The Householder Page #4

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The very best.

Four rupees a seer.

See that you eat them.

- How much did you give him?

- One, four.

[ Gasps ]

One rupee, four annas?

It's robbery. You should have

given him only eight annas.

You don't show.

- Ma, she's only three months.

- Huh.

When we were young and a woman was

expecting three months, the whole world knew.

We were so healthy.

You don't have much furniture.

- Didn't they give you anything?

- They gave us this bed.

Huh. One bed.

Don't you remember what we gave

your sisters when they were married? Hmph.

One bed.

She's tired after the journey.

That's why.

Keep it there.

Who's this? Your servant?

I don't suppose

he's been trained for anything.

Can he cook? Hey.

How do you make muli ki roti?

Say. Quick. Huh?

I thought as much.

[ Sighs ]

He Ram, he Ram.

Well, son,

it's good that I've come.

I'll put everything in order.

I'm afraid her people

haven't taught her well.

I can see what sort of

a housekeeper she is.

I suppose she's a modern girl.

When they can't keep house,

they call them modern.

But you look weak. Tsk.

My poor son.

[ Sighs ]

My poor son.

I did my best.

If your poor father

had been with us...

it would have been different.

But God's will -

[ Yawning ]

Ram, Ram, Ram, Ram, Ram, Ram.

- It's very late.

- Go.

Go and sleep, my son.

Go, child.

Sleep.

Hari Om. Hari Om. Hari Om.

Son?

- Son.

- Yes, Ma.

What time will she make my tea

in the morning?

At 6:
00.

I want my tea at 5:00.

Before my puja.

- Sharp 5:
00.

- { Dog Howls ]

6:
00. That's time for

a married woman to get up?

Where does she think she is?

In a paradise?

You see, I didn't have an opportunity

to ask him for an increment.

We talked of so many other things.

- I told him you lived in Mehrauli.

- You talked about me?

Yes. I told him it was

very hard for you to manage.

But I will ask.

My father always said...

''Do what you have to do...

and do it with a will.''

- May I come in, sir?

- Yes.

- What is it?

- Mr. Khanna, sir.

S-Sir, I was thinking, sir, whether

the Hindi class will start at 2:30 or 3:30, sir?

It's all written up in the timetable.

M-Mr. Khanna, sir.

Thank you, sir.

See? My son.

When he was two years old.

Never was there such a lovely boy.

His hair all curly.

All day he would be crying out for me...

''Ma, Ma,'' day and night.

And when I heard his voice,

I used to leave everything and run.

''You'll be spoiling him,''

his father used to say.

Here he is

when he was nine years old.

My only boy after three girls.

I would comb his hair

and rub it with oil.

I would buy new clothes for him.

Such pretty shirts with embroidery.

How nice he looked.

How you are holding it?

Give it back to me.

You're spoiling the picture.

{ Woman Singing In Hindi On Radio ]

You must be practical in matters.

Is this all the pakoras we get?

But I'm thinking of them all the time.

You must ask for a reduction

in the rent.

Eighty rupees a month is too much.

- I know.

- [ Speaking Hindi ]

How these people pester you.

But if I ask him,

he will only say no.

[ Hindi ]

Go away!

Perhaps I can try.

You know, my landlord, Mr. Sehgal,

he's not such a bad man.

And Mrs. Sehgal also.

They're very kind people.

What? You have paid?

Why encourage them?

When you'll have a baby of your own...

you will learn not to be

so easy with your money.

Now I must go.

I've got to get the medicine.

But j-just a minute.

I want to talk to you.

- How much?

-{ Man ] Twelve annas, sir.

- I'm paying.

- No, it's all right.

- Mm-hmm.

- No. I'll pay.

{ Continues ]

Again you have paid.

This is very bad.

- Let's go.

- B-But perhaps...

if we could talk

a little while longer.

- You see -

- I have told you before.

I've got to get the medicine

and go to the dry cleaners.

Sometimes you are

very troublesome. Come.

{ Clacking ]

Hi. You know what I'm doing?

I'm becoming.

I'm merging.

See? This is the sky,

and this is the earth.

And this is I.

I'm in all things, and all things are in me.

Feel me. Just feel. Here.

Get it? That's cosmic energy.

Terrific! I mean,

where are such ideas born?

Only in India.

Fabulous! What a place!

Look. What do you see?

It's a finger pointing up

from the earth, out, into eternity.

India's always pointing a finger

into eternity.

Sort of.

What a country.

What wisdom. What patience.

It is true. We have taken

great strides in our national development.

Development of the soul.

That's the important thing.

- And you've known it all along.

- We have our five-year plans...

which will greatly enhance

our material progress.

''Material.'' You've said the word.

Materialism. That's what's wrong

with the world today.

- That's what we've got in the West.

- We have our steel projects...

which will rapidly increase

the growth of our country.

Hmph. Sleeping again.

It's time for my son to come home.

- Have you got his food ready?

- Everything is ready.

You should have seen me

when Prem's father came home from college.

I used to have everything ready.

Hmm. A clean sari,

my hair nicely oiled with flowers.

Every day.

I used to be like a new bride again

waiting for him to come home.

I should run here and there

and look out the window.

''Has he come?''

The least bit of noise - ''Is it he?''

''He has come.''

Go and put the water for the tea.

Sleeping all the time.

[ Man ] I started reading all of this

a long time ago.

It's really great.

And I love it here.

Of course, it took me a long time

to get here, but still.

[ Prem ] In our country,

the agriculture is blossoming forth.

Yeah, but every- I don't know.

Everything seems to be growing here.

And -And I know I'll find

what I'm looking for because...

well, you grow souls here.

The way we grow skyscrapers

or- or sweet potatoes...

you grow souls.

Our steel output will be the basis of-

of great industrial expansion.

You've got the soul,

and we've got the flesh.

By the way, I'm Ernest Krampf...

from Philadelphia, P.A.,

the City of Brotherly Love.

- I'll tell you something else.

- Where exactly is Philadelphia?

Look at the beauty you have in India.

The sunsets, the tigers...

the women, the songs.

[ Vocalizing ]

You know?

You've got it all here.

And what do you do with it?

You mortify it.

Mortify the flesh and grow souls.

It is written in our shastras that -

You know what?

I like your face.

No. I see something there

in your eyes.

An inner light.

Oh, I could tell it a mile away.

Just look at this.

What does she think this is? Tea?

Chi.

- Where is she?

- She's downstairs.

Somebody comes to sell bangles,

and she must run off to waste my son's money.

And the mother-in-law is left

sitting here alone.

She's buying bangles?

I didn't see her.

My poor son.

He works so hard...

and all that she does

is spend, spend, spend.

She must be taught

to be more careful with money...

and not to waste it

on toys and trifles.

{ Men On Radio Speaking Hindi ]

{ Men On Radio Singing In Hindi ]

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