AJMER RODE

Komagata Maru

The following two scenes are translated from the Punjabi play Komagata Maru staged in 1976 in Vancouver. The set had the Komagata Maru ship on the left of the stage and the Sikh temple on the right side. In the middle like a wedge was the office of the Canadian Immigration. The light falls only on one section at a time. The Komagata Maru was a steamer that came to Vancouver with 376 passengers, mostly Punjabis, in July of 1914 and was returned after much humiliation of the passengers after two months.  

 

 

 

 

Scene 1 

 

[Light falls on Komagat Maru.  A  WOMAN and a CHILD are seen on  the ship's deck. The CHILD is asleep]

WOMAN:

(Shaking the child gently) Pauli...Pauli...wake, wake my son. Look, it is morning. Look, look there is light. ( the CHILD rubs his eyes. WOMAN continues after a little pause). Look  where we've have come. We've come to a very beautiful city. Very nice. Remember? The letters and pictures your uncle sent us? From this city. Look, big mountains, and green trees, just in our farms.

 CHILD:

And flowers and swallows and crows and green parrots?

WOMAN:

Yes, yes, flowers, swallows, parrots, everything here. See, you'll forget our farms.

CHILD:

Ma, here people are like us?

WOMAN:

Yes, yes, yes just like us. Nice. Very nice. Remember those gora people in the big city? Here also gora people. Same. Very nice. When your uncles come to receive us, say, Sat Sri Akal (folds her hands in the Indian way of greeting) like this.

CHILD: 

(Imitating her mother) Sat Sri Akal.

WOMAN: 

Very good (she laughs, CHILD smiles), very nice my love, very nice. Now let us go inside. I'll put nice clean clothes on you.

 

 [ WOMAN and her son are seen going  inside]

Scene 5

[Light falls on the office of Canadian Immigration.  HOPKINSON, an Immigration officer  and Punjabi interpreter enters and walks around restlessly. JEAN, a  receptionist, looks at him]

JEAN:

What is the matter Mr. HOPKINSON? You look as though you have a serious problem.

HOPKINSON:

Very serious. Have you seen Bela Singh?

JEAN:

No. but what is the crisis now?

HOPKINSON:

Haven't you heard anything about the Komagata Maru - about what happened last night?

JEAN:

No, I haven't read the newspaper yet. What happened?

HOPKINSON:

Last night we tried to send the damned ship back with the help of police.

JEAN:

You mean you attacked the Komagata Maru?  Those people?

HOPKINSON:

Well something like that. The plan was to arrest GURDIT SINGH.

JEAN:

So? Did you arrest him?

HOPKINSON:

Arrest? We hardly escaped from there.

JEAN:

Why?

HOPKINSON:

Hindus armed with coal pieces, wood and iron surprised us and attacked our boat. We were completely shocked. Nobody ever expected this.

 

 

 

[JEAN burst into laughter]

 

HOPKINSON:

The problem is very serious.

JEAN:

What did the police do?

HOPKINSON:

They fired but the Hindus ignored the shots.

JEAN:

(laughing) Well, you know most of them served in the British army. Was there any damage?

HOPKINSON:

The glass windows broke. The police captain had his nose broken, another policeman had his ear damaged, Mr. Stevens was injured, about twenty other persons were hit and you...you are laughing.

JEAN:

Is that right! It was like a full battle.

HOPKINSON:

yes, it was a battle, and Hindus won, the bloody Hindus won.

JEAN:

What kind of a victory is this for them. They will be in more trouble now.

HOPKINSON:

You sympathize with them Hindus. Why? Just talk to Mr. Read.

JEAN:

Why? Is he very mad?

HOPKINSON:

Nobody slept after the incident. It was a great insult.

JEAN:

And when newspapers print it, the world would laugh at it.

HOPKINSON:

But the Hindus will have to pay for it.

JEAN:

But who is really responsible for what's happened. We drove them to this stage.

HOPKINSON:

(ignoring what JEAN said) Mr. Reid has arranged every thing. The warship Rainbow has already reached the Komagata Maru.

JEAN:

Are you serious. A warship has been sent against the Komagata Maru?

HOPKINSON:

Yea. Its guns are already trained on the ship.

JEAN:

I can't believe it.

HOPKINSON:

Don't believe it then. But tonight the Komagata Maru will be blown into pieces. The Hindus will pay for what they did to us.

JEAN:

Oh, no. We can't do this. It will be such an ugly and horrible act. Haven't you thought about the innocent children and elderly on the ship?

HOPKINSON:

Everybody will go with the culprits. The survivors will be shipped to Hong Kong in some other ship.

 

 

[Both JEAN and HOPKINSON remain quiet for a few  moments]

 

JEAN:

Mr. Hopkinson, you can't support this. I can't believe it. They are after all human beings like us.

HOPKINSON:

They are inferior type of humans. They are Hindus.

JEAN:

How about your own mother. She was a Hindu too.

HOPKINSON:

Shut up. This is all nonsense. I don't know anything about my mother.

JEAN:

And about your father?

HOPKINSON:

My father was an Englishman. You know that!

JEAN:

Your mother was a Punjabi. That's why you speak Punjabi so easily. How can you hide it from the world -about your mother?

HOPKINSON:

Again the same nonsense. Didn't I tell you I don't know anything about my mother.

JEAN:

If I give you a firm proof, then?

HOPKINSON:

Well...ok, ok, my mother was a Hindu. That's why I hate Hindus?

JEAN:

Hate your mother's race?