THE MENACE OF THE INVERSELY TOUTED UNIVERSAL DEPRIVATION
(continued from previous)
We SEE a television set on which is playing an image of many feet marching down a corridor.
Voice (V.O.)
(loudly, disgustedly)
What the hell!
CAMERA SWIVELS around again.
We SEE the guide running away.
38. EXT. BALCONY – GREEN NIGHT (film)
The long haired girl leans against the railing. She croons:
LONG HAIRED GIRL
A blind, high-minded mole once lived here.
Hmmmmmmm
Stealing her natural habitat, I spread myself.
Hmmmmmmm
Love: a sparrow disregards her miniscule dimensions.
Hmmmmmmm
39. INT. ROOM – DAY (film)
The check shirted butch and the long haired girl are making out.
CHECK SHIRTED BUTCH
Tell me you want it. Tell me how bad you want it.
LONG HAIRED GIRL
Bad.
CHECK SHIRTED BUTCH
Say it slowly. Drag it out.
40. EXT. FLAT LANDSCAPE – DAY (animation)
SIX BLIND MEN gather around an ELEPHANT.
FIRST BLIND MAN
(touching the elephant’s trunk)
Look out!
SECOND BLIND MAN
(touching the pointed end of the elephant’s tusk)
Look out at the stuff.
THIRD BLIND MAN
(touching the elephant’s ear)
Look out rationally!
FOURTH BLIND MAN
(touching the elephant’s belly)
But we will.
FIFTH BLIND MAN
(wrapping his arm around the elephant’s leg)
What are you saying? It is questionable.
SIXTH BLIND MAN
(yanking at the elephant’s tail)
The ends don’t meet the needs.
41. INT. ROOM – DAY (film)
Gandhari with her head on Dhritrashtra’s shoulder.
42. INT. ROOM – DAY (film)
The long haired girl with her head on the check shirted butch’s shoulder. Her shoulders heave, as though she is sighing.
CHECK SHIRTED BUTCH
Always complaining. I got you roses, and everybody knows roses are romantic. I got you chocolates, expensive cheeses, wine, embroidered clothes, toothpaste, fig jam, tampons, coffee. Still, no matter what I do, you are always complaining. Red peppers, risotto, potatoes!
LONG HAIRED GIRL
Things.
CHECK SHIRTED BUTCH
(angrier)
“Things”! I love you. I don’t want you to ever be deprived of things. I want you to use these things. I want you to enjoy these things.
LONG HAIRED GIRL
Thank you.
42. INT. ROOM – DAY (film)
Gandhari is standing in the corner where the room angles, her hands covering her blindfold. Dhritrashtra comes in with a rose 6, hesitates for a moment, listening, then leaves.
43. EXT. BALCONY - MID-MORNING (film)
The long haired girl sips tea.
The girl in plaits walks in, but her hair is untied, wet, still dripping water.
INSERT – SUBTITLES - Are you a matchmaker? I want information relevant to seeking identical twins. (text)
The long haired girl touches the other girl’s hair, then lifts a section and examines it. She lets it go and they both lean from the parapet and look down.
GIRLS’ POV
We SEE the park, parked cars, and further beyond, a street. A vegetable vendor rolls his cart. A dhoban irons clothes. A mother shakes her head despairingly and yells at her child.
OVER THE SHOULDER TWO-SHOT
The two girls stand, heads bent, shoulders touching.
LONG HAIRED GIRL
If I say more than one word, she doesn’t register it.
GIRL IN PLAITS
Look, I think you are overreacting. We all know you have been feeling isolated, but you will figure it out. Our new home is quite grand but sparingly furnished. My dialog can fill the page and it will be like fake blood. We have a high opinion of you, and day by day you are disappointing us. This dreamy talk will get you nowhere. I’ll miss all the fun since I can’t make it tomorrow. Sometimes the tone can be more paternalistic than sororal and this can strike you with paralysis. You will agree with me. Look at yourself in the mirror. You are a long shadow in the long haul. I am fond of long, flowing sentences and when I speak, I love speaking. Tone, syntax and diction are so personal to each of us. As I understand, you can choose them when speaking. What if we meet next Friday?
As she speaks:
INSERT – SUBTITLES - Will you be able to continue my research? I am looking for my identical twin. I need an institutional response. (text)
44. Decapitated elephant part sneaks across the FRAME (special effect)
45. INT. ROOM – DAY (film)
Gandhari is standing in the corner where the room angles. Dhritrashtra comes in with a rose. Gandhari smiles and takes the rose. She hums, rubs each petal between her thumb and finger and plucks it out. Dhritrashtra, meanwhile, walks to the royal bench and sits down, facing the mirror wall.
DHRITRASHTRA
I don’t like it when you try to dominate me.
GANDHARI
You are the king.
DHRITRASHTRA
You are making it hard for me. You are making an allegory out of me.
GANDHARI
You are a reasonable king. I turned blind on purpose. I am filled with sweet content.
DHRITRASHTRA
For centuries, rose-tongue has exerted a monopolistic influence on the romantic imagination. But do kings ever bring roses for queens? And, if so, why? I often wonder about this.
46. INT. DRAWING ROOM – DAY (film)
The black shirted butch’s photo on the mantle. A hand enters the FRAME, holding a camera. A very young child takes it and examines it.
CHILD
(curiously)
Dada, what is this?
47. SCREEN goes BLUE
VOICE (V.O.)
I can see through you.
48. SCREEN pixelates into WHITE AND BLACK STATIC
A hand enters the FRAME and places a HANDWRITTEN MESSAGE:
“Rukawat ke liye khed hai.”
“Sorry for the interruption.”
49. INT. DRAWING ROOM – NIGHT (film, animation)
We SEE the group of tourists, wearing nightclothes, laugh.
ZOOM OUT
We SEE the group of tourists huddled on a couch.
PAN TO:
Television, which has static on the screen.
CLOSE-UP – TOURISTS’ LAUGHING FACES
PAN TO:
The spot where the television was, which is now a whittled down tree trunk.
CLOSE-UP – TREE TRUNK
We SEE tiny people scuttling about busily on the tree trunk, building a house, playing tennis, rowing a boat.
ZOOM OUT
_________________________
6. Rose-tongue has, for centuries, exerted a monopolistic influence on the romantic imagination. Lovers bring roses for lovers to declare their passion, to declare true love, to humor, to seduce, to ask for forgiveness. Do kings bring roses for their queens? You might be right in wondering about this. In this scene, which is very likely a historical inaccuracy, we explore the scenario of a king bringing a rose for his queen, keeping in mind the following questions: Would the king have brought the rose out of love? Would he have seen the queen? Would she have accepted the rose, and, if so, why? Would she have kept the rose pressed between the pages of a book she once read? If so, why? Would she have counted the rose petals? If so, why?
poem/filmtext by monica mody