A play by
Anju Makhija
Duration - 65 Minutes
No of characters - 5
Short Synopsis
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 ar...Read Full Synopsis
A play By Anju Makhija
Synopsis
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.
Duration
65 Minutes
No of characters
5