by Anosh Irani
(to aarti) Chandni was my first prostitute. She was the same age as you when I had her broken in. God works in strange ways. He breaks you suddenly, when you least expect it. He takes every drop of life from you. Then one day you wake up stronger than before . . . like a tiger. No one can touch you then.
She gives him a piece of paper again.
“Chance to win freedom.” Freedom? No one is free. Look at me. I have money. I have long, strong muscles. But when I step into the street, even a stray dog gets more love than I do. No one is free.
She asks him to turn the paper around. He does. He reads.
“Let us bet.” This is turning into a very bad scene from a Hindi movie. But . . . if God wants you to be free, you will. Chandni!
chandni enters with a sari in her hand. She stares at top rani.
chandni: Take this.
She holds the sari out for top rani.
top rani: What is it?
chandni: It’s what Sudha died in. Perhaps you’d like to wear it.
She thrusts the sari into his hands. top rani caresses it.
top rani: I’ll keep it. I’ll save it for Aarti.
chandni tries to take the sari back from him, but top rani holds on.
Do you remember yesterday’s opening and closing numbers?
chandni is still trying to tug the sari from his hands.
chandni: Yes.
top rani lets go. chandni jerks back a little. He walks to the cupboard. He removes two blank cards and a pencil from the cupboard. He offers the cards and pencil to chandni but she does not take them.
top rani: Now put that dead sari down and hold these cards. Write down the opening number on one card, and the closing number on the other.
She does.
Now show me.
She shows the cards to top rani.
Now show her.
chandni shows the cards to aarti.
Now show Him.
chandni: Who?
top rani: God. (looking up) Pay attention. A little girl is at stake.
He puts the cards in the matka.
(to aarti) The cards will decide your fate. If you pick the opening number, you will stay here and open your legs for the rest of your life. If you pick the closing number, your legs can remain closed. You will be free to go. Is it agreed?
She nods yes.
Then let us proceed. But I’m afraid I know how this is going to turn out.
He takes the matka to aarti. aarti closes her eyes. She collects her thoughts in her fist. She tries to throw them to the moon—to Aroramanyu. But top rani prevents her from doing so.
What are you doing? Just put your hand in and pull. Like Chandni.
aarti puts one hand over her eyes and puts the other hand in the matka and removes a card. She looks at it in horror.
What did you pull?
top rani snatches the card from her hand.
I knew it! These Hindi movies are misleading the public. They think someday they will be rescued.
He takes the card from her hand throws it back in the matka.
Now for the victory dance!
top rani claps his hands twice—the loud, shrill clap of a hijra. Just as he is about to launch into a garish dance, gantaal’s voice can be heard from outside.
gantaal: Ten rupees only! Ten rupees only!
top rani goes to the window.
Show me your palm and you will come to no harm!
top rani: A fortune teller.
chandni: What an idiot. Coming to the red-light district to tell people’s fortunes.
top rani: He’s looking here. This is a good sign. Today is a special day.
chandni: Why do you keep saying that?
top rani: You have a new sister. What could be more special?
gantaal: Ten rupees only.
top rani: (to chandni) You are also ten rupees only. Would you like to know your fortune?
chandni shakes her head.
(to aarti) What about you?
aarti does not respond. She just looks down at her feet. He claps his hands and calls gantaal up.
Will the two of you stop behaving as if somebody just died?
Enter gantaal.
gantaal: Thank you for inviting me.
The moment aarti hears gantaal’s voice she looks up. He catches her eye for a second and then ignores her.
top rani: This flower here is very interested in knowing her fortune.
gantaal: Which flower?
top rani: This one. Here.
gantaal: And what is the flower’s name?
chandni does not respond.
top rani: Chandni.
top rani goes to her and gently holds her by the hair.
Chandni would like to ask you something.
chandni: What is the future like for me?
top rani: Wide open.
gantaal: Show me your hand, Chandni. Don’t be shy.
gantaal takes chandni’s hand. He smiles.
You have a very long lifeline.
top rani: That is exactly what she wants to hear. “Hello, my name is Chandni. I am a prostitute of ninety years. Now you take off your pants while I take out my teeth.”
gantaal: You see this lump here? That is your good-deed pocket. The mound is very high. It means you are a good person.
top rani slaps chandni’s hand out of the way.
top rani: My turn.
gantaal: Money first.
top rani gives gantaal the money. Then he extends his hand. gantaal takes it.
Your good-deed pocket is empty. But there is something else. Oh, this is strange, very strange.
top rani: What?
gantaal: Your lifeline. It stops.
top rani: Everyone’s lifeline stops.
gantaal: But there is a reversal in yours.
top rani: What did you say?
gantaal: Your lifeline suddenly changes direction. It moves in reverse.
top rani: What does that mean?
gantaal: It means that you will soon start a new life. Very different from the one you are leading. Perhaps a reversal of fortunes. Or a change of heart.
top rani: How do you know this?
gantaal: Your hand speaks to me.
top rani: Then ask my hand this: Will my cock grow back?
gantaal looks at top rani in surprise.
I’m serious.
gantaal: Why would it?
top rani: The Myth of Merit. It is a time-honoured custom.
gantaal: We have many stupid customs.
top rani: I know. A eunuch is one of them.
gantaal nods towards the cage.
gantaal: What about her? She is extremely custom-made.
top rani: Are you here to tell my fortune or to get lucky?
gantaal: I wish to buy her from you.
top rani: What makes you think she is for sale?
gantaal: If she is in a cage, it means she has not been tamed. Has she?
top rani: What are you willing to pay?
gantaal: Nothing.
top rani: Good answer. Good answer. But what does it mean?
gantaal: If I help you become a man again, you help me become a man again.
top rani: I don’t need your help.
gantaal: Then why are you still in a sari?
top rani goes towards him in a threatening manner.
I mean the Myth of Merit.
top rani: What about it?
gantaal: It is not a myth.
He exits. aarti lifts her head from the sheet and watches him leave.
top rani: Today is a special day indeed.
chandni: What do you mean?
top rani: The Myth of Merit.
cha
ndni: Surely you don’t believe in that rubbish. They are called myths because they’re not true.
top rani: A myth is a forgotten truth. In my village there lived a girl just like Aarti—no voice, no parents, nothing. All day she would sit in a little clearing just outside the forest with her head in her knees. One day a tiger came into the clearing. Everyone ran. Except the little girl. She held up her hand and said something to the tiger—no words, but she said something. The great beast roared and roared, but it never touched her. It walked back into the forest.
chandni: What does that have to do with Aarti?
top rani: Has anyone touched her so far?
chandni: No.
top rani: Then she has proved that myths can be true. The myth goes that children who have no voice . . . have God speaking for them.
chandni: But you are a eunuch. That will never change.
top rani: Don’t be so sure.
He walks to the cupboard. From a secret compartment he takes out a glass jar covered with a black cloth.
chandni: What’s that?
top rani: My graduation present.
chandni puts her hand out to see what lies beneath the black cloth. top rani grabs her hand.
When I was ten years old, my father sent me to the city to work as a servant boy. My master sold this little servant boy to a band of eunuchs, even though I was not his to sell. The coward had gambling debts to pay. One night, they castrated me in my master’s kitchen. From then on, I dressed like hijras do and learnt their ways. I made money for them by begging at traffic lights, singing at weddings, and by being a prostitute myself. At age twenty, I had completed all the requirements and training of being a eunuch. I was allowed to branch out on my own. In this glass jar, they kept what they had cut off.
chandni looks down at her feet.
Go ahead. Take a look. I’m proud of it. It’s my letter of recommendation. It is also why I believe I can still become whole.
Four
Grant Road. Eight forty-five p.m. gantaal is sleeping. satta enters. He is trapped inside the moon. He wakes gantaal up.
satta: You must be a good father to her. There are certain things she likes. When her hair is wet, you must comb it back immediately. The knots are hard to remove once her hair dries. At night, sometimes she cries in her sleep. She dreams about her mother. Don’t wake her up. One night I swear I heard her speak in her sleep. She actually spoke. She loves to watch movies, Gantaal. Take her to the movies. And let her know that I love her. Tell her how sorry I am. Tell her that her mother and I are together again. It may not be true, but it will make her happy.
gantaal: Where will I keep her? The streets are no place for a child. I cannot be responsible for her.
satta: You have no choice. She likes you too much. She will be a good daughter to you. She will look after you when you are old.
gantaal: I am already old.
satta: As long as there is breath in you, you are young. Remember that.
gantaal: How the hell do I save her?
satta: I have to go now. I place Aarti in your hands. Goodbye, my friend.
gantaal: Wait!
satta and the moon disappear. Everything is quiet.
How the hell do I save her?
He opens the trunk.
Maybe I should ask Polly. Hah? Why don’t you speak? Say something. What can a poor fortune teller do? All my life I have tricked people. What trick can I pull this time? Maybe I am asking the wrong person. But who to ask then? Who to ask?
Enter chandni. gantaal stands up. They face each other.
Five
The brothel. Close to midnight.
top rani: After they cut me, the pain took me in and out of this world. The mud was washed away and replaced by oil to clean the wound. They made me go without food or water for three days so I would not urinate. On the fourth day, they fed me milk, and it left my body through a thin tube that was placed in a hole. That was all they left me: a hole. I used to wake up in the middle of the night groping. I’d feel my groin again and again in the hope that I might find something. In the bazaar, when no one was looking, I’d feel. In the kitchen when no one was cooking, I’d feel. I’d feel nothing. But then I realized that suffering could be a beautiful thing. If I welcomed it, it would make me worthy of being whole.
He holds his crotch.
For true works of art are born only from great suffering.
He lights a match.
Fire. When we are cremated, fire is what takes us from this world to the next. It is New Year’s Eve. Each year, at this time, I light a match. As I watch the flame burn, I can hear Surya scream.
He listens.
Can you hear anything?
Silence.
Surya has never been silent. It means his passage to the spirit world is complete. And I will pull a king.
gantaal enters. top rani blows out the match.
Who let you in?
gantaal: You did.
top rani: I’m in no mood for deeper meanings.
gantaal: I’m talking about the Myth of Merit.
Pause.
What is the purpose of being a man? Of enabling a woman to have a child? So the cycle of birth can continue. If you do not have a cock, is it possible to have a child?
top rani: No.
gantaal: Now what if you had a child?
top rani: So what if I had one?
gantaal: It would mean you have a cock.
top rani: Yes.
gantaal: But you do have a child.
top rani: I do?
gantaal looks towards the cage.
Yes, she is my daughter. Even Chandni is my daughter. I have many daughters. I should have many cocks. What are you getting at?
gantaal: The Myth of Merit works backwards. If you have a daughter, it means you are already worthy.
top rani: So if I am already worthy, I should be whole. Do I wait for my cock to grow back?
gantaal: Nothing will grow. Your part can only be reattached. But it would be cruel of me to even hope that you still have your part.
top rani walks to the cupboard and takes out the glass jar. He holds it like a prize.
What is that?
top rani: Top Rani. Part Two.
gantaal lifts the cloth and takes a look.
gantaal: Oh my God . . .
top rani: Horrible, no?
gantaal: No . . .
top rani: Horrible . . .
gantaal: There is a chance then. A very small chance.
top rani: I will take it.
gantaal: Then fulfill this condition: the little girl must truly accept you as her father. If she does not accept you, nothing can be done.
top rani: Why?
gantaal: The bond must be real. She must be attached to you.
top rani: So this can be attached to me?
gantaal nods.
If we were in any other country, I would laugh in your face. But here, with a thousand gods, at least one will be in charge of cocks.
gantaal: Be good to the girl and she will accept you.
chandni enters.
top rani: (to chandni) I told you not to leave this brothel without my permission.
chandni: I was at the cremation site. It will be a few hours before we can begin.
top rani: I shall attend. I will need a white pant and shirt.
chandni: Men’s clothing?
top rani: I told you today is special. Let Aarti out.
He gives her the key to the cage, which is around his neck.
chandni: What?
top rani: I said let her out. She will eat with me.
chandni opens the cage door. But aarti does not come out.
chandni: She’s not coming out.
top rani: Aarti
, come out. I will not hurt you. I promise.
He walks over to the cage.
Aarti, your father is here. Don’t you want to see your own father?
chandni: What are you doing?
top rani raises his hand to silence her. He takes the key back from chandni. He bends down to talk to aarti. aarti leans forward, eager to see her father.
top rani: I am your father.
In anger, aarti hits top rani’s hand, which holds the glass jar. The jar falls to the floor. There is a resounding smash as the jar breaks.
No!
top rani scrambles to retrieve the remains on the floor. chandni quickly shuts the cage door, fearing that top rani will harm aarti.
It is destiny! You are meant to be a prostitute!
chandni: It was an accident.
top rani: She destroyed it! Now I will destroy her!
gantaal: But there are other ways.
top rani: You’re only interested in the girl!
gantaal: True.
top rani: Then break her in right now. I don’t want money. I want her to suffer.
gantaal: I . . .
top rani: Either you agree or I will give her to any one of the taxi drivers downstairs.
gantaal: I will do it. But you must leave this place for half an hour.
top rani: What for?
gantaal: I want to be alone with the girl.
top rani: I will grant you the request. If I stay on, I will kill the girl. You have ten minutes. It will be midnight soon. (to chandni) She’s quite young, isn’t she?
chandni: I’m so glad you can count.
top rani: You’re not saying much. A little girl will be raped and you’re not taking it to heart?
chandni: It was done to me as well. Let’s go.
top rani: You’re not going to stop me?
chandni: Are you testing me?
top rani: Should I be testing you?
chandni: No.
He takes a hard look at chandni to see if she is up to anything. He throws some money into the cage.
top rani: Never work for free.
They exit. top rani remains in the shadows. gantaal rushes to the cage. aarti reaches for gantaal through the cage bars.
gantaal: Don’t be afraid, my angel.
He tries to open the cage.
It’s locked!
top rani steps forward holding the key.
top rani: She’s a burning flower, isn’t she?
