Newton Page #3

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Oh God! What is this place?

What is this?

How can we conduct elections here?

Didn't you survey the place?

Yes

I described it accurately

Well, we can't set up here

As per the rule book...

...the presiding officer can conduct

elections anywhere

I told you not to come

Let's have tea and head back

Lakhma! Tea for everyone

Sir, this way? Please

I am 59. You made me run

8kms

I have diabetes, asthma.

My cholesterol is high

Will you make me run back?

If we have a good breakfast,

it'll help

No one cares if elections

are held or not

Did the Maoists write this?

If you burn their homes,

anger is natural

Sir, what shall we do?

Decide soon, please

Where shall I put all this?

Take it out

Clear it all away.

Let's make do

Decide the entry and exit

They enter here. Here's your table

Put a table here

Let's follow the rules

Listen to me

- The entry is always to the left

- Why not here?

Keep the booth here!

And my table here

- Mr Loknath, show me

- How many times must I?

- Oh no! These mosquitoes...

- Get to the point

The voters walk this way

They come to me. Then to him

They press the button

Twirl their moustache proudly

and go

Nabi, you're on sentry duty

- You're on OP duty

- Ok, sir

- Clear, everyone?

- Yes, sir

He's coming out

Yes?

Acting all friendly now

What does your name mean?

- Malko means playful

- Playful?

You're a teacher, right?

What do you teach?

I teach young kids. So everything

Do you like teaching?

It's not easy. The children

speak Gondi

And the textbooks are in Hindi

I try my best to explain in Gondi

They don't understand

the textbooks

Anyway Hindi is outdated

I was educated in Hindi, and now

see what I'm doing?

Teach them English. English

Even puppies know English today

Do you speak English?

I'm learning

Adult education?

Adult? No, sir.

Watching films in English

On my phone

Return of Dracula, Bride of Chucky,

Seed of Chucky

Brainy phone

It's Chinese. It has everything

- Are you married?

- No

And you?

Good

You?

In '83, I was going to have

a love marriage

If her father hadn't made

such a big fuss...

...I would've had three kids by now

Love marriages were not

the fashion then

Kamla was married off to

a rich old man

That's terrible

No, sir

She's a rich widow now

Doesn't care about me

But I'm a writer. If I didn't suffer,

how would I write?

- A writer?

- Yes

- What are you writing?

- Jungle stories

A polling party come to the

jungle for the elections

But they can't go home

Why not?

The forest people who died

years ago are now Jombies

Zombies

Jombies. Bloodthirsty,

the living dead

Rotting corpses

Like the plot?

Dreadful

Those films have corrupted

your imagination

"When Samina heard about Ramju,

fear gripped her heart

"She had never seen him

"But every scary face

reminded her of him

"One day she finally met Ramju

"She was buying mangoes

at the bus stop...

"...a young man in a white shirt

stopped near the stall

"His face was all scared from

knife cuts

Mr Loknath, put them away.

Not allowed

It's an old custom playing cards

at the booth

So is getting suspended

Another old custom:

fortune-telling. May I?

Cut the deck.

Go on. Don't be scared

Let's see your future

- Not on my table

- Please wait

1, 2, 3

This card is your past

This is your present.

And this is your future

- Choose one

- What are you doing?

Two of Hearts, you're kind-hearted

Pick another

The joker

That's you today

A joker?

A joker could be anyone

Enough!

Go and sit down

Sure! Prophecies frighten people

Put the cards away

Shambhu! Get up

Go and freshen up

Matches?

20 rupees

20? Wow!

You must have a good hand

20 from me

No, friends

What have you got?

There's nothing to do here.

Just kill time

- What's the price of land here?

- Why? Building a house?

I want to invest

- Surrender instead

- Surrender?

Turn yourself in with a pistol,

you'll get 200,000 rupees

Surrender with this, you'll

get 500,000

With an AK-47, it's 1.5 million

rupees

You find the guns. We'll do the rest

and split 50-50

But I am not a Maoist

The police know that.

That's why they'll pay you

- Freshened up? It was quick

- No choice

- You should've washed your clothes too

- There was no soap

You washed your face without

soap?

You could've used the leaves

of the Ritha tree

Didn't see it

Lakhma

Where is Mr Atma Singh?

- Where is Mr Atma Singh?

- On a field exercise

Great catch!

You'll have to run a kilometer

How far are the settlements?

Shubham, help this gentleman

One is behind the hill, 1.5km.

The other is 1km away

They aren't showing up

because of the boycott

Can you bring the voters here safely?

- That's impossible

- Why?

I am the presiding officer. You must

obey my orders

Yes, within 200m. Not beyond that.

We have our procedures too

Hey Rajman

No, thanks

It's nothing personal

Worried about zero voting?

I won't let that happen

My men will vote

Who wants to vote?

See? They are all keen

Is that your idea? I won't allow

any cheating

You talk about cheating

There are almost 70 voters

in these villages

Politicians? Not even a polling agent

has come

No one from any Party.

And you talk about cheating

I don't know about that.

I'm just doing my duty

How old are you? I'm 40.

And you?

What's that got to do with it?

Just changing the subject

OK:

What is 2 plus 2, divided by 2?

Two?

Three

You talk of rules and forget

the basic one

Division comes before addition

You won't send your men?

Sorry. Rules

Mr Newton, do you have

a motorcycle?

No

I'm buying one next month.

A Honda

Can I ask you something?

Don't mind

Go on

Say you work the same hours,

but your salary doubles

I don't take bribes

You've got me wrong, sir.

There's a scheme

Pay 500 rupees

Then find ten others who pay

500 each

You'll earn more with every new

member. A chain is created

You'll mint money, sitting at home

The scheme guys will explain

everything over a free lunch

Chicken and all sorts are served

A lady from Sukma bought a Sony

phone in two months

The touchscreen type

We are all doing our duty

Atma Singh must have seen

other elections

But these are different

I understand that

Guys like him don't shake

without being shaken...

...but they don't stop once shaken.

He is a Jombie now

Must I do nothing?

Let's none of us do anything

I've sprayed tons of repellent but

these bloodsuckers won't stop

I'm shivering

They're local bloodsuckers.

Repellent is useless

Try our remedy

What?

You won't get malaria

Will you make me eat herbs?

He had better not get cerebral malaria.

What's your remedy?

No, sir

The bites will soon disappear

What is she doing?

Must he chew the leaves?

An ant's nest. The ants must bite him

- Bite whom?

- You

They'll bite you and you'll sweat.

You won't get malaria

Pull up your shirt

No, no. I'm already sweating.

Sir, stop her!

- A few bites and you'll be ok

- It'll save you from malaria

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