to impose on us gratis as long as you can!

Naval: No fear of that. But since you have saved me, sheltered me and are covering up for me, the kidnappers might think of diverting some of their dread intentions towards you. In which case, you too may be at risk. 

Anna: Good Krishna!  Now that’s a thought!

Naval: Not to worry. As I told you I have the measure of these man-lifters, so leave it to me. You just continue your practice, and let your friend keep peddling her histrionics. It is quite possible my adversaries today might become your patients tomorrow. Here, take this disguise and give it to your friend. She needs it more than I do. ( Anna puts the wig and mask on herself and leaves.)

Naval: (Goes to the dog’s picture and gazes at it)

End of Scene 7

Scene 8

Same setting.

(Priya’s room. Next morning. Naval is sitting up in bed having his breakfast and sipping tea. Priya enters and sits down on a chair near Naval who observes her keenly for a few moments.)

Naval: I am sorry. I feel awkward staying in your room. Perhaps I can shift to the living room, or some other place.

Priya: (turning her face to him)  At present we think it best that you stay in this room. It’s the most accessible. To the kitchen, the treatment room and Ramesh. Despite how well you may think you have become, you are not out of the woods as yet. And I mean that in more ways than one.

Naval:  Don’t you have any work today?

Priya: Well. Don’t you? You seem to be unfazed by the fact that you are virtually cut off from your business world, and profits must be plunging. To answer your question, I have no work at present. So feel free to call on me any time.

Naval: I didn’t mean to suggest you are playing hooky. As for myself, these few days I feel my mind has forgotten to think in its usual ways. Some new thoughts have gotten access, and I am trying to adjust.  Figure out where they sit with my old thoughts. 

Priya:  So you have some new recipes to play with. But most people are not gourmets. They like to be served the regular fare.

Naval: I know. Business thoughts have always come so readily to me. I have almost never been at a loss. That’s because objectives are so clear in commerce, if you are good in it you invariably know what to do. Minds like prices have to be regulated, controlled. Free falls won’t do.

Priya: When I play some role, I need to figure out what a person like that would normally think, do. But suppose he or she had to be different, change because something eventful has occurred, some game-changer has intervened if you will. Then my performance falters, and I find myself slipping back into a stereotype.

Naval:  That’s exactly what I feel. These unfamiliar thoughts are pushing me to get back to my usual self, but I cannot. My distractions are pulling me to places where I am nervous to go. Fluctuating moods are telling me there are things beyond thoughts, whole body feelings that want to carry you away.

Priya: That is what I learn’t from Wags. ( she sighs and falls silent)

Naval: (impulsively) Tell me about him.

Priya:  When I saw him, he was lying in a gutter hardly larger than my palm. I could have missed him easily. I feel dizzy when I think of that. I gathered him in my hands, and he was stretching feebly, all trembly and making mewling sounds one could hardly hear. A warm fluttering body with stick bones. I took him home, and stood him on a rug. He took a few steps like a blind man without a stick. But when I fed him a few drops of milk, a long pink tongue came out a little as if wondering what was this thing drooling on it, that was tasting so good. (she is silent for a while, a faraway look in her eyes.) And then he raised his head and looked at me. Those eyes so trustful, grateful perhaps. A look that somehow knew she would never see her mother again. That moment was one I knew I would feel just that once in my lifetime. And if I had not lived years before that, and would not live years after, that moment would be enough.   

Naval: Perhaps my daughter too when she was born, might have looked at me like that. But I must not have looked back, and only thought how that tiny thing was only mine now. She too must have somehow known she would never see her mother, because my wife collapsed in childbirth. 

Priya:  I tried to find his mother. For days. Ventured far afield, but could not find her. Probably he was snatched from her, and she never knew. Who was that who was still on earth, could leave him in a drain? How could one live on after doing that?

Naval:  Maybe the mother died soon after birth, and had crawled away from what had killed her. She had passed on her life to the puppy. That’s what we do, we pass life on without thinking who will take care of that life.

Priya: You are wrong. Life finds her own ways to survive. Or else we would all be extinct by now. I have always felt I was destined to find Wags, even chance has her designs and brought him to me.

Naval:  My daughter came to me, whether chance or not. I was given her but I did not receive. I think that was where I went wrong.  I was for ever giving her things, never tried to receive. I never came to know her, and so I could not save her. You know what, this is what I thought just yesterday. Why did it not come to me long ago when she was alive, and always looking at me as if I was her world? I have got a second chance to live, but I never gave her a chance to live.  I thought I was giving her everything, and that was more than enough to live.

Priya:  My Wags never got a second chance to live. The man who cut her down could have saved her, but didn’t. Because he never knew what it was to save a life. He only knew he could take a life. He felt that no life was so precious, that one could not settle its price. For him life was just breathing, and anything that stopped breathing should be discarded and……….

Naval: And?

Priya: (looking squarely at him) And replaced. Like anything that had stopped working. Like a typewriter or a micro-oven. Two thousand bucks was what he threw at me and said, ‘Get another dog.’

Naval: My kidnappers too had a price for me. But they wouldn’t stop trying to take my life, even though I paid the price. When they left me dying in the dust, I was still alive. Like Wags.

Priya: (fiercely) But you got a second chance! And you had the money to save your life too. My Wags had nothing but love. Every day he gave me that love freely, it was inexhaustible. He took all my love and gave me back tenfold. And in the end, somebody just took it away from me, and gave me two thousand bucks! (Enter Anna holding a newspaper in her hand. She looks at one, and then at the other.)

Anna: ( speaking to Naval) I have brought you today’s newspaper. Your photo has taken quite a piece of the front page! It’s an ad with a big picture of you in it. And you are declared missing!

Naval: (grabbing the newspaper and scanning it.) What—-Who the hell has done this?  It cannot be my people. Of that I am sure.

Anna: How can you be? You have been incommunicado for four days, and your staff must surely have been making strenuous queries about you. And drawing blank, have finally inserted this ad. Good Lord! They must have informed the cops too. Now we have well and truly become kidnappers!

Naval: You are being dramatic. Staying with your friend here it had to happen, I suppose. Wait, there’s a phone number given at the bottom. Whoever has any news of me can ring this number,

Priya:  I have already done that. It is switched off.  Perhaps it’s the real kidnappers. They want to flush you out.

Naval: Or perhaps they want me to stay put, wherever I am.

Anna:  Why would they want to do that? They want to flush you out into the open.  Then you become an accessible target.

Naval: I don’t know. A few days back I caught one of my restaurant managers yelling at a customer, that if he didn’t like the food he could go to the restaurant across the road. And actually telling him they serve better food. That restaurant belongs to my arch rival in the industry. I fired him, of course. A few days later I found he was working in that restaurant across the street.  He had joined the day after he was fired.

Anna: What does all that have to do with this kidnapping?

Naval: In the aftermath of the virus, my rivals have gone bankrupt. They want to sell off, and I wanted to buy. But they didn’t want to sell to me. They started spying on me, my restaurants. They have also been trying to harm my business interests. Get me out of the market. They could well have arranged my kidnapping. First to frighten me, then thinking if I were dead, it would be even better for them. Since they didn’t succeed, they want me to keep running scared.

Priya:  If what you say turns out to be correct, then these kidnappers are backed by powerful people. All the more reason then, that you should avoid them and stop thinking of retaliatory moves.

Naval: You are right, but then I am certainly not going to send the rest of my life looking behind bushes. I think it’s time to take a call on my present situation. I am beginning to realize too that my stay here is putting you two at risk.

Priya:  I think we are quite capable of taking care of ourselves. Besides, the kidnappers don’t want us. They want you.  But the newspaper ad shows they don’t have a clue where you are. They are shooting in the dark and will soon give up the chase.                                                                                     

Naval: You are wrong. The kidnappers know perfectly well where I am. What they are not aware of is, that I know that they know. I can feel that this is heading for a showdown fast, and you two are plumb in the middle of it. I am in danger because I get the feeling I still haven’t paid the ransom in full. But whatever happens I can safely promise that you Anna, you will not come to any harm.

Anna: You seem to be knowing more about the kidnappers than we do. But in my book, kidnappers are always a nasty lot and can never be trusted. Especially those with knives. (she shivers)

Priya:  Knives are not the only weapons that kill.  People can kill without weapons. Some do the deed with many tears, and some without a sigh. For each man kills the thing he loves, yet each man does not die.

Naval: That sounds familiar. Is it some poem?

Priya:  Yes. And I think those lines should have adorned those embroidered menus of your haute cuisine restaurants.

Naval:  You are an enigmatic girl, Priya. You are an actress, a friend to die for, a lover of animals, a saviour of men. And an avenger. I wonder, which of those roles fit you best. And here I am, an unwanted guest hiding craven from assailants, salvaged from dust to which I can soon be returned.

Anna: One thing I can say, you are way out of your normal life. But you will get back to it. Things that change, mostly get changed back sooner or later.

Naval:  Of late I have had thoughts that have led me to places I had never been before. Perhaps the near shave with death has triggered off these thoughts. These thoughts lead nowhere. But I sense that they are changing familiar things on the way, which can never be the same any more.

Priya: We change because of what we do or experience. Your near death experience has led you to thoughts on mortality and the meaning of life. Really, both are meaningless questions not worthy of pursuance. What you do hereafter is important. And that depends on what you want to do to make up for the things you did differently, sometimes so terribly wrong. You want to atone, and you have been given a second chance to do so.  Should you fail, then that second chance may be snatched away by one who may be waiting in the wings even now. In the good old days they did penance. Even the Gods were moved by penance, and granted boons to the penitent.   

Naval:  But there are people out there who are hunting me, want to convert my near death experience to the real thing. That’s a ‘death wish’ I can live without. And talking about the right thing to do, that is making sure they are not in a position to hurt me ever. Apart from seeking to take my life they are also after my business, and they need to be wronged for the wrongs that they have committed.

Priya: I understand why you feel so vengeful about your kidnappers. That is what I felt when that monster ran over Wags, and wouldn’t stop to render the help that would have saved Wags’ life. That man tried to teach me a lesson that money can buy everything. At that moment, had I the means, I would have slipped a knife into him. And left him dying on that road.

Naval: I think you lost something valuable that day, and I………….

Priya: ( turning viciously on Naval)  Valuable! I am not surprised! Just the word you would use. Perhaps you hushed up the doctors that day. When you, sure as a murderous knife, did your daughter to death. How much was that worth?

Naval: ( face congested with rage, raises a hand to strike Priya.)  How dare you! I had rather died on that road, than to have been saved by you. You have never known what it is to love a child!

Priya: Did you? Wags was much more than a child. He was a brightness I experienced daily.  Nothing could make me despair, or sink to misery or wretchedness because he was there. (Priya walks to the picture on the wall and gazes at it.) Every morning would open on him. And one look at him was enough to make me feel that I was in the presence of one who was happiness itself. Every night he pushed his warm back against mine and slept, and that warmth was a joy that lulled me to sleep. I have never slept peacefully since then. (She pauses and wipes eyes.) And when I sat him on my lap, and brushed him and rubbed his tummy, he told me with his eyes he was feeling so good!  I could have held him in my arms forever. Like every moment was sacred, and I must hold on to it as long as I could. He never ate unless I fed him the first mouthful. And for every morsel he ate with his tender mouth, I felt blessed. And he would be sitting at the door, when I came back from work. Then clamber all over me, and lick my face till I lifted him into my arms and carried him into the house. (She turned to Naval with tears in her eyes, and looked him straight in the eye.)  Wags was beyond worth, Naval. Like your daughter. No price can ever be reckoned for love and innocence. But the steepest price can be exacted for their loss, and I can kill for that.  (Anna goes and puts her arm round Priya.)

Anna: And I would cheerfully take that blame on myself. You leave him to me, because I cannot lose you. Just get that man laid out on my table, and I swear I will give skip my oath that day. But enough of death and destruction, we have done what we had to do. All that is left now is to get Naval safely out of this house, and back to his own life. This act has gone far enough, and it’s time to draw curtains.

Naval: I am afraid, Anna, this act hasn’t quite gone all the way. Besides,  the curtain doesn’t fall when the main protagonist has yet to come to centre stage. Priya here is an actress par excellence, and who other than her can have the honour of  presenting the denouement?

Anna: What denouement? Your role in this play is over, and it’s time for you leave the stage. Take a bow, Naval.

Naval:  Not so fast, Anna. You and I are but players, would you not like to know who scripted the play? You have no clue what has been going on behind the scenes. You and I have been led by the nose by your precious friend here. But I will now force her hand, and expose how she has betrayed you, taken advantage of your guileless nature.

Anna:  Stop it! How can you say that!  Have you forgotten she saved you from a wretched death? You owe her your life!

Naval: But what you don’t know is that she was saving me for herself. She is the kidnapper, Anna. She, along with others, who are probably her fellow actors. It is they who are behind this entire drama of kidnapping, but it was real. I was taken for two purposes.

Anna: (bewildered)  Good Krishna! Are you out of your mind? I am sure you didn’t have internal head injuries, so this is some swindling act you have devised to get out of your debt.

Naval: I am in debt to you, Anna. But not to her. She almost had me killed, though in not quite the way she had planned it. Let me unravel the web of deceit she created, the mesh she wove to get me into her clutches. (He turns to Priya, who is looking at him unperturbed) A little discrepancy drew me to you in the beginning. You said you saw me lying in the middle of the road, and your headlights picked me up. It couldn’t have happened that way. When I was dumped, they had carried me beyond the edge of the road so that no headlight could discover me. They wanted to make sure that only you ‘rescued’ me, and no other. You couldn’t have carried me single-handedly to your car. I am a big and heavy man. You had help. One of the kidnappers had stayed behind to help. You knew I would be unconscious, and even if was only half conscious you would have contrived to put me to ‘sleep’ till we reached the clinic. When I was in the backseat of your car, I was experiencing momentary spells of awareness, and I can swear that there was someone sitting beside you in the car.’ (he looks at Priya for confirmation. She looks back at him expressionless)

Priya:  Carry on with your story. I hope you have the nerve to hear mine, after you have finished. You will need all of your present grit before I am done with you,

Naval:  We will see about that. You are not just a kidnapper, but a petty thief too!  I had ten thousand in cash in my wallet, but you told me there was only eight thousand. The kidnappers didn’t touch that money, so you took that two thousand from my wallet for a purpose best known to you.  It was you, who had your friends snooping for me here, sending messages and posting my “missing’ picture in the newspaper. You took that picture of me yesterday, when you were rummaging in your closet. You thought, I wouldn’t notice. But you made a fatal blunder while taking that picture. A tiny part of Wags’ picture on the wall got in, and that nails you squarely! (Anna looks stunned at Priya.)

Priya: Well done! ( she claps) You are right. You are clever, but also a villain.  I arranged the kidnapping, and had it carried out by some friends of mine at the theatre. I had studied you for five long years, and knew a lot about your routine life and habits. One day, I caught four of my friends on the sets plotting something. They confessed they were badly hard up, and were actually thinking of pulling a small heist in town. They are good guys, driven to desperation due to no work, and no income after the virus attack. They had families to feed, bills to pay. I told them to switch to the idea of kidnapping, and I had a ready- made victim who would settle well quite tamely. You.  I didn’t want any share and had only one condition.

Naval: That after the ransom was paid, I was to be made over to your custody in such a way that I would not know that you were in with them.   

Priya: You are indeed very clever. But that’s all you are. Figuring out things comes easily to you. But understanding them doesn’t come to you at all. Your whole being is trapped in your books of account, and you hardly know what can be learned from the pages of life. Yes, you were to be given to me. I wanted you to learn a lesson from one page of life-the page of death! ( She goes close to him and stares at him.) They were to return damaged goods. An injured man who would die,  unless he got prompt medical attention. One of the boys in the kidnapping team has a surgeon father. When I told him what I wanted, he didn’t ask why. He knew me and trusted me to do right. He learned from his father how to stab a person in the right place, that would not strike any vital organ. But it would result in enough bleeding to cause death eventually, if the bleeding was not controlled.

Anna: That was a chance you took, Priya.

Priya: I know, and I stand guilty of causing what could possibly have turned out to be a mortal wound. The kidnapping went smoothly as we all know, and the money came through quite easily. The stab wound was inflicted with clinical precision as Anna would endorse.  Things would have gone according to plan but for the scuffle that broke out between Naval and Deepak who was in charge of the victim’s person. Deepak is hot- headed, and I hadn’t wanted him associated from the beginning. But he was in the know and had assured he would do his part perfectly. But the blow and the spit enraged him, and he went out of control. Not only did he stab to inflict a grievous wound, but wanted his victim to see what satisfaction that gave him. Both were serious mistakes and turned the situation into an emergency. I knew Naval would die right there on the road, if I didn’t make that super- human effort. Suresh, another member of the group, stayed back and helped me carry Naval to my car. I did the Grand Prix to the clinic, the same again to and fro for the blood. Anna’s extra-ordinary skills did the rest. I had my man where I wanted, my friends had their money.

Naval: The only question that remains is why. The motive, my dear Anna, that drove Priya to such extra-ordinary and bizarre lengths to do what she did. But my cleverness, my astuteness, (he looks at Priya)  not my understanding, helped me to figure out why Priya took me captive. Though I didn’t know I was one till I found out what I had done to deserve such a fate.

Anna: What did you do?

Naval:  I killed Wags. Five years ago, I was the man who ran him over on that lonely road. I was a little drunk that day, and I was driving to the Capital hospital. I could not stop for Wags. After all, he was just a dog.

Anna: And why were you going to the hospital, Naval?  Maybe to visit a patient, who was perhaps another victim of your callousness?

Naval: (wheeling towards Anna in fury) Stop it! You have no right to say such things!

Anna: Perhaps I have. The Capital hospital is famed for its animal wing. Everybody knows that. You were going to that hospital. Yet you did not have Wags carried in your car to that hospital, which would surely have saved his life, You left him bleeding to death in my friend’s arms, and flung two thousand bucks in her face and told her to get another dog. Who was that person in the hospital, Naval?  Someone whom you had left there to die, without the benefit of a second chance?

Naval:  I could kill you for that, Anna. Why don’t you ask your friend here, why she was willing to have me killed for a dog!

Priya:  I would have killed a hundred of you for Wags. But I did not want you killed by the kidnappers. The second stab was just happenstance. I wanted you alive, to feel what I felt when Wags was dying in my arms.  Wags felt only for me, even as his life blood was draining out. He could not have felt the injustice of not being given been a second chance to live. He was only an animal. A creature who took life as it came, and gave unselfishly of his love and trust. He was incapable of doing deliberate wrong. Had he even known that you were giving him only suffering and death, he would have accepted it as his lot. God made them that way, Naval. To make up for making us the way we are.

Naval:  So you saved me and patched me up, just so I could mourn for your dog, and you could make me grovel for your forgiveness.

Priya: No! I wanted to teach you a lesson, Mr Tantra. To make you feel what it meant to be given a second chance when you were dying. To you, Wags was an utterly futile being, who could be of no earthly use to anyone. On the other hand, he was surely a nuisance because he had to be fed, cleaned, taken for walks and shots. He would surely break, damage things and make a mess of the house. And dogs were a menace on the streets. To sorrow for a creature like that! A dog is like any other dog, and the most obvious thing they had in common was their nuisance value. The only place for them was a pound.

Naval:  Can you blame me for thinking like that? Almost the whole world thinks that way! And to think you went all the way to get me hurt badly, because I knocked down your dog five years back!

Priya: No. But we can blame you for being far worse. For killing, cheating, callousness, treachery and malice. You are a loveless, lonely and heartless creature, Mr Naval Tantra. And if Wags was useless to human kind, you are a menace. You cannot shed light and happiness, like Wags did. You can only spread darkness, sorrow and harm.

Anna: The only way to deal with you will be to open up your stitches and leave you dying in a lonely road, like you left Wags. Dogs are a menace in the streets, aren’t they, Naval? Well, you will see how menacing they can be, when you are lying helpless in their domain. 

Naval:  I have nothing against you, Anna. You are the one who really saved me, and tended to me till I was better. Your friend and her comrades will go to jail for kidnapping me, and trying to kill me. But you deserve a reward, and I am known for my charity. (he takes out the cheque from his wallet and writes on it and gives it to Anna.) That is a cheque for fifty lakhs only for you, Anna. I hope it will take care of the expenses you have incurred during my stay here. (He smiles indulgently. Then gets up from the bed and puts on a shirt.) I have decided to leave right now, and must thank you both for your hospitality.

Priya:  Not so fast, Mr Tantra. We are not done with you yet. You are right. I did not get you here to reform you. You are here to pay in blood, not money. You signed your death warrant, when you said that I would go to jail. Besides, I cannot let my friends be hounded by you. They were acting at my behest, and in my interest. They cannot be held accountable, but since you are bent on revenge….. (she pulls out a revolver and points it at Naval.) This will be a quicker way than pulling out your stitches. It will be less prolonged and painful.

Naval: (falls back on the bed, pale with fright and staring at Priya.) You can’t! (he stutters) You will hang for this!

Anna:  Actually, she won’t. No one knows you are here, except our friends and loyalists. They will never give us away. I am a doctor, and I know how to dispose of a corpse most effectively. And Priya is an actor, she can play a role of innocence to perfection. ( she pulls out a knife and advances menacingly.) I told you I hate knives.  But for you, I will make an exception. And now, all that is left is for you to make a choice.  A shot is as good as a stab.  Since Naval doesn’t seem to be inclined to choose, may I, Priya?

( Naval backs against the headrest, almost collapsing.)

Priya: The revenge is mine, Anna. (She  points the gun at Naval and shouts)  For Wags! ( she fires and the pistol makes a flash and a roar. The lights go off immediately.)

End of Scene 8

Scene 9

Same setting.

(The lights come on. Priya is standing over Naval with a smoking gun, and Naval is slouched against the headrest, with both hands over his ears. Anna is examining her knife, running a finger down its edge. Naval straightens up and staggers to his feet, but his legs buckle and he sinks back onto the bed though sitting upright. Priya blows the smoke of the barrel like a professional cowboy, and puts it away.)

Naval: (dazed) What was that? You missed me! From so close! Am I hurt?

Priya: I didn’t miss you. Didn’t I tell you, I was a good shot?

Naval: Then—then where was I hit? I don’t feel a thing.

Anna: You never did. You have gone through life without ever feeling a thing. The bullet is in your heart, Mr Tantra. You have died long ago. And that has never changed, never will.

Priya: It seems to me, you were always in the centre of the drama we have been playing out. The corpse. And we have been trying to find out whether should give it a decent burial, or throw it into a gutter for the scavengers to handle.

Naval: (still stupefied) But you fired the gun, I heard it and saw that burst of flame. Felt that dying moment. That complete annihilation of being.

Priya: In the dog shelter where I work, there is a shrine of Wags. The two thousand rupees I took from you, was an offering to one who had given me life’s most glorious happiness. He taught me my life. The money you had thrown at me that day, had blown away in the wind because it was nothing. But this note was an offering, to tell my loved one that the chase had ended and I had the man who had hurt you, killed you. Along with my tears, I offered justice. But Wags gave you another life-a second chance. He came into my arms that day, put his paws on my face and wiped my tears.  I read his eyes that were shining with love and trust. I heard him saying I am always there with you, and you have Anna. I am content. (she turns to Naval) In my profession, Mr. Tantra, we fire blanks. The curtains never falls on us. We have to live on to play another day.

Anna: You have your life back, Naval, for what it is worth. And take that cheque and put it back in your wallet. (she takes the cheque and puts it in the wallet lying on the table, and gives it to Naval who takes it mechanically) You are known for giving donations, so give us a little of your charity. Just leave this clinic, and go back to where you came from. Never come back, we would never let you in. Remember, the next time my knife may not be as kind. And take out your stitches, they may leave scars you may want to forget.

Priya: ( Takes out a cheque from her pocket and thrusts it into Naval’s front pocket.) Take that. It’s a cheque for twenty lakh and two thousand.  My life’s savings. It will redeem the ransom you paid, and the money I took from your wallet. Now we are square. I had phoned your staff to come, and pick you up from here. Your car and staff are waiting for you outside now. Go!

(Naval stumbles out of the room, and Priya and Anna hear the front  door open and shut. They hold hands as the lights go out.)

End of Scene 9

Scene 10

Three months later. Same setting.

(It is late evening and the house is dark. Dim outlines of the rooms can be seen, as the treatment room lights are on. Indistinct sounds of talk and laughter can be heard outside. The front door opens and Priya and Anna come in, still talking and laughing.)

Anna: You were brilliant, Priya! You will have my best omelette today.

Priya: If I could act half as good as that omelette you make, I would be holding a statuette by now. Tomorrow we go to your orphanage.  I’ll do that act as you, for the children. They should also know, what angels on earth are like! Wish I had a little money though, to give to Supriya. She does so much there.

Anna has put on the corridor light, and Priya heads towards the living room, puts on the light, turns back and recoils. Naval is sitting on one of the chairs with hands folded in front of him. Anna comes in, and she too withdraws in surprise.

Priya: How did you get in.?

Naval: Well, you said that you would never let me in. So I had to do with other means. I didn’t break in. You can be assured of that, because you opened the front door with your key. The last time I was carried in, but I found it better to walk in this time.

Anna: Cut the humour. (she fishes in her purse for her phone)  I am going to call the police.

Naval: Wait! ( he gets up from the chair and faces them.) I have no intention to harm you or be a nuisance. And I will leave soon enough. The other day when you chucked me out, you had your last lines-your punch lines, if you will.  I never got a chance. You dumped me outside, like those kidnappers. Leaving me to bleed.

Anna: You said enough. And we heard enough. And as for the second chance, you are here, aren’t you?

Naval:  I am here. But you didn’t play the game out. When you took the oath, Anna, did it teach you to discharge a patient under your care without healing him? And Priya, does your theatre etiquette tell you to leave the stage without an encore? To leave, before the last word has been said?

Priya:  Look, if you have come here to play on our emotions, you have erred. You have no emotions yourself. We do have feelings. But right now, they are hard feelings. And they are not likely to soften, even in the long run.

Naval: It’s been three months, since you ran me out. Doubtless you have got back to your old lives, but I haven’t been able to get back to mine. You once said these abstract thoughts lead to nowhere, and it’s a waste of time. What matters is what we do or experience. We change due to what we do or experience. That’s what you said, didn’t you?  But I started thinking of what I was, and why two remarkable women gave me up as a lost case? May I sit down?

  Neither Anna nor Priya say anything. Naval sits down. Anna sits down too, but Priya remains standing. )

Naval: (continuing) My thoughts led me somewhere, when I came out of myself. This was very hard to do, not because I have a great ego, but because I had hardly ever done that, or perhaps never at all. It is not hard to feel that I am quite an ordinary man. Other than running restaurants and making money, I knew I had little to me. All my money didn’t change that. And as for doing, I never did anything that felt I was doing with conscious purpose, with some end in view. Or even doing it, because I just felt like doing so. I am not talking about practical things, business  things  that come to me as second nature.  I just didn’t do real things, though I thought at times about what needed to be done. I have donated a lot to charitable institutions, but I did it without trying to know about causes, or what good it was doing. It was impersonal, and I never sought self-aggrandizement through them.  Have you ever seen a street accident where people gather, drawn by the scene of somebody dead or dying, just gazing at the scene ? I am one of them, thinking why the hell doesn’t somebody stop and take injured to the hospital?  Call an ambulance, the police. At least try to stem the flow of blood, drag somebody out of harm’s way! But I would never do anything. And before it was all over, I would be hurrying away to where I had been going,

Priya:  Why are you telling us all this? 

Naval: Because you are not like that! You are all good and moral and noble and sacrificing. You are doers who save lives, lead the way and get things done. You are way high up there. What do you know about the ordinary man? And when some ordinary man makes a mistake, falls short, you can never understand it let alone forgive it. You are the salt of the earth, and we are the dross. You can feel the most sublime feelings. You are the saints, the martyrs, the people who shape society. We are average guys. We are never forgiven for mistakes. Because we never change, or reform. We always do what the rest of the world always does, will always do.  (He gets up and faces them squarely.)

      I did not run over Wags that day intentionally. I was a little careless, negligent, and so it happened. I was upset with myself for it, but did not blame myself much, because I hadn’t done it intentionally. I offered that money because I felt a little guilty, and the money would help Priya buy another dog. For me, Wags was just another dog. I had not rescued him, not lived with him, cared for him, or looked into his eyes. I didn’t know I had destroyed the most precious being in Priya’s life!  I needed to get to the hospital quickly, and I couldn’t wait. I thought the money would do it.  So I did what an ordinary man would do. I did the same ordinary thing with my daughter, with my wife. Yes, my wife too. I took her late to the hospital because I am not a doer, but a gazer-on who takes his time to do and does what millions do. So I lost them.  Got used to their deaths, and never built a shrine. Just what the ordinary man would do, who doesn’t rise to the occasion but just does something needful, and that too if he has to. ( he cries a little)  This ordinary man must be left on the road to die. He must be stopped, opened to such wounds to make him cry out, ‘I bleed. I must not live in this world like this!’ (he sits down with a bowed head. Anna goes to him and pats his shoulder.)

Anna: Wow! That was quite a performance! ( but she says it softly.) Priya looks inscrutably at him.) But you did not come to make a speech here. You came for something else. You’ve said your punch lines, now tell us why you really came. Surely, it is not to hire me for the delicious omelettes I make! (she laughs, but sobers up when she sees his sombre face.) Did I upset you?

Naval: No. It’s all right. You are right. I have not come to praise myself, but to bury me. When Priya shot at me that day, I saw a brilliant light for a moment. At exactly the moment she fired. As if the moment of death was that fire.  Somehow afterwards, that flash of light became a vision of prescience for me. I thought, the day was not far when I would see that light again. I thought maybe I should get a check- up done or something, just to get that silliness out of my head. Turns out there was something in it. I have a terminal illness, an ailment which is likely to claim me in six months or so.

Anna: Oh, I am sorry.

Naval: Well, it’s ok. I wish I had known before. Could have saved you  the trouble of saving me. You gave me a second life, but it looks as if I have made a mess of that too. When the doctor broke it to me out of the blue, I remembered that look I gave Wags when I saw him dying in Priya’s lap. Why did you come in front of my car? Now I can’t do anything about it, and you must live or die on your own! But hard on that, a buried memory of how he had looked at me came to the surface. In such clarity as my mind had never known before!  I don’t know what I saw, but I know they were the eyes of a baby who had just opened his eyes on this world. And the same eyes they were of one who was looking at his last moment on earth.

Priya:  And even that moment of epiphany did nothing for you, and you left him there to die?

Naval:  Perhaps that flash of remembrance was the epiphany.  Ever since, I have lost all fear of death, but I have felt  daily  the need of that blessing from the faith that I saw in those eyes………( he falls silent for a while)  But my second chance is going to run out soon, and I thought that I might look to lighten my load. I have donated everything I possess to charities, and to those close to me. Today, I have only cab fare that will take me from here to some place of my choosing…… to where I will begin my journey.  There are two donations, for which I need your consent. They are to the orphanage and dog shelter you run. I concede that nothing can pay for the days I spent with you. And these are the cheques you put in my pocket that day. They are reminders of my vanity, and my shame. But at least, I was good enough for a ransom! What I give to you, I give with high regard and esteem. Deny me if I am not forgiven. You have said one should atone, but my days are too few to do that properly with ashes and sack cloth.  Priya, you saved me. You can’t allow that to go in vain. Even God is on your side, and it’s time to forgive and forget.

Priya:  Naval, today you have shown me how vain and self-righteous I have been. I too have erred, and been instrumental in Wags’ death. I let go of his leash, and he ran into the road. I tried to harm you and teach you a lesson, but the one who I was trying to avenge would never have wanted that. I was dishonouring his memory, and will carry that to my grave. I know he and I spent five of the happiest years of life with each other. I am a better person for having had him in my life, and it’s time to show that. I forgive you, and I know you have forgiven me.

Anna: You know something. I still have the feeling that Naval has still more reason to pay us this visit. He already has our forgiveness, and we have his. He is our benefactor, and we owe him something. He wants something more from us, and he is still to disclose that.

Naval:  When I leave your house today, you will never see me again. I got my life back in this house, and was saved in more ways than one. I want something that can redeem my life. Something, that will keep assuring me that I am truly forgiven.  Keep reminding me I have still to acquit myself well as long as I live, because I was given a second chance. I want that picture of Wags in Priya’s  room? Will you give it to me? 

Priya: How dare you! That picture is my living inspiration, the life- line to my existence. How can you think of asking me for that?

Naval: You have many pictures of Wags, and I ask for only one.  That picture will always remind me of you and Anna, who taught me that love, innocence, trust and forgiveness are the most beautiful and happiest things on earth. In exchange, I will give you that which will bring joy into your lives. It will renew your faith that all that lives are blessed, and those who spread happiness always come back. ( Naval gets up and pulls out a covered basket from  behind the sofa from which he draws out a wee life, a tiny beagle struggling weakly in his hands. Priya takes one look and swoons.)

Priya: (crying piteously)  No! No! Not this! Never this! ( she tries to run from the room, but Naval comes swiftly to confront her.)

Naval: (harshly) Every day you have dishonoured the memory of Wags, since he died. You have nursed your grief, and keep breaking your heart over one who never wished for anything but happiness for you. Wags died because of me, but you keep punishing yourself.  Even in seeking your revenge, you were trying to atone for what you have always thought was your fault. You are killing the happiness that Wags gave you. Replacing it with the sorrow and anger of his loss. Wags can only be happy out there, if he knows that you are happy. Today I bring you Cheers, Wags knew you will never give up grieving for him. So he sends you one who will best take his place, comfort you, and make you whole again.  It is his way to teach you, that you must not grieve for his going. That life has to renew itself continuously, because change is the wellspring of life. You must keep faith with him. Open your eyes, and look at Cheers. He too has just lost a mother, and wants you to love him, take care of him as you did Wags. (Anna takes the puppy gently out of Naval’s hands, and places it in Priya’s hands. Priya opens her eyes, and smiles through her tears. She hugs the puppy to her breast. Naval moves towards the front door to leave, and finds Anna standing in the way.)

Anna:  You know something. You have turned out to be an extraordinary man, after all. Really, I should take the credit because that’s the way I stitched you up!  (Naval smiles, but there is touch of sadness in his smile.) You are forgetting the photograph. I thought you said you wanted it. The trouble is that it is nailed too well into the wall. It will take quite a while to get it down. Meanwhile, I can make you an omelette. I know you have given away your restaurants and all that, so you can’t give me a job anymore. But this omelette is special and only for you, and I don’t make it for just anyone.

Naval: (sighs) Okay. But how long is it going to take to get the picture down?

Anna: ( turns and stares at him) A lifetime.

Naval: What do you mean? I have a cab waiting outside, and he doesn’t wait for fare.

Anna: Good Krishna! You must cancel it. I’ll give the fare. This is going to take time. And meanwhile, I will have a shot at giving you a third life.

Naval:  And what am I to do with a third life?

Priya: ( coming forward crooning to the puppy in her arms) And who’s going to look after Cheers here? ( she gives the puppy over to Naval who smiles through his tears. Anna comes up and they all pose together with Naval in the middle holding the puppy. All of them giving wide smiles.)

Curtain drops.

End of Scene 10