Chapter 4: The Question Without Answer

The discomfort had lasted for hours after that first viewing, a persistent ache like hunger or homesickness. As a citizen of the digital age, "C Sharp C Blunt" had struck him where he lived, but as an artist, it had wounded his pride more deeply. He had never conceived of such work—theater that could make an entire audience reach instinctively for their wallets, that could transform the ancient art of performance into something that spoke directly to contemporary fears.

The doubt had crept in slowly, then consumed him entirely. Was his own work relevant? Did it matter? The entire artistic approach of Kolkata—his city, his cultural inheritance—suddenly seemed both grandiose and provincial, like a regional king who had never seen the capital. He had watched the play two more times: once at the Met in Delhi, once at the Goethe-Institut in Kolkata. Each viewing