1. People in the play

Sutradhar

The narrator

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Dr V Ajay Sree Chandra (Ajay)

Student at Indian Institute of Sciences (IISc), Bengaluru, India. Ended his life on 27 August 2007. 

 

Dr Balmukund Bharti

Student at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, India. Ended his life on 3 March 2010.
 

Jaspreet Singh

Student at Govt Medical College (GMC), Chandigarh, India. Ended his life on 27 January 2008.

Manish Kumar

Student at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee, India. Ended his life on 6 February 2011.

Payal Salim Tadvi

Student at Topiwala National Medical College and B.Y.L. Nair Hospital, Mumbai, India. Ended her life on 22 May 2019.

Rohith Chakravarti Vemula

Student at Hyderabad University, India. Ended his life on 17 January 2016.

WITH
Akhilesh “Akki” Singh

Akki’s the pampered only son of a Rajput, dominant-caste land-owning (zamindar) family. While he grew up shuttling between Patna and New Delhi, home was always the zamindar ki haveli. Akki has two sisters and a younger brother, but he knows that he will take on the responsibility of the family, the business and the family lands one day. For now, he is enjoying studying Management & Economics at this British university. Akki’s family has a conservative outlook, steeped in the mainstream patriarchal norms of Bihar, which Akki has never questioned. He revels in the respect and adoration he gets as the zamindar’s son and heir, both from his extended family and all the people in his district.

 

Hari Ramakrishnan

Hari is from New Delhi and is doing an MA in Big Data Studies. His career goal is a tenured chair at a university, teaching and researching. Hari is a proud Brahmin (although he prefers to call himself Hindu Indian) and believes in the superiority of his religious beliefs. He visits the local temple in the university town as often as he can. He has also made a small temple on a table in a corner of his room to seek blessings every morning. He loves the comforts and clarity his traditions provide but equally enjoys the freedoms he experiences in the university, now that he is no longer constantly under his parents’ eyes. Hari’s favourite pastime is debating and he is a member of the same student association as Sam (see below). He frequently participates in campus discussions around life in India, which he defends to the best of his ability.

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Latha “LG” Guruswamy

LG is a second-generation non-resident Indian (NRI). Both her parents are doctors who had migrated from India after gaining their medical degrees. LG’s father, Keval, is from a Brahmin family of temple priests in Andhra Pradesh. Keval met LG’s mother, Shalini Gupta, in medical school. Shalini’s family was in the cloth retail business in Uttar Pradesh for some generations, and she was the pampered ‘rebel’. Their inter-caste marriage had been accepted on both sides despite the north-south divide: for the Guptas, having a Brahmin son in law raised their status even more. And they lavished a generous dowry on their daughter that was well received in the temple priest’s household. The Guruswamys live in a sprawling detached house in a small town close to the university. LG has been friends with Sam and Lisa (see below) since high school. She is studying law but also belongs to a sociology study group. She is in a live-in relationship with Zara, a journalism student at the university she met in the study group. Her parents are unaware that she is queer. They are focused on scouting around for a suitable wife for her brother, their beloved son.

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Lisa Holmes

Lisa is studying sociology. She is Black British. Her grandparents came to Britain from the Caribbean on the Windrush. Lisa grew up in a single parent household, with her mother working two low-wage jobs to keep the family together. Lisa is well clued into the social pressures and concerns that come with her  background. This includes the British colonial racial oppression of the Caribbean’s Black people and her own Black working-class and gendered experiences. She is determined to fulfil her grandmother’s dream of having an academic in the family. She has been in a steady relationship with Sam since high school. They live together in rented student accommodation. Lisa loves gospel singing and is part of her local church choir.

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Manu Mathuru

Manu is originally from Madhya Pradesh, his father is a clerk in a state government department and his mother is a housewife. He came to this university on a scholarship four years ago for his MA in Anthropology. He stayed on to do his Doctorate in Development Studies as he won another grant for it. He did his Bachelor’s from Hindu College in New Delhi, having gained admission on an OBC reserved seat (although his school-leaving exam marks would have easily gained him a general seat). Manu enjoys debating and that’s how he met up with Hari on campus. They hold opposing views on many subjects, but their mutual respect and “common” Delhi background has resulted in an unlikely friendship. [OBC: Other Backward Class]

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​Samir “Sam” Kulkarni

Sam is a second-generation Indian British with a liberal upbringing, doing his MA in Management Science and Engineering. Sam’s father is a wealthy corporate and his mother is a society lady, on the board of many charities. Both had been born in Uganda and came to the UK when all South Asians were forced to leave that country. In Uganda, the Brahmin caste status of both families along with their business interests had enabled a privileged life in households employing several local Ugandan Africans as domestic servants. Sam has bolstered his limited first-hand exposure to India with reading, watching films/documentaries. He loves discussing many aspects of the country with his cousins in India. Lately he has joined a few WhatsApp discussion groups, which he thinks helps him understand current affairs quickly, although sometimes the messages in a couple of them directly contradict each other.

The setting

In a space in the university town of Bristol, UK. The six university friends are chilling out on a warm Saturday night after a day out in the city.

Acknowledgement

Some of the dialogues in this skit are reproduced or paraphrased excerpts from the documentary series Death of Merit. This series of documentaries was prepared by a team of Insight Foundation, New Delhi. We thank Insight Foundation for their permission to use the excerpts.

 

2. Script for Payal and Latha (LG)

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Note: depending on number of people, Payal and Latha's dialogues may be read by two people or the same person. The facilitator will let you know.

Ajay: 
Jaspreet: 
Rohith: 
Ajay: 
Balmukund: 
Akki: 
Manu: 
Sam: 
Hari: 

Sam: And what … ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... qualified?

Latha “LG”: Oh that’s an interesting point Sam. Isn’t capitation actually [emphasis] reserving seats for the one percenters? 

Manu: 
Akki: 
Sam: 
Manu: Yep Akki, … ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... this.

Latha “LG”: Guys I must add that inequality of opportunities is actually [emphasis] deliberately fostered by seemingly simple choices like, like … like that of conducting all competitive exams in English. We all know that English isn’t the medium of instruction in many government schools! So in 1995, when we were all in primary school, Akki you would’ve clearly beaten Manu in an English exam -- and nothing to do with your merit I’m afraid, it’s just that you would’ve had English well drummed into you while Manu would have practically no exposure.

Sam:  
Hari: 
Lisa: 
Hari: 
Lisa: And then … ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... coaching? 

Latha “LG”: My understanding is that no oppressed person wants anything to be given to them as charity. Everyone wants basic self-respect, their rights. I would. I agree with Lisa. Create a strong equitable environment and you will soon not be bothered by reservations. 

Manu: 
Akki: 
Lisa: 
Hari: 
Sam: 
Manu: Oh yeah. … ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... training …

Latha "LG": True! And what about the unmentioned “reservation” that is the result of networking you know, interacting in the same social circles? That’s a “social capital” advantage. When someone gets hired because they play golf together, or their wives are part of the same circle or they go to the same temple. And of course, this happens more often within one’s own caste group. We see this so blatantly in academic circles and in large corporations. I’ve heard that in academia, meaty research projects are frequently “reserved” for the teacher’s pet student, and then that student gets other opportunities based on the earlier opportunities. OMG, it’s a never-ending caste privileges loop!

Sam: 
Manu: Hey Sam, … ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... around you …

---- Pause for 2 seconds ----

Jaspreet: 
Manish:
Jaspreet: 

---- Pause for 2 seconds ----

Ajay: I am … ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... problems” … 

 

---- Pause for 2 seconds ----

Payal: They message me casteist slurs everyday … accusing me of not working … of being lazy and just expecting everything to be handed to me on a platter. No matter what I do, the blatant casteist abuse, the exclusion, the harassment, would never leave me. 

---- Pause for 2 seconds ----

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Ajay:

---- Pause for 2 seconds ----

Balmukund:

---- Pause for 2 seconds ----

Rohith:

---- Pause for 2 seconds ----

Balmukund: The dean … ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... completely.

 

---- Pause for 2 seconds ----

Payal: I am Payal’s suicide note. Or rather a copy of one that she had on her phone. I name the three senior colleagues who made Payal’s life hell ... Payal was so traumatised by the non-stop casteist bullying, she committed suicide. Did she? Or did the institutions murder her?

---- Pause for 2 seconds ----

Rohith:

---- Pause for 2 seconds ----

Ajay:

---- Pause for 2 seconds ----

Rohith: 

---- Pause for 2 seconds ----

 

Sutradhar: 

Video to play

Sutradhar: 

END