Location: Madhuban Village Assembly Hall (Chaupal). Time: 8:00 PM. Early spring.
Peon: Huzoor, I have informed everyone in the village. People are excited to watch the magic lantern slideshow!
Sabal: Did you invite the women as well?
Peon: Yes, Huzoor! They will arrive as soon as they finish feeding their families.
Sabal: Put up a curtain across this veranda so the village women can sit comfortably in purdah. Have fodder, milk, and firewood been arranged?
Peon: Huzoor, there is a mountain of provisions! When these items used to be seized under forced labor (begar), we had to use threats and beatings for a handful of grass. But ever since you abolished begar, the entire village has become your devoted servants! No one accepted any payment—they all say you are their honored guest. The milk brought today is so abundant it couldn't be bought for four rupees in the city!
Sabal: That is the power of goodwill! When I proposed abolishing begar, everyone—even Kanchan Singh—warned me that tenants would become insolent. But I knew kindness never yields bad results. Ask the cook to prepare my dinner quickly. (Peon exits.)
Sabal: (To himself) By abolishing forced labor, I won the villagers' devotion. Had forced labor continued, Rajeshwari would eventually have been forced to work, and my men would have harassed her. That will never happen now. Yet I feel deep guilt because I didn't do this out of pure altruism—my selfish desire was hidden behind it! What will be the outcome of this passion? I am intoxicated by her beauty, her simplicity, and her grace. I am trapped in lust and cannot free myself, even though I know it is a terrible sin! If Gyani ever suspected a fraction of this, she would take poison immediately. I don't want to dishonor myself or corrupt that innocent girl's soul—I only want to love her purely, to hear her sweet voice, to see her smile... But can unholy passion ever remain pure? No! It will lead to my destruction. Yet wealthy, powerful men commit worse sins without losing their social standing. If this sin is written in my destiny, so be it!
(Villagers enter and take their seats. Sabal Singh sets up the magic lantern projector and begins displaying slides onto the screen.)
Slide 1: Peasants at the Railway Station
The image shows poor peasants pushing and shoving to board a train, unable to find seats, standing crammed together. One peasant bribes a porter, who shoves them into a filthy cattle-wagon. A woman is left behind on the platform crying with a child in her arms as the train speeds away without stopping.
Haldhar: Look at how cruelly those poor people are treated! Punches and kicks are flying everywhere!
Fattu: Even at the railway station, nothing moves without bribes! You pay for a ticket, pay a bribe on top of it, and get beaten up in return! Look at how tightly that peasant held his hard-earned coins in his waistcloth, taking them out hastily before the train left.
Rajeshwari: (To Saloni) Oh dear, look at that poor woman left behind on the platform with her infant! The train didn't stop for her. How heartless they are!
Saloni: Once I was left behind like that too when I went on pilgrimage to Haridwar!
Rajeshwari: I would never board such a train! Suffering strikes even before you reach your destination.
Slide 2: The Village Revenue Accountant (Patwari)
The slide displays the fat village accountant sitting on a cot with revenue ledgers spread open. Impoverished peasants stand around him, begging and offering annual bribe tokens (nazar).
Haldhar: Look at the accountant Sahib's bloated stomach! His ponytail is as thick as a bullock's tethering rope!
Fattu: Look at how those poor farmers stand pleading with folded hands, but he doesn't even raise his head, acting like an emperor! He snaps his fingers demanding bribes. Look—that sick farmer with no shirt on his back is pulling out his last rupee coin. Accountant Sahib tosses the rupee aside, turns his back, and refuses to listen, just like a petulant monkey!
Haldhar: What a ruthless, bloodsucking class of men!
Fattu: He knows he holds the power to make or break a farmer's life. This slideshow is showing our exact reality!
Significance & Themes
- Colonial Exploitation Illustrated: Premchand uses the magic lantern show within the play to educate both the audience and characters about systemic corruption in railways, revenue administration, and police.
- Sabal's Internal Hypocrisy: Sabal Singh uses progressive public education to draw Rajeshwari into his circle, highlighting the tragic duality of his character.