Chapter 10: Hansadhwani at Two AM

Kaurav belonged to the first generation of this millennium to witness revolution centered on agricultural land. His English teacher had observed: "Like 1947, this too is just a transfer of power, not revolution." Now, on this 16th of February 2014, the observation felt prophetic.

The members of the march against the Nandigram massacre had divided into two groups. The first—lifelong CPIM supporters who had received government grants—refused to acknowledge the new government's authority. The second—those who had contributed to theater but received almost nothing—watched their senior members use influence to secure positions: Railway Passenger Service Committee members, Theater Academy chairs, elected ministers and MPs.

The first group questioned the second's ethics. The second retaliated below the belt, claiming the first lacked ethics altogether. But this wasn't group theater; it was corporate theater, where friendships and enmities were never permanent.

The situation bewildered Kaurav. He