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 The bridge to Calcutta One act play By Majid October 23, 2002 The Iranian ..............................Pegah ..............................(Pegah is looking out of the hotel room window. ..............................She turns and catches Jubin staring at her from the ..............................bed.) I wish you wouldn't stare at me like that. ..............................Jubin I can't help it. You looked so distant. What were you thinking of? ..............................Pegah It wasn't anything important. ..............................Jubin There was something about the way you were standing there---staring out like that. It was strange, in a melancholic sort of way. ..............................Pegah I said; it wasn't anything important. ..............................Jubin Tell me anyway. ..............................Pegah Tell you what Jubin? Why do you want to know? Can't I drift away for a moment without being interrogated? ..............................Jubin Of course you could. It's just --- for crying out loud --- this is the day after our weeding ----- how could you get lost in a daydream? ..............................Pegah I am sorry. I am just a bit distracted. ..............................Jubin Distracted? Distracted by what? ..............................Pegah Can't you dropt it? Let's just forget the whole thing. ..............................Jubin I can't. I can't imagine what possibly could distract you after last night. ..............................Pegah Why are you making such a big fuss about this? I am sorry. --- Okay. It was selfish of me to wander off. Can't we change the subject? This is ridiculous. ..............................Jubin Were you thinking about him? --- Were you? ..............................Pegah That's the most pathetic thing I've ever heard you say Jubin. ..............................Jubin Well damn it, what was it then? ..............................Pegah What is the matter with you? ..............................Jubin I don't know. Call it what you will. It's just --- ..............................Pegah Maybe you need a little bit of fresh air. Why don't you go round and about the city? ..............................Jubin What? And leave you here alone. ..............................Pegah Oh come off it, I know you want to anyway. ..............................Jubin Don't tell me what I want. ..............................Pegah What do you want then? ..............................Jubin Just tell me what or whom you were thinking of. ..............................Pegah Why are you being so insistence? ..............................Jubin Damn it; I have the right to know. ..............................Pegah What right? ..............................Jubin Just tell me --- ..............................Pegah Okay, I'll tell you. Just to shut you up. I was thinking of Calcutta. ..............................Jubin What? Calcutta? What the hell --- ..............................Pegah A bridge to Calcutta --- I was standing on a bridge to Calcutta. That's where my mind was wandering off to --- away from everything. ..............................Jubin Bullshit, why don't you just come out and say it. ..............................Pegah Say what? ..............................Jubin You know what I mean. You think I am blind. I see right through you. It wasn't me you wanted next to you at the alter --- ..............................Pegah Stop it Jubin, I am in no mode for one of your jealous fits. ..............................Jubin I should have never married you. ..............................Pegah No one forced you. I have been honest with you all along. ..............................Jubin I deplore your honesty. It has brought me nothing but pain. ..............................Pegah I should have never confided in you. I underestimated your incapacity for forgiveness. Why did you marry me then, if you couldn't trust me? ..............................Jubin I thought I was in love. ..............................Pegah Love? Who are you kidding? You did it out of spite --- to avenge me. ..............................Jubin It was love. Damn you --- I love you. ..............................Pegah You hate me. I can see it in the way you stare at me, in the way you touch me, the way you make love to me --- like a brut --- rough --- cold --- dirty. I should have never gone through with the marriage. We should call it off now, before we both become slaves to it. ..............................Jubin You must be mad? ..............................Pegah It's a simple matter Jubin. Worst things can happen to us. ..............................Jubin Right after our weeding? --- It would be scandalous. ..............................Pegah Don't dramatize it. No one would care. Beside, you can tell them what a slut I was --- I don't care, tell them whatever you want --- let's just end it now. I couldn't live with your contempt. --- Your looks give you away. --- You loathe me. ..............................Jubin You ruined our lives---ruined everything by catering to your sick urges. ..............................Pegah My sick urges? It was a cry from within --- maybe just an unconscious attempt to escape your claws. ..............................Jubin What you did was cruel. I can't forgive you. I can't, no one could. ..............................Pegah I don't want your forgiveness. I just want out of this suffocating relationship. ..............................Jubin Just tell me why you did it? What had I done to deserve such punishment? ..............................Pegah What makes you think that it was about you? The world doesn't revolve around you Jubin. ..............................Jubin Then what the hell was it? ..............................Pegah How many times do we have to go over this Jubin? You promised you'd never bring it up again. ..............................Jubin I can't. ..............................Pegah Why? ..............................Jubin I don't know why? ..............................Pegah I know, because you are not through with me yet. You want to drag me down with you to that hell of yours where you are haunted by your fears and doubts. You want to see me down there with you, suffering day in and day out. You want to see me crushed. --- Can't you see, I am like a drug that feeds your hate --- and you'll abuse me until there is nothing left of both of us. ..............................Jubin That's not it. ..............................Pegah Then what the hell is it? What? --- What? ..............................Jubin Don't scream at me. I don't know what it is --- I --- I --- It's just that I can't stand to see you drifting away before my eyes. --- I can't. It tears me apart --- I need to be part of everything that you feel. ..............................Pegah But I can't stand being part of your life every minute of my existence. I need to breath every now and then. I need to have a place of my own. A place that no one can reach --- can touch. Do you understand that? It's my right --- ..............................Jubin No damn it, you gave up that right when you married me. For God sake, we suppose to be a fucking couple. you don't need a place to hide from me. I am your husband --- You should be able to confide in me--- that's what a marriage is all about --- ..............................Pegah I did confide in you --- and you have punished me ever since. You turned your disdain and disapproval into a dagger and drove it into my heart. And still, you won't let go of its handle. You twist and turn it every chance you'd get. ..............................Jubin What did you expect? You cheated on me. You sold off my love for a night of cheap pleasure. ..............................Pegah Don't you see? This is pointless; it's just a destructive and vicious circle that we are caught up in. Please understand --- I can't be part of the world that you have made up. You world is too restrictive, too demanding on my soul --- It's too suffocating for the truth. ..............................Jubin All I am asking is to share your thoughts with me. That's not much to ask, is it now? ..............................Pegah And, I did share it. I told you, I was standing on a bridge to Calcutta. ..............................Jubin Am I supposed to believe this bullshit? --- And suppose I'd believe you. What are you doing wandering off on some godforsaken bridge to Calcutta? ..............................Pegah I don't know --- All I know that I was standing there in the middle of the bridge. On one side there was Calcutta --- a city engrossed with human suffering. You stood on the other end --- with a huge black mist hovering behind you. ..............................Jubin You were hallucinating. ..............................Pegah And then I hear this voice under the bridge calling me. I look down, I see a hand stretched toward me, and I hear this voice again, begging me to jump in. ..............................Jubin It's him under the bridge, isn't it? ..............................Pegah No. It's a voice of a stranger. I don't know who and I can't see his face. --- All I see is a hand stretched toward me. --- Then I hear this soft, enchanting voice, imploring me to follow him. ..............................Jubin Am I supposed to believe this shit? It's him. Who else can it be? It's always been him.  ..............................PegahI don't care what you believe. I told you what I saw. Besides, what's the point of me telling you anything; you'll never believe anything I say. ..............................Jubin Can you blame me? ..............................Pegah I never blamed you for who or what you are. I do question your so-called love and devotion to me. What you feeling toward me is not love. It feels like hell and I don't want to be caught in this inferno of feelings you have for me. Do you understand? I want out. ..............................Jubin What did you think? Did you think that I could forget everything? How could I? The picture of that man and you twisting and turning like snakes haunts me every day. Don't you see what you did? When you embraced him, when you kissed him; you erased me from your heart, your thoughts, and your dreams --- It's not so much the physical aspect of your action that troubles me, it's the absolute annulment of my being that tortures me. If it was just a simple act of passion --- ..............................Pegah Stop it. --- Please. --- Just stop it. It was a mistake. How many times I have to say it for you to believe it? But it had nothing to do with you. It wasn't about you. ..............................Jubin Who the hell was it about then, if it wasn't about me?  ..............................PegahI don't know anymore. I was confused then as I am now. ..............................Jubin Now, you are lying to yourself and I. ..............................Pegah Why should I lie anymore? What would be the point? ..............................Jubin Because the truth is too vulgar even for you to bear --- It would destroy both of us. ..............................Pegah Don't you see; we are already destroyed. Just tell me what you want of me. I can't stand this bickering anymore. I can't stand your abuse. What is it that you want anymore? Do you even know? ..............................Jubin I want to tear down this bridge and any other ones that stand between the two of us. I want to set them all ablaze. ..............................Pegah You don't understand, I want to jump in --- Jump into those hands. ..............................Jubin I'll stop you. ..............................Pegah You can't, you stand too far away. ---  ..............................JubinI'll jump after you. --- ..............................Pegah No you wouldn't. --- There wouldn't be anything but a void waiting for you under that bridge. ..............................Jubin Then, run over to me. ..............................Pegah No. I won't. I couldn't. ..............................Jubin Why? Why not? ..............................Pegah Cause you don't call out after me. --- You are just standing there at the far end of that bridge--- like a huge mute figure, with a dark mist hovering above you. ..............................Jubin This is just a fucking daydream you are having --- You know I would be calling you. I am telling you that I would. I am calling you now. ..............................Pegah You can't. ..............................Jubin Why not? ..............................Pegah You have lost your voice. ..............................Jubin To what? ..............................Pegah To jealousy --- to rage, to your contempt for me. ..............................Jubin For God sake, I am your husband. I love you. ..............................Pegah But I am not your wife. I am not anything to you but a shadowy figure standing in the middle of a bridge with whom you have fallen in love with. I am out of your reach. I've always been. --- Can't you see? You and I have been frozen in time on that bridge. The voice I hear is an abstraction --- but the distant between us, is real, conclusive --- unbreachable. ..............................Jubin It's all an illusion. Forget all of that. I am calling after you now. I am reaching out to you.  ..............................PegahIt's too late - I have already fallen. (She puts on her hat and jacket and walks toward the door) ..............................Jubin Where are you going? ..............................Pegah I am going to look for that bridge. ..............................Jubin Stop this nonsense. --- Come back. ..............................(She opens the door) Don't do this to me. ..............................(She Exits. Raising his voice) You'll never find that bridge. ..............................( Long pause. Jubin walks to the window ..............................and looks out. He sees Pegah. He calls ..............................out to her) Come back. Pegah --- Pegah. ..............................(Pegah disappears in the crowd. ..............................Curtain drops.) ..............................The End
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