Duvidha (दुविधा)

Vision Exchange Workshop and Rupayan Sansthan present

"DUVIDHA" ( INDECISION) A Rasatani Folk Tale

Based on the story By Vijayadan Detha

Ravi Menon Raisa Padamsee

Hardan Shambhudan

And the villagers of Baraunda

Music: Ramzan Khan - Hammu Khan

Sound: Bijendra Kumar Biswas

Re-recording: Kuldeep Sood

Photography: Navroze Contractor

Produced and directed by: MANI KAUL

It is believed that for many years a ghost lived in this banyan tree

The ghost saw the beautiful bride and was bewitched by her radiance

Suddenly he was overcome by a strong desire ...

...to enter the bride's body

The thought threw him into a confusion such as he had never felt before

Hardly had the cart moved on when the ghost sprang out of the tree

Meanwhile, sitting in the bullock cart...

...the bridegroom too was troubled and confused

His wedding accounts did not tally!

For a merchant, correct accounts are vital

Nature will allow no error in her books

How, then, can a merchant?

1 said to my husband:

"Please take a look over there...

"Look at the lovely fruit growing on that bush

"Won't you climb down and fetch me some?"

He replied: "Only peasants eat this fruit!

"What an add idea!

"If you want fruit, eat what we have here instead"”

"If you won't." | said. "I'll get them myself!"”

"Don't tell them about the fruit at home."

1 said to her "Everyone will mock us!"

"Let them!"

So said the bride...

... and stepped out of the cart

Now | know what it is

He's so scared of his father, he can think of nothing but his books!

The wedding is over and done with...

But the accounts are not!

Once the wedding accounts are done...

...| must leave for Disawar, tomorrow morning!

You may not realize it...

...but there may never again be such an auspicious time for our business

The bride was upset to hear of her husband leaving her so soon

Even the fruit seemed tasteless now

She felt lost and abandoned

What terrible news this was!

The bride could not believe her ears

Didn't I tell you not to eat it?

This fruit is only fit for peasants!

People like us cannot like it

There, you see?

You threw it away, after all!

After picking it in the midday sun!

The bride did not utter a word

Sitting silently in the cart ...

...her thoughts wandered back to her parents' home

She remembered her mother and father...

The companionship of her friends...

Her brothers...

The pond where she used to play...

The songs they sang...

Her dolls and her toys...

And the games they played

There, take it and go, quickly... Next one!

There, take it and go, quickly... Next one!

Be diligent and tend to your chores

Take care of your parents-in-law

Remember, our hon our lies in our hands

Let us not give in to temptation

We will only have to suffer the consequences

Five years is no time at all

Time flies by. I'll be back before you know it

You have all you need here...

The house, the lamps, the comfort

Do not let any temptation sway you...

...while 1 am gone

Five years will be gone in a flash!

The bridegroom left his father's village and set out for Disawar

He planned to make a fortune there

He carried one small bag...

...containing all his belongings

The horizon beyond held great visions...

...of wealth and prosperity

Hidden in the banyan tree, the ghost looked out

And recognized the bridegroom at once

Putting on a human shape he appeared the bridegroom

"Brother," he said, "it's barely daybreak

"Where are you going at this early hour?"

"It's not too early in Disawar." said the bridegroom

"I am going to live and work there for five years

1 must not let my chance slip by. 1 may never be so blessed again"”

The ghost carefully observed the bridegroom's each and every gesture

And he thought to himself:

"What if | took on his shape and form...

"And appeared in his village tomorrow?

"No one will question me for five years

"Even the bride won't be able to tell the difference”

Father, may I speak to you?

I met a sage this morning, on my journey

His body was covered in a rash

I removed all trace of it. 1 bathed him and fed him

The great sage granted me a boon.

He said that every morning...

... shall find five gold coins when | awake

But I must not go to Disawar

What shall I do, Father? 1 await your decision

1 knew in my heart that you would return

Who knows where your heart was right or wrong?

But make sure first. | could be someone else in disguise

Perhaps I'm not your husband

1 could be deceiving you

You are exactly as | remember you

The same face...

The same eyes...

The same way of speaking...

You are the same in every way

Then the ghost told the young bride the true story

He told her how he saw her under the banyan tree

How, for love of her. he had deceived her husband

And came to the village in her husband's form and shape

And how he invented the story about the sage

He told her the whole truth, hiding nothing

His family cares only for gold...

And the money from the family shop

If 1 hadn't told you the truth...

No one would have suspected me

You would have received me as your husband

But I couldn't deceive you

1 shall do whatever you tell me

Now you know the truth. 1 have hidden nothing

1 don't know

Perhaps it would have been better had you remained silent

What is best? The false or the truth?

I cannot decide

To parents, a daughter is like a weed that must be uprooted

It's not the same with a son

As soon as | was sixteen years old...

...they married me off and sent me away

The comfort and security of my mother's womb...

...is a distant memory here in my husband's home

When my money-mad husband left me...

...I could not hold him back

Yet | have asked the ghost to stay

If 1 could not stop the man who was leaving...

...how am I to send away the one who is here?

If we had not stopped under the banyan tree that day...

...God knows how these four years would have passed

It would have been impossible to bear

No, for you, the years would have gone by somehow

But think how | would have suffered...

...wandering from tree to tree, restless and hungry

Here you are, come and take some

Here you are, come and take some

Here you are, come and take some

Here you are, come and take some

Here you are, come and take some

Here you are, come and take some

Here you are, come and take some

One day, some villagers came to Disawar...

...and were amazed to see the bridegroom there

"When did you leave home?" they asked him

"Years ago!" answered the bridegroom, astounded by their question

"But we saw you in the village only a few days ago." The merchants said

He did not believe them And said to himself:

"They are jealous of my success...

"...and want to destroy my happiness"