Gandhi Page #12

BA:

(she looks up at him)

I am your wife.

GANDHI:

All the more reason.

He holds her gaze as angrily as she holds his.

BA:

(finally, scornfully)

As you command.

As she starts to rise he grabs her arm, but she pulls free.

BA:

The others may follow you -- but you

forget, I knew you when you were a

boy!

She says it derisively and it stings, but Gandhi is aware of

Walker and he fights to hold his temper.

GANDHI:

It's not me. It's the principle. And

you will do it with joy or not do it

at all!

Ba settles back defiantly.

BA:

Not at all then...

For a moment Gandhi stares at her, and she back at him,

resentfully. He suddenly reaches down and grabs her arm,

pulling her roughly to her feet.

GANDHI:

All right, go! You don't belong here!

Go! Leave the ashram! Get out

altogether! We don't want you!

It is hushed but violent as he pulls her toward the rear

door, opening it to push her out as she struggles against

him.

BA:

Stop it! Stop it! What are you doing!?

She lurches free of his grip, glaring at him angrily. For a

moment they both stare at each other, shattered by their

violence.

BA:

(bitterly)

Have you no shame? I'm your wife...

(Like lead)

Where do you expect me to go?

Gandhi stares at her breathlessly, his temper subsiding into

a dazed remorse. He sinks numbly to a stool, sitting, holding

his head in his hands. Ba studies him for a moment -- and

she sighs, her temper and breathing subsiding too. She moves

and kneels before him.

GANDHI:

What is the matter with me...?

A moment, then she soothes the top of his head -- like the

mother-wife she is.

BA:

(a beat)

You are human -- only human.

Gandhi looks up at her, blankly, abjectly.

BA:

And it is even harder for those of

us who do not even want to be as

good as you do.

And Gandhi grins weakly. Ba catches it and sends it back,

warmer, less complicated by doubts. Gandhi sighs, putting

his arms around her and she leans into him so that their

heads are touching.

GANDHI:

I apologize...

Ba mutters "Hm" and holds him a little firmer. A moment.

GANDHI:

I must go back to that reporter.

Ba nods.

BA:

...And I must rake and cover the

latrine.

Gandhi holds her back so that he can look at her. She looks

at him evenly -- no smile, but the warmth still in her eyes.

IMPERIAL THEATER - INTERIOR - NIGHT

The theater is packed. The front rows near the stage are

held by rich Muslim merchants, the back of the stalls with

small traders, peddlers, artisans -- Muslim, Hindu, Parsee,

Sikh. The gallery is bulging with indentured laborers --

largely Hindu. The mood is restless, belligerent.

On the stage. Gandhi moves forward and he holds up his hand

for silence. Seated on the stage are Khan, Singh, three more

leaders of the Indian community. Charlie Andrews and Herman

Kallenbach sit at the very end of the line of chairs. Gandhi

looks around the audience and we see the packed house from

his point of view, ending with two plainclothes European

policemen conspicuous in seats at the end of the front row.

A uniformed policeman stands near them.

GANDHI:

(to the house)

I want to welcome you all!

A buzz, then applause -- loud and defiant. When is subsides

Gandhi looks down at the plainclothes policemen, fixing his

gaze on them.

GANDHI:

Every one of you.

(Then, still at them)

We -- have -- no -- secrets.

And again the audience bursts into applause. The policemen

just sit like stone -- confident, sure, immune to rhetoric.

GANDHI:

Let us begin by being clear about

General Smuts's new law. All Indians

must now be fingerprinted -- like

criminals. Men and women.

(A rising, angry

response; Gandhi

just waits.)

No marriage other than a Christian

marriage is considered valid. Under

this Act our wives and mothers are

whores... And every man here a

bastard.

In the gallery a rhythmic pounding signals the anger and

protest and is taken up around the hall. The police stare

imperturbably. Khan leans towards Singh, nodding to Gandhi.

KHAN:

He's become quite good at this.

Singh smiles at the understatement. Gandhi holds up his hand,

silencing the hall.

GANDHI:

And a policeman passing an Indian

dwelling -- I will not call them

homes -- may enter and demand the

card or any Indian woman whose

dwelling it is.

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