First Draft - An Evening in the City

Scene 1:

I place the letter on His desk and wait for him to call me in. I wait for the next 4 hours. He leaves the office. Dhaval says it's done. You're free. And vacuum occupies my head. I walk to the station thinking why He didnot address me.

Scene 2:

The crowd rushes inside the compartment as the train halts in Dadar. The man in front of me (moving in) suddenly turns back, picks up his wallet and starts hitting the boy behind him. The train moves. The boy is brought to the centre of the compartment after 4 hard blows. Suddenly in an overly packed compartment, a human trap is made to punish the boy. People join in for slaps and punches - some elbowing, some kicking, some pinching, some tearing apart his hair. All have ideas: "Don't kill him", "Give him to the police", "Today is 27th, the last week of his pay back perhaps to his boss", "Throw him out"....They remove all his clothes and throw them out of the running train.

Scene 3:

The person besides me makes himself almost uncomfortable to see the boy naked, crying and pleading. They laugh as he accepts his crime. All decide to throw him out of the moving train. I remove one earphone from my ear - now listening to multiple sounds. Another man consoles the man who was being pick-pocketed and indicates him to stop beating the boy. The man enjoying the breeze on the footboard on the other end of the compartment directs the side on which the platform should appear. They wait until Andheri arrives and throw the boy naked on the platform.

Scene 4:

In an overly packed compartment, more people gush in, laughing, joking, talking, pushing...They talk about the whole racket - the trade. While they have already forgotten about the boy, and filled their minds with their own everyday insecurities, I secure my wallet. Putting back the earphone in my second ear, I listen to myself. I wonder if I had an opinion on the boy, on the act... The song fades, and I stop it. And vacuum occupies my head. I walk to the bus station thinking why He did not address me...