In Orrumai by SHIVANGI PANT

In Orrumai Written and edited by Shivangi Pant

Introduction In Orrumai, tries to look at the world we currently live in through the eyes of another. On one hand there is a tea estate owner and on the other a Langur. Survival of each depends on the other when their desires clash. They both want the same thing. Are they able to reach a conclusion or will there be no resolution? This play is an account of the dilemmas the characters face when they enter the world of the other. Their journey makes them question themselves and they make decisions which will impact the survival of others. This play poses some critical ecological and social concerns that haunt our world today. Inspired by the current state of affairs in the tea plantations of BBTC (Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation) in Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve of Tamil Nadu, it tries to question who does the land truly belong to? The planters, the workers, the animals or the forest? Each character’s consciousness brings them to the same table, to question, who is the real enemy? The play seeks to evoke a collective consciousness that exists within all beings. It questions what happens when we experience the world being aware of the connections that we share with others? Can we then as an intelligent species take actions and make decisions which are informed by the presence of other beings? The hope that it carries is to make a small group of people, who the book reaches to, aware of their ecological surroundings. Girish Karnad’s Hayavadana and Esthappen S’s draft, A room without a victim, play an important role in forming the structure of this play. The exchanging heads of a man and monkey and the character’s living in each other’s body is drawn from Hayavadana’s concept of a man with a horse head. The search for a new identity when one is forced to leave behind his original identity, is an idea pulled from Kunja’s wish to leave behind his Manipuri self and live the life of a Hindu with his lover Gaurav in ‘A room without a victim’.

The characters of P1 and P2 are inferred from Abhishek Majumdarâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s The Djinns of Eidgah which give a glimpse of the soldiers posted in militarized Kashmir. In Orrumai is a small effort to speak the language of an animal which is usually muffled by the orators of the world. It is a way of realizing that consciousness exists within other beings. This play is dedicated to all the monkeys and other species around the world, without which our survival on earth would have been impossible. It is an account of what they might possibly want for themselves, of course there is no real way, yet, that we can truly understand what goes inside the conscious mind of an animal. But my intuitive self has tried to find ways of speaking for them through me, in this interconnected world. My hope is that whoever reads this, takes a moment to observe their place in the environment, and be aware of their ecological surroundings.

Characters Kaliya, a 17 years old, alpha male, langur. Lives in the forest of Mundanthurai. He is the head of the group and is loved by the families. Recently his home has been threatened by the expansion of tea plantations near his forest. Mr Kutty, a tea factory owner in his late 30â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. He moved from the city, to take over the tea plantation business some eight years ago. A rather strong personality, he has been able to take the business to new heights Appanna, a plantation worker in his late 20â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s moved here when he was 15. With not much education he has found comfort in the plantations. Turns out he had made friends with the langurs, specially Kaliya Mother Kali, Her statue stands in the Kali temple, pays visits to her devotees every now and then. People in the plantations look up to her. Her reputation precedes her. Malla, alpha female langur. Part of the same group as Kaliya. She is well respected in her group and has a strong, loving personality. She is very protective of her group.

A police officer posted near the Mundanthurai forest. Has been working in the region for several years now.

Police officer higher in rank to P1. Newly posted in the region.

Scene One

Outside a tea factory area, Appanna is cutting a tree on which Kaliya is sitting. The tree is so big, that it is almost breaking open the ceiling of the stage. There are few fruits hanging from the tree. Mr Kutty, a fairly young man from the cities, is dressed in a shirt and pants with Chappals fit for hiking. A rather fragile looking man with a soft face. Kaliya: What are you doing? Appanna: You should go Kaliya: This is my home. Appanna: He is coming. (Appanna is still cutting the tree.) Kaliya: Come on, what’s wrong with you? Stop cutting the damn tree. Appanna: I can’t lose my job. Kaliya: You should better kill me then. I am not moving from here. Appanna: Don’t be stupid. Okay?...Leave now! Kaliya: I said do whatever you want, I am not leaving, None of us are. Appanna: I am cutting the tree, Kaliya. (Cuts it even harder.) Kaliya: You think you can easily slide back to your pathetic life after doing this? 1 Appanna: First of all, my life is not pathetic. Second, I know you will just do fine anywhere else. Kaliya: Exactly like how you have been doing fine here? Away from your home? Living with no dignity, no freedom, scared that you will be thrown out of here anytime. Appanna: Just shut up! You animal! Kaliya: Because it is hurtful? Appanna: Because it is not true.. Kaliya: Oh Appanna! You live in a

delusion! This is not the life you deserve. Appanna: Thank you for showing your concern but I am doing just fine with what I get. ......He is coming. Now go! Kaliya: I request you. Do something. Appanna: I..I can’t..but/ Mr Kutty reaches the tree, Kaliya moves up to the canopy and hides behind the leaves. Appanna cuts the tree Mr Kutty: How much longer? Appanna: Uh! Saheb.. Just a few more hours. Mr Kutty: Great Keep at it. (Mr Kutty looks around to keep a check.) How long do you think it will take to clear this patch of land? Appanna: The whole patch? Uh.. Like a week. Mr. Kutty: I have a meeting with the board of directors next week. If we can clear this by then it will be great. Appanna:(hesitates) Yes Saheb. Pause Just out of curiosity, why this new patch? Mr Kutty: A new seed has come. Apparently it has better produce. Better profit Ha! (pats Appanna’s back) Will be good for you too.....Keep up with the good job. Huh! Appanna smiles awkwardly; then looks down. Looks at Kaliya hiding in the trees. Appanna: Saheb, can I say something, if you don’t mind. Mr Kutty: Uh yes. Appanna: Forgive me, but this particular land belongs to a group of langurs I don’t think we should clear this patch right now. Mr Kutty: (Alarmed) How many? Appanna: Sir what? Mr. Kutty: How many Langurs. Appanna: Ah! I guess eight. Mr Kutty: That’s .. that’s a lot. Looks around in the canopy of the tree, takes out a gun from his pocket and aims. Appanna: (amazed) Saheb, What...What are you doing? Mr Kutty: Protecting our crops! This is our land now, not theirs! 2 Appanna: But sir, they don’t.. Mr Kutty: This solves the problem.

Appanna: Sir please.. Don’t do this.. The langurs...they are my friends, you just can’t kill them. (Mr Kutty lowers his gun) Mr Kutty: A friend? Look at you, calling a langur your friend. (Laughs) Appanna: Sir, the gun? That’s not right. We will clear this patch, just don’t kill them. Mr Kutty: They are harmful to these plantations. Ravaging our crops. Besides our factory is currently facing a lot of loss. I need this land.. Why am I explaining any of this to you anyway? 3 Appanna: I can talk to them, make them leave..... Mr Kutty: Listen, just do your job. If you don’t then I will call someone else. There are plenty of others. Appanna: But Saheb, it’s not them. They won’t do anything. Kutty: I am just doing what is necessary. We need this patch otherwise our company will go into debt. Do you know how to shoot? (Mr Kutty spots Kaliya.) Appanna: Me. No sir (Mr Kutty takes another aim.) Appanna: Saheb.!.. Mr Kutty takes aim. To save Kaliya, Appanna runs towards Mr kutty. Just as Mr Kutty shoots, Appanna swings his axe, cutting his head off. The bullet found it’s aim though, killing Kaliya instantly, his limp body falls down the tall tree, thuds loudly against one of the branches, his neck making a loud crunch before he finally lands on the ground below the tree. Kaliya’s body fell on one side, and his head on the other, completely severed. Blackout

Scene Two

Appanna is at the Kali temple on top of a hill, On his one hand he holds the head of Kaliya and on the other Mr. Kutty’s. The beheaded bodies are lying on the floor in front of the goddess statue. Appanna: Mother Kali! Did you see this, I have committed a horrible crime. Cutting the head of my provider! How could I? Please help me! Please show some mercy. There is a tremendous noise of drums in the background. A female figure appears from behind the statue, her arms stretched out, mouth wide open; tongue rolling out. Kali: All right! Open your eyes and be quick. Appanna: (Opens his eyes, sees the goddess and runs and falls at her feet) Appanna: Mother Kali…. Kali: Yes, It is me (finishes her yawn, opens her eyes, sees two beheaded bodies on the temple floor.) Oh wow! I am up late again. There was a time-many many years ago-when at this hour they would have the mangalarati. The devotees used to make a deafening racket with drums and conch-shells and cymbals…. So I used to be awake around now. I have lost that habit. Come on now, tell me, why are you here with these two dead bodies? Appanna: Mother Kali! Make them come up alive. Kali: You killed them! Appanna: Only one. Forgive me. Kali: Why do you come to me? There are plenty of other gods and goddesses who can do the same. Appanna: You are the goddess of death, and mother of all nature. You, of all, listen to the aspirations and the call of your devotees. I came to you hoping that you will do the same. Besides I don’t know where else to go. Kali: Uhmm, Good. Now, Which one of these two is your friend here? Appanna: My… The monkey.. The...The langur.. Kaliya. Kali: Ho! Ho! Ho! It has been long since I have seen a friendship between a human and a langur! Appanna: That may be, I can’t show my face to the world like this.

Please do something. Help me Mother Kali! Kali: Yes, okay, I heard that, you don’t need to repeat yourself. Now do as I tell you. Put these heads back properly. Attach them to their bodies and then press your axe against their necks. They’ll come up alive. Is that enough? Appanna: Oh! you are a life saviour! Kali: Yes I am, now don’t waste my time and get down to it. (Pause) Although, can I ask you a question first? Appanna: Yes, anything. Kali: Do you really consider yourself a langur’s friend? So much so that to save him, you cut a fellow human’s head? Appanna: I don’t know anymore mother Kali, who is more important... Mr kuttty was going to kill him. I could not let that happen in front of my eyes. I would never be able to live with that. Kali: Oh! You knew perfectly well that you would be accused of killing them both. That’s why you came to me. Appanna: That’s not it.. I..I/ Kali: Cut it. I will listen to you because at least you spoke the truth. (Pause) Ah! My dear son-So be it! Tremendous sound of drums again. The goddess leaves the stage, disappearing. Appanna stands immobile. The drum fades away. Through his tears,/Eagerly he puts the heads on the two bodies. But in his anxiety to make things right, he mixes them up, so Mr Kutty’s head goes to Kaliya’s body and vice versa. He presses the axe on their necks, moves behind, and notices his mistake. He rushes forward to see if he can correct it, but the wounds have already started to heal, and he knows it’s too late to do anything now. He steps back once again, sits down, not knowing what to do, and waits. A long silence follows. The dead bodies move incrementally. There is heavy panting, slowly the bodies get up from the lying position to a standing position. Initially, they move mechanically as if the blood circulation has just started. Both bodies are exhausted. Mr Kutty tries to stand but falls. Kaliya pukes on the ground. Henceforth the person with Mr Kutty’’s head will be called Mr. Kutty. Similarly with Kaliya. Mr Kutty: What.. What happened? Kaliya struggles to get up, coughs, stays silent, slowly observes his new body. Appanna is in shock Mr Kutty: My hands. Oh my God , this can’t be true! Kaliya: Silence Appanna: Silence Mr Kutty: (Sits with his hands on his face. Observing his hands and body intensely.)

Mr Kutty turns his head towards Kaliya who is looking at him, their eyes locked, have now become big with amazement, they take a few steps towards each other. Kaliya raises his hand, looks at it intently then extends it to touch Kutty’s body. Kutty stares at Kaliya and raises his hairy hands to meet with what used to be his hands, and when their hands meet, they both gasp. Their eyes wide open in shock. They stand still for a few moments. Mr Kutty: (Still staring at Kaliya, chirps) What a wonder! Kaliya: Oh my! Appanna: Oh! Kaliya…. How can I explain this to any of you? I am so sorry...I.I..I.. Mother Kali came..asked me to put the heads… I. I .. mixed the two.. Forgive/ Appanna who is frightened, suddenly stops talking and looks at both of them still facing each other, staring into their eyes. Emits a squeak of regret. Mr. Kutty touches his body which is now kaliya’s. Kaliya finds comfort and does the same for his body which is now Mr. Kutty’s. They observe each other and grieve for what they have just lost. This goes on for some time. There is silence around. Suddenly Mr. Kutty snaps out of it panting and looks at Appanna, stays silent for a moment, then his blank face changes. His eyebrow condenses into his forehead, his eyes more intent. With this he charges at Appanna on his twos but his body feels weak; instead he falls on the ground. Both Appanna and Kaliya look at him. They begin to move towards him, to help them. Mr Kutty: No, don’t come near me you dumb pieces of shit. Look, (To Appanna) what you’ve done. First you cut off my head with that axe of yours and then you turn me into a monkey! A monkey! Is this the real world? Is it really happening? Tell me if this is the truth! Appanna: I….I was just trying to save your life. Mr Kutty: You didn’t save shit.. You gave me this pathetic body, (Touches his feet) which I will have to carry throughout my life now. (To himself) Oh god! Why me? (Pause) (To Appanna) I will see you at the plantations. (Appanna looks really sorry; Kaliya starts laughing hysterically. Appanna and

Mr Kutty stand there confused.) Mr. Kutty: And of course, you find this funny, don’t you? Kaliya: (Walks around, observing his legs.) I would say, think of it, who would have ever gotten a chance to live two lives in one? Mr Kutty: (Eyebrows frown) Well congratulations. Go ahead, live your new life! (Mr. Kutty begins to leave) Get out of my way! Kaliya: Where do you think you are going? Mr. Kutty: Oh now, I need to tell you that too. (Pause) I am going back home! (Silence) Kaliya: I am afraid, That won’t be possible Mr kutty. Mr Kutty: And why is that? (Arms folded) Appanna: It.. It won’t be safe! Kaliya: Isn’t that obvious, after what you did today? Mr. Kutty: What nonsense, I am going back! Appanna: (Scared) Saheb, you should both stay in the forest. Where no one can see you. Kaliya: Stay? Stay in the forest? It is not possible. Appanna: What do you mean? Kaliya: There…. There are rules of the jungle. No human can just enter the forest and live a normal life. It disturbs the system. Appanna: What about your group? They will accept you? Kaliya: This body will threaten them, not only their survival but mine too. Even if I go back the group will be scared, they won’t come near me or even let me in. Appanna: So what do we do? (A long silence.) Kaliya: I will go to the factory and you, Mr kutty will go to the forest. I am Mr Kutty now, and you are Kaliya. Mr Kutty: What? Don’t blather like an idiot. The head defines what you are, okay? You stupid monkey! Of all the human limbs the topmost in position as well as in importance is the head. Which means I am Kutty. Kaliya: That may be. But now the question is simply this: Whose life does it become? I guess our bodies have answered it. This (pointing at his body) belongs to the plantations. And that (Pointing to Mr Kutty’s body) belongs to the forest. There is no way it can work otherwise. Mr Kutty: No. This is not possible. You are just ignorant. In our world, One accepts the person and not the body. Kaliya: If that is your argument, then I have Kutty’s body , so I am Kuttythe person.

Appanna: Ha… Have… (trembling) Have you gone insane Kaliya! Mr Kutty: (to Kaliya) You think you can survive that world? My life? My work? My family? How are you going to manage any of this? Kaliya: We both have better chances of survival this way, (To Mr Kutty). Besides, don’t underestimate what I am capable of! I have been the alpha for a while now. I have learned a great deal about leadership, and politics. Maybe I can make things better for my kind, Maybe I can protect the forest now, which I could have never done before. Mr Kutty: Oh!(Sarcastically) So here is the Kalki, who will end the Kali yug (Laughs) I wait to see what you can do to change the way things are now. Kaliya: I don’t care what you think Mr kutty, If what happened today had never happened, I could have never thought of this. But Mother Kali herself brought this upon us. She wanted this. She wanted me to save the forest. (Pause) This is how it is now. I want to know more, I want to see what is there in your world that causes so much havoc in ours. What is so necessary that none of our lives and homes matter to you. Kutty: (Scoffs) Appanna: Are you sure about this? Kaliya: No, but I have a chance to see differently now/ (Kaliya begins to leave.)` Mr Kutty: Where are you heading to anyway? The factory? The plantation? My house? City? (Mr. Kutty runs toward the entrance of the temple, blocking it.) Kaliya: Get out of our way. Mr Kutty: Oh! What language! How dare you speak to me like that? You are still a monkey, should I remind you of that? Mr Kutty tries to shout, but a loud screechy voice comes out of his mouth instead . He pants, and then frowns. His face becomes pink with anger.

Gasping for breath, he walks towards Kaliya, takes a deep breath and springs at him. Kaliya, shocked , smacks Mr Kutty’s head in reaction. Both fight until their already weak bodies are tired. They drop to the ground and catch their breaths. Kaliya, weak and panting, gets up in pain, groans and starts walking out of the temple. In order to stop Kaliya, Mr Kutty braces up and jumps at him from behind, grabs his head and bites his right year off; Kaliya screams; exasperated, bleeding from his ears, grabs Kutty, shakes him up and puts him down to the ground. Not able to keep up with the fight, both give up. Appanna: Oh mother Kali, What is happening here. Kaliya:(to Kutty) There is no point fighting. We are both weak and this is not going to help. Come Appanna, let’s go! Appanna: But/ (Mr. Kutty gets up ,very weak and injured.) Mr Kutty: Go then, but you think I will stay put while you run away and live my life? Where will you go? How far can you go? I will come one day and show you what I am capable of! Let’s see what will happen then. Appanna and Kaliya start walking. Appanna looks at Kaliya with sadness, wanting to help but then suddenly his expression changes. His nervous face turns into the one which is more decisive. In a moment he faces away and walks with Kaliya. Appanna: We will come and keep a check on you regularly, Mr Kutty. Mr Kutty: Should you not call me Kaliya now? You Bastard! This is all your fault. Kaliya: Let him scream. (To Mr Kutty) My group lives in the tree that you were about to cut.. Tell them I am safe here, maybe they will accept you! Mr Kutty: I know what you want Kaliya, to be a human and live like me. Kaliya: This way we won’t get anywhere Mr Kutty. Stop blaming us. This is how it is now. Mr Kutty: Kaliya’s fancy for a human life cannot decide what we do.. This can’t be a solution. Appanna: Then what can be? Apppana and Kaliya leave the temple. Mr kutty stands on his fours in distress not knowing what to do next. He struggles to walk, he tries to get on his legs, but cannot stand for long, Loud wailing noises escapes his throat without him realizing.

Scene Three

Days go by. Forest Henceforth Mr. Kutty will be referred to as Kutty Kutty has been hiding in the Kali temple. His injured head has slowly started healing. Every now and then, he tries to leave the temple and go back home, but fails (the horror of thinking that he won’t be accepted by his own people refrains him from doing so). He usually sits in a crouched position behind the statue, scared. Loud wails of cry are heard every now and then. When the devotees come to the temple, he hides himself in one corner where no one can see him; Eats what is offered to the goddess as prasad. A mild cyclone, causing havoc in the forest; trees fall; chaos ensues, Kutty’s agony against Appanna and Kaliya keeps on increasing. He hasn’t gotten any food to eat amidst the cyclone. He tries to step out to look for food, and fails terribly. He has now become weak and fragile. Days go by until the cyclone calms down. Kutty sleeps all day because of his weakness. A sunny day, after a week of cyclones, the forest has been restored to its normal wilderness. Kutty hears a group of langurs making loud calls. His hope for survival lightens up. Kutty has been observing the group, as he is clumsy in his ways of moving in the forest, he is spotted by the female alpha. Kutty tries to escape, but is caught, the alpha pins him to the ground and sniffs him, recognizes his smell, takes him with her on her back. Kutty is held captive in one of the trees, constantly watched by the younger Langurs. He is given some leaves and fruits to eat. He finds it difficult to digest. He curses Kaliya every now and then. He is being fed, in captivity . Restricted to the top of the tree; not much activity allowed; Still kept on a watch; His body is healing. Every night he wails Kutty jumps from one branch to another, clumsy, plays with a few other langurs sometimes.

Watches grooming sessions, tries to get groomed by the adult females; is shooed away The langurs teach Kaliya their language and behaviour regularly, threatening him that he will die if he doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t comply. Slightly more versed with the langur language now, Kutty has adjusted to the group. His interaction with the Higher ranking members of the group is still limited.

Scene Four

Few months later The forest; a group of langurs are spread over a few trees, searching for the leaves they could eat. Kutty has long hair now, his face is no more soft, he has some injuries which are healing by themselves. Kutty is sitting on one of the branches, Malla approaches Kutty taking the opportunity when no one else is near him. She sits next to Kutty, who becomes conscious of his behaviour. There is an awkward silence. Malla: What makes me really angry is that everyone in the group seems to have accepted you. But I.. I can’t Kutty: I.. I am sorry if I am a burden. Malla: I thought this body would protect us but you are putting us in danger instead. Kutty: I..I/ Malla: Other groups have become suspicious,You are strange in every way.. If they know you are not one of us, they will know we are weak and attack us. Kutty: Attack? Malla: Yes, For a few years now, we have been having territorial conflicts because of the land clearance. We are one of a few still standing.. Others know this; they will fight us for the territory.. 4 (Kutty looks down in distress) Kutty: Why can’t you do it? Malla: Do what? Kutty: Fight them Malla: I can’t fight them. It had to be Kaliya. The new leader is weak, he won’t be able to resist for long. Kutty: (Silence) I can be of help. Malla: You? Kutty: Yes, I have Kaliya’s body.. It is strong and, It feels like it remembers things...It knows how to fight. It reacts, even though I can’t comprehend

it, it tells me what to do. I can train my mind to listen to the body. Malla: What are you talking about? Kutty: The other day, when I had a training session with Bhuja, I don’t know what got into me-Before I’d even realized it, within a couple of minutes, I pinned him down. I had always thought one had to use one’s brains while fighting. But this body just doesn’t wait for thoughts-It acts. Malla: What does that mean for us? Kutty: I am just saying that give me a chance. Let me take Kaliya’s place. I will prove myself. Malla: (laughs) You can’t take Kaliya’s place, Besides You are a threat in yourself . Kutty: How can I make you understand this? I.. I don’t want to go back, and it is not just about surviving out there, but I am free here, this body, this mind, all of it feels larger and bigger. I am not limited to a system anymore, there is so much more to explore, to see, to redefine what life is. If I go back now, I will lose this freedom, and then I will be Mr Kutty again…... I am scared of that… scared of I will become what I left behind. Malla: The damage you have already done here is irreparable. It is only because of you that we are being attacked and you are expecting me to take you in? Kutty: I can’t go back…Not like this, I am a strange man now… Halfhuman .. Half monkey.. The world has not seen anything like this... Moreover, they will put me behind bars and do experiments on me. Someone else’s curiosity will get me killed. Malla: Let me even put it this way, If the only life I had to risk was my own, and if I could just walk away and take all of the risk with me and (Looks intently at Kutty and talks slowly) if that somehow could make everyone else safe. I would do it. (Pause) Think about it Kutty: Look, this body remembers fighting a leopard.. The stare, the threat with the neck protruding out, the voice thrusting out of this throat to give a call to everyone for safety, to jump across several trees, I remember the fight with the adult males of another group, the aggressive encounters both physical and non physical. I remember the tension this body goes through when protecting oneself. I remember your grooming and the group’s close knit interactions. The touch of every single one here… I can even distinguish between them... I remember all this, through this body…Kaliya left all of this..… and I have it... I can help! Malla: Silence

Kutty tries to put his hand on Malla’s back. She responds by screeching and squealing; moves away from Kutty. Annoyed, Kutty gives Malla a stare threat. Suddenly there are loud call bouts by the other females of the group. Kutty is stunned; Malla gets up and runs to the other side of the tree from where the calls are coming. The leader of the group has an injured left thigh;.There is another foreign adult male langur on the stage now. Malla gives alarm calls to Kutty. Kutty in panic runs behind her One infant is spotted with an injured hand. Her mother appears and takes the infant away The group members have scattered. Malla’s infant has an injured tail; kutty cannot be seen anywhere.Malla’s infant has entered the bamboo bush, he is soon found to be dead. 5 Members of the new all-male group have taken over all the trees on the stage. Loud calls are made by the adult males of the new group, as if to announce victory. Another infant of one of the females can be seen alone with an injured hand on one of the trees. Malla is seen at some distance from the group near the bamboo bush where her infant is found dead. She frequently visits the bamboo bush grieving. Malla is aggressively attacked by the alpha male of the new group near the bamboo bush who is trying to mount her. 6 She resists but fails, Gives a loud threat call, Kaliya realizes that Malla is in danger, smacks the new alpha on the head, Malla escapes. Kutty fights, injuring the new male in a face off, who falls off the ground and dies. Malla is seen grieving her infant.

Scene Five

Months have passed. Kaliya is sitting on the lowest branch of the tree, same as the first scene. He holds his hand out for Appanna. Appanna tries to jump to catch Kaliya’s hand but Kaliya pulls it away every time Appanna: (Shouting) What are you now? Kaliya: (Confused) Uh Kaliya -Kutty- both? Maybe all! Appanna: But you still have the same head and therefore the same mind Kaliya: This body has given me a different identity Appanna: So your body wins over your mind? Kaliya: I don’t know what defines identity. Mind? Body? Appanna: I thought your mind defines what you can be Kaliya: But the body defines who I am, (shakes his head) how can we debate about something which is so confusing? How do I choose between the two? Appanna: I don’t know. You are free to choose. Kaliya: How can I be free when I still have to choose? Appanna: Your freedom lies in your choice. (Grabs Appanna by hand and pulls him up.) Kaliya: (Irritated) For now in this factory, I am kutty. Therefore, I am human. (Beat) Appanna: It.. It is strange that you own a factory now! Kaliya: Can you believe it? (With pride) I own something that I hated throughout my life. And those fools believe it too. Appanna: You sure have put up a convincing act. Kaliya: I put so much time learning this language. I had to make it worth it. (Both smile) (A long Pause) (Appanna finds his position on another branch in the tree.) Appanna: Did you think about it? Kaliya: doesn’t say anything Appanna: It..It won’t take time… It is just a garden.7 Kaliya: See Appanna, (Hesitantly) we will have to cut down on our plantation

lands for the gardens. And the factory is already in loss. Appanna: It is not much land. It is important for us. Kaliya: Let’s not argue about this. I have to think about the plantations now.. Appanna: At the cost of us? You can’t do something as small and simple as making a garden for us? Kaliya: It is not how it looks, if I make the gardens for you, then I make it for everyone, I can’t afford that. (his face drops) The plantations need land. (Appanna stares at Kaliya in anger. Kaliya realizes, becomes nervous.) Appanna: What has gotten into you? Kaliya: Maybe a hope. Appanna: Hope? Kaliya: Of a future. Appanna: (Stares at him intently) What does it look like? Kaliya: It.. it is difficult to define. When I close my eyes I see something huge but beautiful, calling to me, asking me to work for it. It looks very different, nothing I have seen before.. Like a huge piece of junk.. But so attractive and addictive.. It says that I can be whatever I want to be if I work for it. Appanna: (Scoffs) Looks like this factory to me. (Beat) There is no garden in this future? Kaliya: No, only one...There is space for only one. Appanna: (Angry and sarcastic) Kaliya, all alone in his ugly factory with his tiny little garden. Wow! Whose choice is this? Body or mind? (Kaliya snaps out of his imagination. Annoyed by Appanna’s reaction) Kaliya: None of this is easy for me. I have to forget everyday what it meant to be a langur and be a human instead, and I try and try to fit in but fail every time. The only thing that keeps me going is working for this factory. And before you say anything else, this factory provides you with a livelihood and me with a purpose, I guess we both have something at stake. So don’t you talk to me with that disgust on your face. Appanna: Silence (A long pause) Kaliya: Can I share something with you? (Appanna sighs) Appanna: I don’t know… after all this/ Kaliya: Please, let me tell you something. You are the only person, who I can talk to. Appanna: Kaliya, I don’t see the point.

Kaliya: Please.. Please listen to me. (Appanna looks into Kaliya’s eyes and nods.) You know I have been having these ideas..this body and these new ideas. Appanna: What do you mean? Kaliya: I don’t know... I don’t know.. just these things …ideas..in my head! (Shakes his head) like.. Wires... For the first time, it is not just about surviving and keeping my group safe, but it is about. .. thinking about... what this body can execute.. It is like my body is talking to me….telling me things I can do.. see...and not just here.. not just this place, but beyond it.. you know.. beyond my little world.. into the world of humans… outside ..in the ..uh..uh..What is it called? Appanna: What? Kaliya: Uh.. the..opposite of a forest Appanna: Umm. Kaliya: something big, with lights and noise Appanna: A city? Kaliya: Yea.. a city..The world I have memories of, but never seen before. And this factory will allow all of this to happen for me. Appanna: You are ready to do it at the cost of us? For your ideas and adventure? Kaliya: I am just trying to tell you something here. Appanna: What about the garden? Kaliya: What? Appanna: Tell me. Kaliya: I don’t know, I just told you. Appanna: Then we have nothing to talk about. Kaliya: I just want to make the best out of the factory. The better condition it is in, the better it is for you too. There is a bigger picture to this , than just having a garden. (Pause) Appanna: How is it that you don’t remember things I had to do to protect you. Look at you now Kaliya! All has come down to just making the best of what is left? Why will you even care to understand what it would mean for us to have a garden. (Fake Laugh) Kaliya: (Panics) I thought, I could share things with you. Appanna: I don’t think you can anymore. You are going crazy. That’s what people have been saying too. Kaliya: People think I am crazy? Appanna: And now even I do. Kaliya: I thought we are friends, Appanna. Appanna: I came here, hoping that at least you will listen to us, listen to

our needs, Because you were different. I guess not. You have become self indulgent just like any of them. I don’t see why you will need me anymore Kaliya: Why are you saying this? Just because of a garden? Appanna: It is more than that. (Appanna begins to climb down) Kaliya: Wait don’t go. You are my only friend. (Appanna has reached the base of the tree.) I don’t know what’s right anymore. (Is getting more anxious, sweating) What is more important? The land? The plantation? The group? The people? Me? Who am I? What have I become? Appanna: I can see it. You have become one of them. There was a time when I believed that the tea plantation is all I had and I was satisfied, but then you asked me to look at it differently! You told me that I deserve better.. And I did.. It all made sense. I wanted to do right by my people..by you.. But look at the fate. When I am ready, you have changed. You have become the very problem that we had in the first place! Maybe it is not you or Mr Kutty, it is the place, this position, which demands you to be a certain way? I don’t know…What is it? I don’t get it.. Money? Power? Curiosity? Comfort? Greed? Your ideas? Tell me…Say something. (Kaliya does not say anything.) Maybe you can’t see it because you are now a part of it. Although I can, you have merged with this messy, dirty network, you got tricked and there you are threatening the very homes you defended! I will not let you get away with this. Kaliya: I.. I am just.. Help me.. I am lost. (holds his hair and starts pulling it) Appanna shrugs at Kaliya, leaves.

Scene Six

Days go by Long processions of the tea estate workers led by appanna in the plantations. River Tambaraparani flows next to it. Kaliya stands and watches it through the window of his house. Alert and stressed. P1: Sir, Do you think we should strike first before they strike us? P2: Strike? Strike who? P1: The men. P2: What nonsense, they are not going to do anything. They are just protestors. P1: Sir, you don’t understand, you are new to this area. These men, they are dangerous. P2: Are you stupid? How long have you been posted here? P1: Three and a half years now. P2: And, this is what you have been doing? Cooking up stories. P1: No sir, I have made some important contributions to this place. And I know this area thoroughly. But Sir, these men are dangerous, I have seen them before. (Beat) I don’t understand why they are protesting this time? (In low voice) Actually I just came back from a holiday. P2: (Looks at P1 in disgust) They are demanding for a better life. P1: Ah! Again this drama! P2: It is not a drama, they don’t have anywhere else to go and their living conditions are not optimal. P1: This factory is like a huge junk to our beautiful pristine forests anyway. P2: Whatever it may be, Mr Kutty, he should at least do something for the workers he has employed. They have been working here for years. P1: Maybe..But he doesn’t have to! Pause Look at them Saheb. (Sloganeering amongst the protestors has started. Appanna stands up, and addresses the people. Some of them sing songs from their lands.) P1: Sir do you believe that the forests can talk?

P2: Ah! I don’t know. P1: Sometimes I think I can hear them. P2: Good for you. P1: It tells me that I should take away all the humans with me from here P2: What? P1: Yes Sir, They are sad…. Sad because of us P2: Are you sure, It’s the forest talking? Or is it something you want to say? P1: I don’t know. P2: If that’s the case, where will you take them? P1: To the city sir, where there is no problem for anyone. P2: Huh! That’s an easy answer. These people who you want to take away have lived in the mountains for years . They are accustomed to it. You can’t just expect them to go to the cities. P1: Sir, look at them, they keep on demanding, again and again, today it is better houses, tomorrow it is going to be bigger roads for bigger cars and then bigger shopping malls, railway tracks and what not. It will just destroy the forest. How will we stop them? P2: You know about the forest too well, huh? They don’t tell you about the connections they have with these people? P1: At Least not with these people. It’s not their forest, not their land. P2: Oh God! Who are you to say that they should not live here. P1: It’s not me sir, It is the forest talking, I am just saying that they need to move out of here. Leave this place alone. P2: If that’s the case, who will provide you with tea then., the one that you enjoy sipping every ten minutes? P1: I am not sure, maybe I don’t even need it. P2: (Scoffs at P1) Meanwhile the protesters have taken to streets where they are giving slogans, this time even more loudly. Seeing this P1 gets agitated and goes up to one of the people in the crowd, takes out his lathi and starts beating the man who is singing. There is a sudden chaos amongst the people. P2: What? Why.. Why would you do that? P1: Sir, that’s the only way to stop them. They can be dangerous and I don’t want to take any chances. P2: They were just singing.. Aren’t you supposed to be protecting the people instead of beating them? P1: Sir, nothing can be trusted right now. This is a dangerous time. P2: What is wrong with you. It was not dangerous, you are making it so. You have agitated them now. God! I will fire you, as soon as this is all over. P1: Sir, Forgive me, but this was needed to be done P2: I always land up with some idiots. This is their land, Okay? Don’t do

these stupid things! This can turn against us. We can’t just beat a bunch of people for sitting and singing. (A few hours have passed) P1: What are they waiting for? P2: For the collector, so that they can further take their plea to the state government P1: I don’t think it will make a difference. P2: Just shut up! Okay? We will see what happens. P1: Sir, don’t mind me saying this, but don’t you think Mr. Kutty looks like a monkey? P2: What? P1: Yes sir, Like I saw him some time ago, and he looked very different. Like almost an animal. He doesn’t talk or behave like he used to. P2: Are you mad? How did you even get posted here? P1: Sir, I have been thinking that this new Mr Kutty is an animal .The other day, during the dinner party, he was eating like one, he sat down on all his fours and then ate as if he had never eaten before. P2: You are out of your mind. Oh God! Just concentrate here, and do your job okay? P1: It is almost like he is creating his own vanar sena to defeat us! (Appanna starts with some slogans again. The group, either finishes his sentences or repeats it. “ This is our home and we won’t go”. P1 goes towards the crowd with his lathi.) P2: Come back and put your Lathi down. It is an order! (P2 looks at P1 in disbelief that he doesn’t understand what is supposed to be done in this situation) You want to stand there with your lathi ready to be charged at anyone who moves or speaks? You say they are dangerous but you yourself are ready to hit them ? What are you? Hanuman himself ? P1: They are all evil sir, they want to keep harming our mother nature with this ridiculous factory of theirs. This forest used to be untouched and now because of this huge piece of concrete they are just cutting down all the trees. They don’t really care about this place, be it animals or plants. Do you know sir, the factory is built right at the heart of the tiger habitat. Poor them! They can’t even live their lives properly. P2: Shut up! You are an idiot. You have been posted here so that you can look after the forest and the people, not kill them. Your duty is to protect and control anything that goes out of hand. If you start hitting people, it is just going to provoke them. And.. and these people who you call

dangerous, they have had a long relationship with the forest. They know more about it than you ever will, sitting in your office. For sure, they will fight us if you do stupid things. Do you understand? Do you? Now, go and sit quietly on the side and I will keep an eye on the things here. P1 goes and sits on the chair kept near the collector’s office. He seems angry. The crowd has now become louder with people giving motivational speeches. People are heard saying, “Most of the houses are old and dilapidated, unfit for living during the monsoon, Is this the life you want?”; “Five families are forced to live in a single house”. “The medicines are expensive and if we go to the plains for treatment, we do not get full reimbursement,” “ They don’t allow us to make kitchen gardens in our own homes.” (P1 notices the crowd getting agitated. He gets up from his position with his lathi, as if to attack the people.) P2: Oh God! Not again.. Just sit. P1: Sir, you need to stop this. (P1 picks up P2’s Lathi and gives it to him) P2: What are you.. P1: Sir, please. If we don’t strike back, they will come for us. P2: Shut up. (P1 starts lathi charging the protestors, ignoring the orders). P2: (Shouting) Are you serious? I have given you an order to sit. P1: (Shouting) Sir, how can you just stand here? I will have to report this to the higher authority if you don’t do anything. (The crowd is agitated and starts resisting by throwing stones. More police officials eventually join in.) P2: Just stop! Everyone! P1: Sir help us here.... (The protesters have become scared and they start moving towards the river to escape.)8 P2: (to P1) What is happening? P1: They are trying to escape...Sir! Help A stone hits P1 on his head, he screams. P2 runs to help him, Some men from the crowd start throwing chappals at P2. He beats the man who threw a chappal at him. On the other side, there is a huge crowd of men, women and children who are escaping into the river trying to avoid the aggressions of the police. There are loud screams as people start drowning in the river. Police is still beating them. P1 lies on the ground, bleeding P2: Oh, mother Kali, What has happened here? This bloodbath, this is not justice..

Scene Seven

Kutty sleeps in the small house he has created on top of a tree, with leaves and twigs. His bed is made of a collection of dried leaves; on the side there is a piece of broken wood collected from the forest. Along with it is kept a wooden pencil carved and sharpened. Kutty suddenly wakes up and sees his ghost Kutty: You.. you are not real.. You are my ghost? Ghost: You.. you are the ghost. Blind and burnt and now disillusioned. Kutty: You are the one who is mistaken. Ghost: You are right, the Kutty in me is mistaken but this mind is not. Kutty: You brought this upon us. You knew this was wrong all along but you still went ahead. Ghost: You should not have traded me. This forest, I don’t belong here. Take me back to the real world. Kutty: Oh! This is the real world. This is the new life and it has opened my eyes. You should open them too. Ghost: Huh! You think they will ever accept you here? This mind is not to be captured inside this body. It belongs to a human. It is a waste here. You were a factory owner and now, look what you have become. A monkey. (Laughs) A stupid monkey. Kutty: I have tasted the freedom. I can’t go back to that prison. Prison of thought, prison of a life which starts and ends with a meaningless purpose. Ghost: Who are you? Kutty: I.. I don’t know. Why should I care? I don’t need to know Ghost: How can you escape the glory of that life. The love of people, the fame. Your family? Have you forgotten them? Kutty: No, I haven’t. They are very much a part of me. To be with them I don’t need

to become who I was. I receive their love day and night. Ghost: Have you forgotten what it meant? The potential to create, the desire to be whatever you wanted to be? The rush in your body when you see the power and the ability of a human mind. You don’t feel any of that anymore. Kutty: I don’t need to. I am content and peaceful in this silence. I can expand in ways you would have never thought of before. Ghost: What about your future? Is it as feeble and blank as you? Kutty: This is it now. I live my life in the present. Ghost: Oh! You can’t see a future anymore, is that a by-product of becoming a monkey? Huh! You are a disgrace. Kutty: What is so good about you anyway. You are selfish and hungry! Ghost: Oh! Right? From hungry, I remember now. Don’t you miss the food there? The homely daal-chawal, roti, bhindi! Gol gappa? Kutty: Oh shut up! My body has no such desires anymore. Ghost: Is it, so you might have no desire to be folded in your wife’s arms too anymore! Kutty: Don’t you dare talk about my wife! Ghost: Oh! Did I touch a soft spot? Kutty: Just go away! Go! Leave me alone. Ghost: Don’t fight yourself Kutty. This is your desire. Desire to be one again. What is the point of an incomplete life? It is almost complete… It will always be almost. Ghost: Imagine Kutty, you could go back and correct all your mistakes in the factory. Kutty: I should not be seeing you. This is insane. Ghost: But you still can see me. There is a reason for this. Come back. Come back. Come back. Kutty: That’s not possible anymore. Ghost: Look at this body, so ugly, so repulsive. (Shows his mirror image to him) Who will ever love it? Do you want to die alone? Kutty: (His face hangs) No...I don’t want to. (Upright again, more stern) And I won’t. Ghost: Are you sure about it? This body doesn’t have much time left. Kutty: (doesn’t say anything) Ghost: The language. Do you remember it? The complexity and the sound of it. So sophisticated. It was what made you who you were. The power to communicate. The speeches you gave. Kutty: This language is not bad either. Ghost: It is so inferior. How can you give up on years of evolution? Kutty: (Silence) Ghost: Your voice, the songs you sang, so melodious, people would go crazy

over it. You remember? (Silence) Kutty: How do I sound now? Ghost: Mostly screeches. (Pause) Listen (makes him listen to his own voice from the past) This is so beautiful. Kutty: (listening to his own voice) It is. Ghost: Look at yourself (show him an image of Mr kutty from the past) Kutty: Oh! That’s me. Ghost: (Shows him his mirror image against his past image) Kutty: Oh! I was good looking then. I was good looking. I was wrong! Oh! I wish I could go back. I could be that again. I haven’t got those arms, it’s a pity! The hair all over looks so ugly, my hand, so rough and fingers so long, Oh! I can’t stand this hairy body-Oh I would love to have that wonderful soft skin-smooth without any hair on it. The songs, the music- I would love to hear them again- I wish I could sing again. AhOO--OO- COh- KSK. It’s not that. Try again louder from the stomachAAAA --OO--OOO-OOOOOOOO-OOO-O, that’s not it. It’s too feeble, it has got no drive behind it. I am just howling. That’s all I can do now. Howl and make crazy noise. I have only myself to blame. Hey you? Have you left? Hello? Has he left? Come back. Help me. I should have gone back when there was time. Now it’s too late! I am a monster now. I will never become a human again, never, never! I just can’t. I can’t stand the sight of me, these hands. I am too late..too ashamed. Too bad!

Scene Eight

A few days after the procession Malla visits Kaliya, at the same tree as the first scene. Malla: You donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to do this. Kaliya: I have to (stares at his hand and then counts) This is who I am now. Malla: You look disgusting. Kaliya: Others wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t say the same. Malla: This is not what you are supposed to do Kaliya. Our infant has died, our homes are gone! It is time to grieve and come back. Kaliya: Appanna says I am the one who threatens his home. He asked me for a simple garden and I could not even do that. And now, he is behind bars because of me. I have to make things right. I can only do that when I truly become a human, a human who can see their problems. I need to fight! Malla: Fight who? Kaliya: Myself Malla: How will you do that Kaliya: I will forget all my memories as a Langur, This mind keeps me caged, holds me back. I need to move ahead. Malla: But are you ready for any of this? Kaliya: I amâ&#x20AC;Ś if not, I will be. I have to forget everything. Malla: What all will you forget? The Otthu forest? The tall and beautiful trees? The ferns, the sounds of cicadas? Kaliya: Yes, I will forget everything...I have to forget my past. The long runs I did, through the forest trees, hopping from one branch to another, eyeing the females as a teenager and then embracing them in one corner. Malla: You would do that a lot? Kaliya: From what I remember, Yes. I will forget our first trip outside Otthu, in search of a new land, the red and purple Sholas that we saw for the first time. And a sighting of the magnificent Thar near the mines. Malla: Oh Kaliya! Kaliya: I will forget the first time when you groomed me and how it felt.

I will forget the long hours of sleeping next to my family when the winter came. Malla: I canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t do this. (begins to leave) Kaliya: Please, Just stay. Let me forget. I will forget that my body had long fluffy, black shiny hair and that they used to be reddish brown at one time. (Malla sits behind Kaliya and starts grooming his hair.) Kaliya: I will forget the first time we played. Malla: You can keep that at least. Kaliya: No (Malla cleans his ear) Kaliya: I will forget the songs of babblers that my body used to dance to. (Malla grooms his back) Kaliya: I will forget the fierce Uncle who adopted me. (Malla grooms his arms) Kaliya: I will forget the father who died fighting my uncle. (Malla grooms his back again) Kaliya: I will forget the freedom I had. (Malla grooms his neck) Kaliya: I will forget the taste of the fruits. Malla: But why canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t anyone else do it? Kaliya: It has to be me. It is my responsibility. (Malla grooms the other arm.) Kaliya: I will forget the human friends in the forest (Malla grooms his stomach) Kaliya: I will forget the leopards who hunted us! (Malla grooms his hands) Kaliya: I will forget the loud calls and hooting in the mornings and the evenings. (Malla grooms his thigh) Kaliya: I will forget the battle plans I made with my brother (Malla grooms the other thigh) Kaliya: I will forget my brother.

(Malla grooms his legs) Kaliya: I will forget our infant Malla: You can’t do that. Kaliya: I have to! Malla: Go on then! Forget everything else. Forget that you were the little prince for your mamma.9 Forget that you used to sleep on her lap whenever you were cold. That she would carry you along everywhere she went. Forget that she protected you from every other attack your family faced. Forget that you suckled her nipples. Forget that when she refused to feed you, you cried. Forget that she knew what your tantrums looked like Forget that when you were hungry I helped you. Forget that when your baby sister was born you held her Forget that she died as soon as she was born Forget that when my mamma ran away, you came to help me. Forget that since that day we have been through everything together Forget the day when your infant was born And now forget that your infant is dead Forget everything because you want to be human. Kaliya: No I can’t..I want to keep all of this. Malla: Become one of them, you already have their body. Go on, go, learn their language, learn every kind there is. Learn what they eat, how they eat. Learn how to read and write. Get a job, earn money, roam around in those cities, drink water from filters and eat cooked chicken. Make a new life, have a human family, get married, if that’s what they do. Buy food from shops, make tea! Make coffee! Sing songs, watch movies, be creative. Live in buildings and houses. Drive a car or a cycle or a motorcycle. Do a business just like this, grab a land, cut the trees, plant those goddamn crops. Sell it to companies. Trade it across countries. Get more money, make yourself a bigger house. Buy a ship or a cruise, go around the world, see the seven wonders. Travel in airplanes. Join politics, run for elections, become the prime minister, own a country, create an army, grab another country, grab everyone in those countries. Make fences. Get rich and forget the poor, just like you forgot Appanna. Hunt animals, in fact hunt us and keep us as your trophy! And guess what, just like that you have become Mr. Kutty. Kaliya: No… I.. I can’t Malla: You have to now, to protect them.. Right? Kaliya: The skies, the stars, the sunlight/ Malla: I thought you forgot them

Scene Nine

Appanna in one of the jail cells. P1: Hello, Mr Appanna. For the record you are in the Tirunelveli Jail, you have been charged with inciting violence against the police and the government (Appanna does not say anything) P1: Hope your stay here has been comfortable. Food? Water? Fellow jail mates? Any problem? (Appanna does not say anything) P1: Good. You know I had my doubts on you. Yes, I was there, I saw how you were giving the speech. Some spirit you have in there, I have to say. (Appanna doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t say anything.) P1: Why do you think you are here? Appanna: You just said it yourself sir, for inciting violence against the police, the government P1: And do you believe that? Appanna: How does it matter sir? If I was given a chance to say anything, I would not be behind bars. P1: Yeah right? So what were you demanding so bad? Appanna: Freedom! P1: Aha! Dream of every man! And how has that worked out for you? Appanna: As you can see, not very well, whenever we demand for our freedom we are either put behind bars or even worse killed. Just like how it played out. P1: You know, you can be held responsible for the death of 17 men and women and children, who drowned themselves? Appanna: I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t understand how! I did not ask anyone to go to the river. They were escaping your brutality! P1: Ah! Careful there! What you are saying is being recorded!

(Appanna does not say anything) P1: Considering that you will be here for a long time now, do you want some thing? Appanna: Freedom! P1: I think that will take some time. (Appanna does not say anything) P1: Let me ask you this. Are you happy here? Appanna: Happy? Hahahaha, stupid question. But the good thing is Sir, that there is not much of a difference between here and my house. They both look the same, except outside my house I have a better view. P1: Very smart you are huh! So come on, why don’t you use your smart ass and give us some names of others like you. The enemies of our nation? Appanna: What do you mean? P1: People like you. You have been against our beautiful, pristine forest. Threatening the very nature that gave you life. Appanna: I don’t understand P1: Come on now, don’t act as if you have no idea. I know you have an army back there, of animals and men, some Labour unions, I have to say they are very useless, Mr kutty, too is a monkey or rather a human monkey, I know, you have been planning against us, so that you can have our forests to yourself! Appanna: That’s not true. P1: You can tell me, I won’t blurt this out. This is between you and me. Appanna: Umm, sorry what? P1: Tell me.. (Appanna does not say anything) P1: Don’t stay silent now, reply when you are questioned! Appanna: I don’t know what to say. You, think you are above me and that’s why I have to answer all your stupid questions! As a matter of fact I have lived more of a life than you ever will, I don’t have a voice anymore and no matter what I do, I will end up in a place just like this. Is this what you want me to say? You killed many of my people today, because you were scared! Hahaha (Pause) You were scared that we could speak? Interesting! P1: Shut up! I don’t need to hear any of this bullshit. Tell me about the army. (Appanna stays silent.) P1: Say it otherwise I will beat the hell out of you!

(Appanna ponders and replies) Appanna: Well, if you have caught us, then let me tell you, yes you are right, Mr Kutty is in fact a monkey, langur to be specific. And yes, we do want the forest, so we have built up an army of langurs, you know in some sense you can call it Hanuman’s Vanar sena. P1: I knew it Appanna: Except, one thing you have gotten wrong here. P1: What is that? Appanna: We are not the enemies of our nation. We are just simple people fighting for what is ours. We don’t own the forest, we don’t want it all to ourselves. We just demand what is ours. But mind you, in case we don’t get that, we will fight! We will bring our Vanar Sena to your lanka! P1: Huh! Look at you, threatening me! Bloody thieves. (Appanna does not say anything) (P2 enters) P2: What is happening here? P1: Sir.. Sir.. I found out. P2: What? P1: Sir, he confessed.. P2: Oh God! What are you talking about again? P1: Sir, he confessed that they have an army of monkeys..Sir A Vanar Sena! P2: Uh! Why have I not fired you yet! P1: Sir, you can ask him. He just confessed to it. P2: You have been talking to him about all this? You idiot, you got this situation out of control and now someone else is behind bars because of you. P1: Sir, I am telling you.. It is even recorded! P2: I don’t care! You are fired! P1: Sir? P2: Yes! Get out. And that will be your last job in this police station. P1: Sir, but you are getting the wrong impression here. (P2 leaves, P1 has become anxious, he is sweating.)

Scene Ten

Kutty at the Kali temple Kali: Mr Kutty Kutty: Mother Kali! You are here today! Kali: You are back! Kutty: I came back. Check it out. I am a human monkey now. Kali: Holy .. Kutty: Wo! Wo! Language! Kali: Ah! Doesn’t matter, it sounds cool. That idiot of a man. Kutty: Did right by me! I am like some transhuman now. Kali: Why did you come back? Kutty: Needed to ask you for a favour again! Kali: Like a boon to digest chicken? Kutty: That’s one thing. And my body. Kali: Let me see your neck. Kutty: Yes, it is messed up. Kali: That’s badass Kutty: Uh! Yes. I have been like this for months now. I have adjusted to this new life. Kali: What happened? Kutty: Uh! I mean I got used to it. I like it there. Kali: What happened? Kutty: Umm you were here.. You helped Appanna save our lives mother Kali. I will always be grateful to you. Kali: Yeah? Kutty: Yea. But then Appanna mixed up our heads. Although I don’t have anything to complain about anymore. Kali: Yeah, yeah, why are you telling me this again? Kutty: I am sorry mother kali. I thought/ Kali: So how is the monkey world? Kutty: It’s all right. Kali: Did you get any fruits?

Kutty: Yes, I got some before I came. Kali: I mean did you get any for me? Kutty: Oh! No.. I can get it right now, if you would like.. Kali: That’s okay. We can work that out later. Tell me more, what else you found interesting out there? Kutty: Uh.. Uh.. Lots of different kinds of leaves. I never thought leaves could be so distinct and tasty. Kali: Well nature is mysterious. (Long awkward silence) Kutty: So Mother Kali….. Kali: Yes! Kutty: I came here to ask, if you could make me complete ? Kali: What do you mean? Kutty: I am half human - half monkey. Make me one! Kali: Why would I do that? Kutty: Because I don’t fit anywhere properly Mother. I don’t have an identity. My society? Where is it? I have tried to fit in the animal world, but that’s not who I am. I know I can’t go back to the human world, because I will be treated as a case study. It is a life of loneliness and I can’t live like this anymore. Kali: That’s not enough. Kutty: What? Kali: That’s not good enough a reason. It is just selfish! Kutty: Uh! What can I say? Just fulfil this. I will never ask for anything else. Kali: I saved your life. Kutty: I am grateful for that, just please, complete me! Kali: You don’t look grateful at all. Give me a good reason! Kutty: Ummm (Silence) I.. I think I can help change things out in the factory. Make better choices, for better lives. Kali: How will you define a better life? Kutty: Protect the animals, protect my people. Kali: Protect? Kutty: Yes. Kali: Who are you to protect anyone? Kutty: I used to be someone. Someone, people used to listen to. Kali: What makes you think, what you do to protect them is the right thing. Kutty: I don’t know. How else does anyone take any action? Everyone starts from a place of thinking that they are right. No one thinks what they are doing is wrong. Kali: What do you think is the right thing for your people?

Kutty: Freedom...Freedom to say anything they want, freedom to have faith in anything, freedom to unite, freedom to fight back. Kali: But that is provided by the state. How is what you offer going to be any different? Kutty: Mother Kali, you know, that is not how things really work here. My people who were saying out loud what they wanted, what they deserved, were beaten to death. What kind of freedom is that? Kali: So what are you going to do? Kutty: Pick a fight. To be free. Kali: And then who will you become? Kutty: A freedom fighter (chuckles) Kali: What about the langurs? Kutty: I have spent enough time with them now. They deserve to have their homes to themselves. Kali: What will you do for them? Kutty: The same, fight to be free Kali: But you have always been their oppressor Kutty: I now I am them, being oppressed. Kali: But you will become the oppressor again. Kutty: That is not how I look at it. There is more to it. I have been in their shoes! Well, they don’t have shoes. But I can’t do that to them again! Kali: It is not about you, it is about the idea, the oppressor will always oppress. If it is not you, then someone else. Kutty: And that is why I will fight! Kali: There you go! You have a community of fighters. Kutty: But I am alone! Kali: Only, you are not! Kutty: How? Kali: You are a Langur now, Kutty: No, that can’t be it. I fear Mother Kali, that in this world, I will forget what I used to be. As good as it may be here, I don’t want to give up on my history. This life is one of wonder, thrill, excitement but no one knows me here. I look into their eyes and realize they don’t understand me. They don’t know what I have done, what my life used to be, the things that I enjoyed, the things that I grew up with, the food that I ate, the children I had, the school that I have been to, the mother that I had. I have tried, the only time I feel that I am a part of them is when we are fighting. They have adopted me because of Kaliya’s body! At first I felt great because I did not have to belong to anyone. But when I see them grooming , playing, sleeping together, I start wanting to be one of them. I want that.. I want to go back to my wife, my children, my factory, where people can see me, respect me, love me/

Kali: I think there is a lot that you have missed here. You need to learn from them. They are not very different, apart from their bodies and mind. But beyond all of this exists something, which is greater than all these physical aspects of life. Something that connects you to them,them to you, and all other beings. There is a messy network of things, around you, underneath you, above you, which you can’t see and therefore cannot comprehend. You are not bigger or smaller than them. You are just you! And they are you. You are them. That’s all you need to know and understand, and there will be a community beyond all your physical capacities to fight whoever and whatever you want. I am also a part of you. How do you think you can see me? I am nothing physical, and yet, here you are, talking to me asking me for my help! But mind you I am nothing different. Just look within you and you will have all the answers that you need. If you have understood this today, then this body or mind won’t make a difference. So be it- You will be one! You will be complete. You will be a langur! Before Kutty could say anything, his head changes into the one of a langur! Sudden;y there are loud sounds of drums in the background. Mother Kali disappears, Kutty is sitting on all his fours. Totally transformed into a Langur First he thought it was just a dream, but soon he could feel it in his body the change.

Scene Eleven

Kaliya and Malla in the forest. The group’s location. Malla is grooming herself. Kaliya is dressed in a shirt and pants. He is sitting on one corner looking out, sometimes glancing at Malla. On the other side of the forest,the plantation area is being expanded. Kaliya sighs Kaliya: (Places his hand on Mallas’ back.) (Malla looks back at Kaliya and gives him an open mouth threat.)10 Kaliya: (Makes open play mouth gesture then looks at Malla again) Malla: (Stares at Kaliya and rapidly bobs her head.) Kaliya: (Looks away, moves away from her.) Kaliya: (Makes open play mouth gesture again.) Malla: (Inclines her head forwards at Kaliya, her lips retracted, mouth opening and closing, as if biting air. Her mouth opens and closes rather fast, grunts.) Kaliya: (Runs two feet away from Malla; Hiccups, Mouth opens rapidly and then closes, reminiscent of human hiccup.) (A long silence follows) Malla: Only, If you are staying. Kaliya: No I am not, I have to look after the work at the factory. (Malla jumps at Kaliya and smacks his head . He falls onto one of the branches. Kaliya frowns and grins.) Malla: You don’t even care about us. I thought at least you will try to protect us but instead you are now encroaching into the forest. The factory took everything from us and you still..still are a part of it. Kaliya: I want you to see what is there in the factory Malla. The hopes it carries with it. I want you to see what I have done. Malla: Tell me what are the hopes it carries? Huh? Kaliya: The future, the things that we can do together, the homes that we can make, the new world that we can see. There is a possibility of innumerable connections. Malla: I don’t want to see anything. Just go from here. Don’t ever come in front of me.

Kaliya: What is so wrong in having a desire to live a human life? Malla: Your desires are selfish and at our cost. Kaliya: I will protect you. This is the last patch of forest clearing. Malla: Oh! You are disillusioned. It won’t stop. It is this land now, it will be another tomorrow and you won’t know when all of this is gone. Kaliya: You don’t understand, I have to do this. Malla: Why are you here? Kaliya: I hoped that you would come with me and see what I am doing for the workers. Malla: I don’t want to see our demise by you. Kaliya: It is nothing like that. (Malla sits where Kaliya is sitting and puts her hand on his back.) Malla: You are our last hope. This connection we have had with the forest, it is far greater than the plantations. You know that. Every patch you clear, we lose our loved someone, we lose our forest guides and spirits and day by day we become weak. Please don’t take them away. Just try to remember how this was so important for us. What it meant, You may try to forget everything but the connection will be very hard to forgo Kaliya. Kaliya: The land provides so much for the workers. They are connected to it. The moment, the factory falls, the people fall, the workers become weak. I can’t let that happen any more.I have to be with them, work for them. Malla: You will be doing it at our cost. (Pause) What about the millions of earthworms crawling deep in the earth Kaliya: What about the land they dig to plant seeds with their sweat Malla: What about the healing powers of the plants? Kaliya: What about the hands that sow the seeds Malla: The talking trees Kaliya: The laughters of children Malla: The croaking frogs Kaliya: The homes that they make. Malla: The bonds that we share. Kaliya: The community that they create Malla: The smell that informs us about the rains Kaliya: The stories about the forest and their people Malla: The land that gives us fruits Kaliya: The soil that connects them to their roots Malla: What about the rows of deadly tiger marks, the wild Gaurs roaming, the leaping fish, the peacock, the birds that love the moon. What about them? Kaliya: It is the only safe place the workers have

Malla: The only safe place we have. (Squeaks.) (A long silence) (Then gets up suddenly and shakes her head again and again.) Oh! You have become so blind. The factory has made you blind. (Pause) (Frustrated walks along the branch of the tree back and forth.) I can’t let you do this. I can’t Malla jumps at Kaliya. Surprised, he reacts and both fight. Both trip at some point and fall off the tree. Kaliya lands on one of the branches, his hand injured, holds on to a branch. A loud thud is heard from the ground. Realizing, Kaliya screams. The birds fly away. There is complete silence in the forest as if it is mourning. Kaliya rushes down the tree to look for Malla, finds her fainted, he puts her on his back and walks. Kaliya: It will be all fine Malla, I will get you to the doctor. Malla: (In a faint voice) Hmmm? Kaliya: Don’t worry.. I.. I am sorry. Malla: It is alright… Can you put me down? I can’t/ Kaliya: It is not far from here. Just a little bit Malla: Please don’t Kaliya: What? Malla: (faintly ) Please don’t enter the forest. It was your home, remember that. Kaliya: I.. I told/ Malla: Please, there can be many plantations but only one home. Make it your home Kaliya: I will try. Malla: Fight! Release yourself from this cage. You are more than that. Kaliya: You need to stop talking. You are very weak. Malla: Please. Don’t fight us. You are on the wrong side. Kaliya: What am I supposed to do?

Malla: Choose again, this time with both your mind and body. They are not separate. Work together with the people and the animals, maybe that’s the solution to this chaos. Kaliya: (Silence.) (Kaliya walks with Malla on her back towards the factory.) (Kutty sees them, rushes to Kaliya to see what happened.) Kutty: Is she sleeping? Kaliya: She is not well. (Kutty tries to wake Malla up) Kaliya: Be gentle with her. She is exhausted. (Kaliya keeps Malla on the ground.) Kaliya: Oh she must be so weak. Kutty: She’s gone Kaliya. Kaliya: Don’t say that. She is just resting. Kutty keeps Malla on the ground. Kaliya realizes that Malla is dead for certain. He collapses on his knees. Kutty looks down and strokes Malla’s hair. Kaliya strokes her, hands, trying to wake her up by touching her hands, arms and her face.

Scene Twelve

Announcement on the speaker. â&#x20AC;&#x153; The State government is taking over the factory and the forest land starting next month. The tea factory wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be functional in its original form, but shall have far better developmental opportunities. The workers are requested to make arrangements and leave the forest as soon as possible. The forest land will come under the government jurisdiction and it will hold all property rights of the land. The government shall do everything in its capacity to look after the flora and fauna of the region and shall use the ecosystem services for the better future of our ever growing and beautiful stateâ&#x20AC;?11 Kaliya stares out of the window of his house. Kutty hears the announcement from the forest and rushes to inform all the other animals.

Scene Thirteen

A few days later Kaliya meets Appanna in Jail Kaliya: Appanna? (Appanna who is initially not visible, comes to light as he sees Kaliya.) Appanna: Kaliya.. Is that you? Kaliya: I am sorry Appanna.. I should have known better.. I could have made better decisions..I was confused. But I am trying everything to make it right. Appanna: I heard. I am sorry to hear about Malla Kaliya: It was all my fault/ Appanna: I should have not have/ Kaliya: You should have. That is not how any of us deserve to live. I will get you out of here.. Appanna: How? Kaliya: The workers have been protesting for whoever has been locked up. Your wife is also a part of it. Appanna: You promise, you will get everyone else out too? Kaliya: I will try. Appanna: Promise me. Kaliya: I..(Kaliya looks intensely at Appanna) I will. (Appanna smiles.) Kaliya: The factory land will be taken over by the government soon Appanna: What? Kaliya: Yes. In a few months from now. They say that it is their land now. Appanna: Everything I did, was for nothing Kaliya: It was. It brought us all together. Appanna: What are you going to do now?

Kaliya: I can’t just sit anymore. I will fight for the people here and for the forest. That’s what even Malla wanted. (covers his face with his hands)....I was so blind Appanna: You will fight for us? Kaliya: Yes, That’s all of what is left. Appanna: The tea factory will not last for long Kaliya: But you will, and I don’t want to give up on you, just like you didn’t give up on me. Appanna: After I am out. I will leave, like I have in the past. No one will ever think about me or my family. They won’t remember us, you also don’t have to! After all we don’t belong to any place as such. We don’t have our lands, our homes, we take what is given to us. Kaliya: This land is yours. Appanna: You know when I was a kid, I used to think, everything within the boundary of this nation could be my home, but the older I get, I realize that is just another lie I was told. And look at this, I am a prisoner now. Kaliya: To think of it. We are the same. No real identity; no real home and now, (Sighs) no family. Appanna: What do you think will happen after the factory is gone? Kaliya: As much as I have understood from what happens here, I think some big people will take over. Just like that, all our land will be given to someone else. Appanna: The government will give away the land to the big people? Kaliya: Yes, they will do it for the profit. Money is such a mysterious thing though, you know, I had never seen it in my life before, but then it turns out it showed me so many dreams and so much power. It presented me with opportunities. It lured me! And I got hypnotized by it. Appanna: Then, I am glad I never had much. Pause When someone else comes and takes over, your kind will be threatened again Kaliya: Just like how I threatened my own. How I threatened my Malla. Appanna: We will fight then. Kaliya: Just like how you did/ Appanna: We will fight all our lives? Kaliya: If that’s what it takes. Appanna: Then who will it be for? Kaliya: For everyone who will see it. (Beat) But we need to unite. Appanna: Unite with? Kaliya: The langurs and the workers Appanna: Keep them out of it. Kaliya: We can’t stand divided amongst ourselves

Appanna: Animals and humans together? That is not possible. Kaliya: The other day when I was working with the people in the plantations, a few outside monkeys came and ravaged the crops that we had been growing for a while. Usually Babu, annoyed by monkeys, scares them away, but that day, a young monkey came and touched Babu’s legs with her delicate fingers. He instead picked up a fallen fruit and gave it to her. He felt pity for her because she didn’t have a mother. Do you see that? There is so much power in this relationship. There is such a beautiful possibility. We are not different Appanna. We just need to realize this connection.12 Appanna: But I tried before. Kaliya: You were alone. Appanna: I am sacred Kaliya: Even I am. Appanna: Who will we fight? Kaliya: Whoever takes our land from us. Appanna: The government then? Kaliya: Them and more. It is not just the government who is our enemy, or just the big people who we think will eventually take over our land. I have seen it, experienced it and been it. Mr kutty was the enemy once and then I was. You are a part of it too. We can’t really see it, it is everywhere but still hidden, hidden in every human that you see, everywhere you go. It is so attractive and additive. It makes you feel like you need it, to survive. It gives you power and strength but at the cost of who we were and who we truly are. It takes away what we have and makes us believe that it is the best way to live, forcing us to all be the same. And mind you, if you take another path, it will crush you, keep you on the side, taking away all the knowledge you have. After Malla’s death I realized that I was wrong this whole time. I thought I was doing something good for the people here but then I was just an equal part of the enemy because I had forgotten my roots. I can’t let that happen again. We can’t let it take over our mind, our bodies, our forest, our skies or our rivers. Kaliya: So how do we identify our enemy? Appanna: Whoever tries to break us apart. Whoever distinguishes between you and me and tries to take away our land. Kaliya: What happens when Mr kutty comes back? Appanna: We will be together. Kaliya: I don’t see that happening. Appanna: It will. We are one now. We are humans, monkeys, insects, plants. We are all one. (Kaliya looks at Appanna, gives him a hopeful smile and leaves.)

Scene Fourteen

A week later Appanna has been released from Jail. The same tree from the first scene. Kutty hangs from the branch. Kaliya is trying to engrave something on the tree. Kutty: Screeches (Kaliya startled, drops the tool from his hand.) Kutty: Haha! You are scared. Kaliya: I am not scared. I was never scared. What are you doing up there? Kutty: What is a monkey doing up on a tree? (Pretends to think) What are you doing down there? Kaliya: Trying to write. Write Mallaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s name Kutty: Can you still speak monkey language? (Kaliya tries to communicate in the Langur language but has forgotten it.) Kaliya: You took it away. Kutty: No, you gave up on it. You are a human now. Kaliya: No, I am creating something between the two worlds. I will be that. Kutty: Was I ever human? Kaliya: Do you remember this body? Kutty: I have forgotten it. Kaliya: Did the langurs let you? Kutty: No one hurts me anymore. (Appanna enters; walks to the tree where Kaliya and Kutty are.) Appanna: Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s good to see you like that Mr Kutty. Kutty: It is what mother Kali wanted! (Pause) Appanna: So are we ready? Kutty: Yes, I have been waiting for it. Kaliya: We start now! We get our lands back! We fight. Appanna: The government is going to occupy our factory tomorrow and maybe the forest too, very soon.. We prepare ourselves for a fight. This is going to be a difficult one. Kutty: What about the rest of us?

Appanna: We do whatever it takes to protect it. All are invited to fight for. our lands. We will work together, for ourselves and everyone whose land this is. Kutty: How will we do it? Kaliya: It is important for us to first realize and see the enemy, that’s how we will fight them. They work with the strategy of separatism. First they will try to separate you from me, then me from my kind, based on many different criteria. Just like how it happened. This separation gives rise to violence, first in our minds and then in our everyday lives. Beware. You remember when I had the thought about making money? Well if I had succeeded in doing the same I would be living on your hard earned wages by doing nothing much. I would have become richer and richer and you would become poorer and poorer. And that would make us weak, weak to stand together, because we will be separated by the great wall. It is quite smart, when I think of it now! We would be fighting each other. That’s what they have done and that’s what they will do. Appanna: But we will stand together this time. All of us and create a community where all are equal. That is how we will be able to put up a good fight. Tomorrow when they come, we will stand united, occupying the factory and defending the forest. They will have to go through us before they do anything to the land. Kaliya: The question now is simply this how do we fight? Appanna: They have numbers, power and if needed ammunition. Kutty: Mother Kali believed in something. She believed in the power of earth. The spiritual nature of land, rivers, mountains, stones, animals, plants and humans. When we all can see the bigger consciousness of the earth at large, Mother Kali said we will get our answers. All we need to do is listen to our mind and body as a whole, and we all can be one. Kaliya: But how do we do that? Kutty: Wait.. (A moment of silence. Mr Kutty closes his eyes. Appanna and Kaliya look at him with strange eyes.) Can you see it? Deep down inside you are the land (As kutty speaks, everyone on stage starts transforming into the land.) You are the river (Everyone turns into a river.) You are every plant on this earth (Everyone turns into plants) You are the mountain (Everyone turns into mountains)

You are a rock (Everyone turns into rocks) You are the birds (Everyone turns into birds) The cicadas (Everyone turns into cicadas) The fish (Everyone turns into fishes) The tiger (Everyone turns into a tiger) The leopard (Everyone turns into a leopard) The elephants (Everyone turns into elephants) The forest people (Everyone turns into forest people) And you are the langurs (Everyone turns into Langurs.) (Appanna and Kaliya have been transformed.) This is it. This is the larger truth. My consciousness is yours, and yours is mine. It is our fight, not just yours or mine. We fight for the earth tomorrow. And we will succeed, for we have the support of everything we just became. Appanna: (shivering) I have never felt like this before Kaliya: I am everything! I am Malla , I am Kaliya, I am Appanna! Appanna: I guess, what that police officer said was true. We do have a Vanar sena after all! (They Laugh.) The whole forest and its beings have now turned into Langurs. They have a capacity to turn into whatever they would like to be. The next day, the whole forest with itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s different beings united together in interchangeable forms are standing in the factory. The world has never seen anything like this before. The police, forest department and the big people are on the other side. There is a long standing fight, which goes on for three days. (This can be represented through visuals on screen on a stage, which can be a messy representation of technological weapons fighting against nature.)

Scene Fifteen

In the forest. All are standing, all have come back to their normal forms, Appanna is sitting Kutty: Give him some water (Appanna goes and gets Kaliya some water in a leaf.) Kaliya: They have taken down the factory. Kutty: Was anyone killed? (Kaliya does not say anything) Appanna: Is everyone okay Kaliya? Kaliya: Calm down. No one died this time. They have asked us to retreat! Appanna: What about the workers? Kaliya: They are safe. They have gone to their homes for now, but I have asked them to come down to the forest. They will be living with us for now. Kutty: Have they burned my house? Kaliya: Uh.. (Lowers his head) Yes. But your family is safe, They are with the workers. Appanna: Everything from the factory is gone? Kaliya: Mostly, but there is still hope. Kutty: We should all celebrate. Appanna: Celebrate our failure? Kutty: At Least no one got killed. Come on, can’t you see, there is no failure here. When in history could this have happened? Huh? We are all together. Appanna: That’s true. We are here, and they can’t take away our forest from us. What we have created here cannot be broken by any fight. Kaliya: No one can take this away. Kutty: In any case, they won’t dare enter the forest. They are scared. They have not seen anything like this before. Appanna: They have guns Kutty: We have nature by our side. Look at this, look around you.

Kaliya: Tomorrow we go again! And if everyone is on our side, we will start something new. We will grow our own crops, a small factory, only this time it wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be a factory made of machines, but by people and animals together. And mind you, we are not alone here. There are many more like us, we will find them and form something which builds a bigger resistance to the outside world. We are building a new community. Whoever wants to be a part shall sign the document today. (The document hangs from the tree on the stage, which the tree itself reads.) TREATY OF FRIENDSHIP, COOPERATION AND MUTUAL ASSISTANCE BETWEEN THE PEOPLE, THE ANIMALS AND THE FOREST This document highlights the resolution between the cooperating parties who will be in alliance to create a new society. It reaffirms their desire for the establishment of a Collective based on the participation of all humans and animals. Being desirous of further promoting and developing friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance. Who, having presented their full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed as follows: 1. All human and animal shall be treated equal 2. The people and nature shall coexist harmoniously. 3.All members irrespective of their form of existence shall have the right to freedom. 4. The well being, integrity and dignity of soil, water, mountains, plants and animals should be one of the primary concerns of this new society. 5. The needs of the most vulnerable like the lion tailed macaque, Nilgiri Langurs, Nilgiri tahr, indigenous communities ,the plantation workers etc. shall be given prime importance until recovery. 6. Animals, the forest and the indigenous communities shall hold all the rights over their lands 7. The knowledge systems of the forest shall be used for the creative and social development of the forest. 8. Any activity which requires human intervention like tea plantation, logging of wood, into the land will be taken ahead only if complied by the committee of forest and its beings. 9. The tribes living in the forest, shall not be disturbed. 10. The society will not be bound by the production of what the world demands but only what is required for the self sustenance of the society. 11. The plantation workers shall have all the creative power and freedom to the factory, if and when occupied. 12. The production of any crop solely lies on the worker forces.

(Langurs, monkeys, wasps, snakes, birds, bees, cicadas, insects , wild dogs , squirrels, trees, and the workers, all come to sign the document.) ALL TOGETHER To usTo our landTo our animals, plants and fellow humans.

The End.

Embodying the Play In order to enact the play, several approaches were adopted. One of the first attempts was to embody the character of Kaliya. As mentioned in the Introduction, the play was written keeping in mind, the idea of evoking ecological consciousness in the mind of the reader towards the non-human world. The play lays emphasis on Nilgiri Langurs, a primate species of Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu. They are listed as ‘Vulnerable’ according to the IUCN red list threatened by Habitat destruction, habitat fragmentation, hunting and poaching, a representation of which is in the play. Kaliya’s character which is of a monkey was necessary to embody as understanding the conscious state of an animal is a difficult process. Appanna and Kutty’s character were also explored to an extent. The following few pages, are representative of the process of converting the script into a play which would eventually be performed in front of an audience. Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic lock down, the play could not be materialized, as expected. None the less, a few mediums like live video sharing and play video on social media were explored.

This work would not have been possible without the support of My mentors, Srivi Kalyan and Ramneek Singh My friends, Srishti Srivastava for helping me review the script and being the co-actor for many of my explorations, Sakshi Yadav for Videos and photography and Mandali for the many play reading and writing sessions.

Appendix 1. The people working under the BBTC, (Bombay Burmah Trading corporation) tea estate are mostly migrant workers brought from Assam and West Bengal. The tea estate corporation has not done enough to provide the workers with houses and good living conditions. Barely fifty percent of the employees had been provided households. Even for those who had houses, they were dilapidated, unfit for living conditions during the monsoon season. Apart from that, the medical facilities are not available and even if it is there, the medicines are too expensive [S. Vishvanathan,”A bitter Harvest,” Frontline - India’s National Magazine, (1995), https://frontline.thehindu.com/other/ article30257864.ece] 2. In the book Primate conservation, edited by His serene Highness Prince Rainier III and Geoffery H bourne, report that Nilgiri Langurs in the Cardamom hills of the Periyar sanctuary are even shot in the belief that they damage the crops. Their population in the region which was significant several year ago has now been virtually eliminated. 3. The BBTC administration currently faces losses, as according to a company source production in its three estates has drastically come down to around nine lakh kilos from the previous 30 lakh kilos due to the changing climate, reported by the Deccan Chronicles in an articles titled Tirunelveli: Bleak future awaits Manjolai estate tea workers in south, written by M Aurloli, (July 2019). 4. In Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve almost 2/3rd of the forest has been cleared out for the tea plantation. (Kavana, Erinjery, Mewa, 2014 . [Theethira S. Kavana , Joseph J. Erinjery,Mewa Singh “Male takeover and infanticide in Nilgiri Langurs Semnopithecus johnii in the Western Ghats, India” Folia Primatol (2014); 85:164–177] 5. Male takeovers and infanticides in Nilgiri Langurs are more likely to occur when the density of individuals in a particular area is high [Sterck, 1998; Singh et al., 2006]. In KMTR study area, the density of Nilgiri langurs (at

34.6 individuals/km 2 ) is quite high [Ramachandran and Sugantha-sakthivel, 2010]. The high density of Nilgiri langurs in the region may have been due to habitat saturation caused by the conversion of nearly two thirds of evergreen forests in the area to tea plantations around 60 years ago [Rama chandran and Sugantha-sakthivel, 2010]. 6. “The sexual selection hypothesis suggests that the newly immigrated male may assault and kill the infants (mostly when the male is unrelated to the infants) already sired by the previous resident male in order to potentially gain reproductive fitness by creating a chance to sire its own infant by potentially reducing the interbirth intervals of the females and gaining more time for his own reproduction.” [Theethira S. Kavana , Joseph J. Erinjery,Mewa Singh “Male takeover and infanticide in Nilgiri Langurs Semnopithecus johnii in the Western Ghats, India” Folia Primatol (2014); 85:164–177] 7. The estate workers were not allowed to have kitchen gardens in their backyard in the Manjolai estate of Tirunelveli district. This was one of the reasons they protested against the state government and the factory owners in 1999 as accounted by one of the workers interviewed inManjoli tea estate. 8. “On 23 July 1999, a large number of labourers from the Tea estates of Manjolai congregated in Tirunelveli and marched towards the Collectorate demanding the release of a number of estate workers, who were arrested earlier for staging protest demanding better wages. The workers were being paid 70 per Day then and they were demanding the pay to be increased to 100. The workers were also demanding maternity leave, periodical breaks for women during the eight-hour-long duty. They were also opposing the decision of the estate owners to force workers to stay in sheds with poor facilities and deny right to rear cattle or even raise Gardens. A large contingent of stone throwing and lathi-wielding police brutally assaulted the protesters forcing them to run towards the river. As police continued to chase them to the river, many got into the river and drowned”. However their struggle, has not gone futile completely and now, they get a daily wage on par with their counterparts in Kerala state and higher than the workers in Karnataka. [Wikipedia-the free encyclopedia , “Manjolai Riots, 2020: https:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manjolai_Riots] 9. An account of social behaviour of snub nosed monkeys of Shangri-la. A documentary made by filmmaker, Xi Zhinong, this film is a true story of a family of Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys living in the highest forests in the world. The documentary is about a family led by a formidable fighter and his fighting force who guard a troop of 8-10 families. The story of

these monkeys represents that their survival depends not just upon strong defensive strategies; it also relies upon the cooperation and interdependence of them all. Considering the primate behaviour is similar to that of Nilgiri Langurs I have used instances from the lives of these monkeys in my play to form memories for Kaliya and Malla. 10. Representation of various communication strategies Nilgiri langurs use in order to communicate through sounds, gestures and expression. The account is inspired from the paper Communication matrix of Nilgiri Langur of South India, written by F.E prorier (1970) 11. The plantation located in the KMTR region belonged to the erstwhile Singampatti Palyam. It was a private forest gifted to the Chieftain of Singampatti by the Maharani of Travancore for helping her to quell a court mutiny. This area was leased by the Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation by the Zamin of Singampatti in 1929, following the Zamin dari Abolishment act enacted by the Government of India, the management of Singampatti forest was taken over by the state department in 1956. The state forest department became the lesser and part of the land has also come under the revenue department. The plantation lease expires in 2027 (Sources: lease deed) and it is expected that the land will be transferred to the forest department since it is located in the core area of the tiger reserve. The plantation workers face fear and anxiety as their source of livelihood will be taken away. I have used this instance here to represent something that happens in the play, as a current event predicting the future of the workers and the animals once the factory is taken over. 12. An account from Radhika Govindrajanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s book Animal intimacies, chapter Outsider Monkey, Insider Monkey, situated in the village of Harkoli in Uttarakhand, where she encounters the relationship between the juvenile female monkey and Babu an old farmer in 2014. She describes how moved she was when she saw a brief glimpse of tenderness in a relationship that was otherwise marked by resentment and desperation. I have used this realization of the author to demonstrate the feeling of togetherness and oneness that Kaliya seems to realize by the end of scene 13.

Bibliography 1. The idea of the second scene has been taken from Girish Karnad, Three Plays, Naga Mandala, Hayavadana, Tughalq,Oxford University press (1994) 2. The characters of P1 and P2 in scene six are inspired from Abhishek Majumdar , The Djinns of Eidgah, Oberon book London (2013)