Act II

Scene I

Man: Someone saw that boy in Kathmandu.

Woman: Where?

Man: At the bus station.

Woman: You must try to find him in his village.

Man: I have told some of my friends and they will get him arrested.

Woman: Was she with him?

Man: No, he was alone. They say that he must have left her somewhere in India.

Woman (bursts into tears): Hey, Bhagvaan! What will happen to my daughter?

Man: Calm down, we will find her.

(Their son enters the room and takes a seat. He has passed his exam and he seems to be very happy.)

Man: Chora, you can go to any other place but not to Bangalore.

Boy: Why, pa? What is wrong with Bangalore?

Man: Don’t ask me anything about that!

Boy: All my friends are going there. Why can’t I go to Bangalore?

Man: I can’t send you to India. I am afraid.

Boy: Nothing will happen to me. They have a wonderful college hostel there and people are friendly there.

Man (Sotto Voce): How should I tell him that there is nothing wrong in going to India! For Nepali girls India is a market and they disappear without even a trace! How can I send him there?

Boy: You did not answer, pa?

Man: We will talk about it some other time. I have a headache. Tell your mother to bring a cup of tea for me.

(In the kitchen, the woman is trying to make her son understand that his father is disturbed because of his elder sister’s disappearance. She tells him about the boy who she was in love with. She assures him that she will convince his father and he will agree to send him to Bangalore.)

Woman (giving him the cup of tea): Will they find her?

Man: Keep faith in God, everything will be all right. After all she is our daughter. We will bring her back to our house. Then we will all be happy together.

Woman: They say that girls are sold in India?

Man: Not in all cases, but thousands of our girls are in the brothels there. Some were taken with force and some were sold by their relatives. You please don’t talk about that. I fear to talk about all that.

Woman: What if our daughter…?

Man: No…she is educated and she understands everything.

Woman: What if they force her to do the things which she does not want to?

Man: Mala, please don’t make your stupid surmises. I am already very disturbed. God will take care of everything. It is the price of our sins committed in our former lives.

Woman: I will seek the audience of Lord Shiva in Pashupati Temple and offer a goat there after her return.

Man: She will come back, keep faith. Time will take care of everything. Nothing lasts forever. Our good days will come back soon.

Woman: You are such a nice man. I am proud of you. Every child should have a father like you and every woman a husband like you.

Man: Now go back to your kitchen and cook something for chutki. She will be back from school any moment.

(The woman reenters the kitchen and the man picks the newspaper lying on the sofa. He begins to scan the news items.)