In this political satire, the absurd tactics of politicians to gain votes forms the central
theme of the play. The entire story takes place in one night – a Mumbai suburban train is stranded at Vashi bridge. Trapped are commuters from a cross-section of
society: a stockbroker, a journalist, a wannabe actress, a bank clerk and a rag-picker. As it gets closer to midnight, and the train is still stalled, they become more
and more frustrated. Each one has their own problem – Rajesh, the stockbroker, owes money; Gopal, the journalist, loses an important file; Naresh’s claustrophobic
personality begins to show as he engages in constant prayers.
The situation soon becomes explosive. A politician has been murdered and his head
is missing! Gopal gets out of the train to investigate and finds that there is a ‘cock and bull’ story going around. The party-workers claim that the head of their leader was
separated from his body. To add to this horror, a Ganpati’s clay head was taken from an idol maker (since Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations were on) and placed on the politician’s dead body. A member of the political party enters and shouts, ‘Our leader is blessed! Patwardhan is blessed!’
A rag-picker enters the compartment. By then, Rajesh is in a bad state with a toothache and his mounting fears are taking a toll. As the situation builds up, Gopal
learns that a 10 lakhs reward is being offered for the missing head! Rajesh, who is
practically broke, gets very excited and tries to leave the train. The situation becomes more tense – Rajesh falls and injures his leg, Naresh wants to go for darshan, but is unable to leave.
To add to the absurdity, Gopal sees blood dripping from the rag-picker’s bag. He grabs it and tries to look inside. A foul smell fills the compartment, he sees a
mutilated head and closes the bag instantly. The rag-picker tries to sell the head to
him for 50 rupees. The situation becomes unruly and the rag-picker just throws the bag out
of the compartment.