PAST IMPERFECT

STORY LINE WRITTEN BY MONICA SINGH

THE BEGINNING: 1942

The wind whistles through the ravines of Chambal

Valley. There is a chill in the air and it is
eerie and dark except for the light of the gas
lantern. This cast a horrifying kaleidoscope for
the bystanders who could see shadows and hear
voices. One was pleading the other menacing.

Majha the favorite woman of Amar Singh the famed

dacoit living in these ravines, was being
threatened by him. His anger and fury was
uncontrollable. “ You want to kill me for something
I have not done? I have suffered all these years
with you and your philandering ways, this
despicable life and it would be grave injustice if
you kill me,’ said Majha. She had been abducted by
Amar Singh as she was the daughter of a landowner
who had displaced Amar Singh’s family. This was
pure and simple revenge. Amar Singh had no time for
mercy. Majha kept insisting “ You know I am
innocent, but do what you will. I curse you and
your generations to follow. This curse will only be
broken when you come to terms with what you are
about to do, and you living in this wasteland will
never find it” Her taunts further drove Amar Singh
to fury. Majha had given birth to a son whose eyes
were green. Nobody had green eyes in his family, so
it could only mean that she had been unfaithful.
His gruff and menacing voice insisted that “ You
encouraged the English to do this to you? Have you
no shame? I am now the laughing stock of my tribe
and people. For this you will die” Before Amar
Singh could plunge the dagger into her throat she
spat at him and vowed that her death will be
avenged and his soul will be restless till he makes
amends for this crime”

Amar Singh, was sorrowed by this murder and

suffered for he also blinded his son, so that no
one would know that the son was not his. As Majha
had cursed him to live forever in this wasteland
and suffer from misfortune he was even more adamant
not to pay attention to her curses. He was a
difficult man to live with or love. He had bedded
many women in the hope of a son as he would only
get daughters who were as ugly as him. His years of
drinking, cursing and whoring were taking a toll on
him. Poor and uneducated as he was he paid no
attention to the fact that one of his ancestors had
been another abducted Englishwoman. How was he to
know that recessive genes sometimes come up
eventually?

Amar Singh wanted nothing to do with his son, the

blinded boy was looked after Tondu the midget. He
was the only one trusted by the Chief because of
his stature. His wife loved the little boy and
named him Gora. His promise to Amar Singh not to
ever divulge the secret of this boys birth was kept
faithfully. Gora grew up in the shadow of Tondu,
and eventually had to resort to begging on the
streets as it was impossible to tag along with the
dacoits who were camping from one site to another
evading the British soldiers who relentlessly
hunted them.

One fortunate day Amar Singh comes across a platoon

of British soldiers escorting some Italian soldiers
which they had captured. As they had a skeleton
force, this was a chance for revenge. He had
various skirmishes with them with losses on both
sides, but this seemed to be a special day. He
decided to free some of the Italians to upstage the
British. With his success, one of the Italians
Capt. Mario takes a liking to them and being a
writer by profession, wants to know a little bit
more about these ragged, homeless bandits. They
take him to their camp and share their meager food
and dwellings with him. He feels sad and drawn to
their nomadic ways, always being hunted and
sometimes the rape and pillaging they would indulge
in would distress him as well. A tweak of
conscience would bother him. His great grandmother
who was English had been abducted by a band of
dacoits, and he wanted to find out how she would
have survived this traumatic way of living.
Eventually he wanted to escape to Italy and write a
travelogue on this experience. Before he leaves he
feels indebted to Amar Singh and promises to return
the hospitality shown to him, when he can. Somehow,
Amar Singh knows that his days are numbered and
Capt Mario will never be able to repay him.

Amar Singh has a difficult life, made even worse by

not having an heir. The only faithful aide –de-camp
he has is Tondu. As he lay dying he called for his
son, who by now has a son whose eyes are also
green. Amar Singh is sincere in his wish to make
amends to the son he has blinded in such rage. As
he lies dying he confesses to Gora or Dhir Ram as
he is now known as, that he loved his Mother , but
she was too arrogant and spoilt for him. She had
betrayed him and his Father is none other than an
Englishman. Gora is hurt by this confession, but
confused as his wife has told him that their son
has green eyes! He tells Amar Singh who is shocked,
but the last stages of death take over and he is
unable to say what a drastic mistake he made in
murdering the only woman he really loved. But
before he dies, he remembers Capt Mario and insists
in his delirious state that has to have a favor to
be repaid. Tondu cannot even think of contacting
the Capt. – they have no access to mail let alone
anyone coming near them. The heavy silver neck let
worn by Amar Singh with his name engraved on it is
given to Gora to wear. This is the only remembrance
he would have of his so called father.

Gora is now even more insistent that his son Suraj

should never become a dacoit. He pleads to Tondu to
help him by leaving the little infant at Father
Ignatius home for orphans in Gwalior. He has to
promise that he is never to divulge the name of his
Father or Grandfather who was feared by one and all
in Madhya Pradesh. Sindoora the Mother, pleads not
to take away her son, but Gora is adamant.

The infant is now named ALEXIS by Father Ignatius.

The Spanish priest who left his hometown of
Seville, is a moral and deeply religious man. He
adores this infant and almost wants to adopt the
child. Alexis is taught to be and think like a
European. As he is growing up he appreciates
classical music, art, poetry, photography. He is an
excellent student, plays football is popular in
spite of being called a half breed bastard. By
spending so much time with father Ignatius he
almost joins the Church. The only thing he has not
learned is how to love. There is an emotional block
when it comes to male-female relationships. He has
always felt that maybe the good father Ignatius was
his Father. As he was such a good photographer he
was sent to Los Angeles to study further in the
Film Insitute. Before he left, Father Ignatius,
placed in a parcel the neck let worn by Amar Singh
and a black thread with an amulet – this is the
only link to his real past. Alexis was made to
promise that this parcel will only be opened on
arrival in Los Angeles. There is no explanation
letter, nothing.

Alexis is amazed to see these weird objects given

to him by Father Ignatius. He calls him up and
politely asks him what is this strange jewellery
for? This is when Father Ignatius informs him that
this was what was left by his Father when he was
left at the Orphanage. Alexis is hurt by this
information as he would have wanted to meet his
real father and mother. He lets it pass by and
proceeds to study harder.

GABRIELLA: Capt. Mario eventually comes to the US

and proceeds from New York to Los Angeles where he
settles after selling his book “The Chambal
Tragedy”. He is now old and living with his
youngest son Santo who has an Italian restaurant.
Santo has 2 children. Marco his son and Gabriella.
Gabriella is one of the top models in the US. Her
face is on magazines, billboards and on TV as well.
She is basically shy, warm and loving. Her laughter
is infectious and the deep amber eyes and dark hair
combine to make a striking portrait. Her skin is
tawny and a mouth like Cindy Crawford completes the
picture. She is sexy, mysterious and quite lonely.
In spite of having many admirers, she has only
dated a few and her recent boyfriend is an actor of
little recognition. Her loneliness shows in her
eyes and reflects a strange kind of haughtiness in
her pictures. People think she is arrogant, but she
is just the opposite. It would take the right kind
of man to warm her heart.

A few months ago, she experienced frequent

nightmares. She sees the most oddly dressed human
with a menacing face. He has a huge mustache and an
odd gold tooth glinting. His loud and treacherous
laughter echoes in her head during the day as well.
She goes to a Dream Analyst who tells her that she
might be allergic to some food which is causing her
stomach upset which in turn leads to bad dreams.
Gabriella is not happy with this explanation and
turns to a tarot card reader. Her cards turn up a
dark stranger who is linked to her past birth.
Gabriella, being a good catholic turns a deaf ear
to this experiment as well.

One day, she goes to the Film Institute to meet her

boyfriend Ricardo who is half Danish and half
Italian. While she is waiting on the steps, she
sees a dark man cycling and gives him a second
look. He had a very serious intense face and his
eyes seemed glued to the road. “What an intriguing
face this man has she thinks”. Her dream recurs
again that evening. Her sleepless nights are
causing her much distress and her traveling to New
York and Paris make it worse. She withdraws a
little from her family and friends.

In desperation she goes to the Park to quietly

meditate. Alexis spots her there and wonders why
such a beautiful girl seems so sad and lonely. He
has bought 2 bagels for lunch and feels he should
share it with her. Unfortunately he is unable to
make the first move. He sits near a tree and
proceeds to eat his bagel. Gabriella spots him and
suddenly the loud menacing laughter reverberates in
her head. “Stop – for Gods sake leave me alone”
shrieked Gabriella. He head feels like it is
splitting in two. Alexis drops his bagel and rushes
to her, wondering what has happened. Her tortured
cries are too much and he pulls her hands away from
her head and sees that she is crying. She
recognizes him as the intense man cycling at the
Institute and pleads” Please help me she cries.
Alexis does not know what to do, should he take her
to a Hospital or what?

He waits till she stops crying, and they just look

at each other. She notices his accent,his eyes, his
clothes and everything about him. She shakes her
head and walks away, without an explanation.
Alexis is hurt by her behavior, but has been
conditioned not to show much emotion. He is in
total command of his feelings. He does not know
that Gabby is disinclined to speak to strangers
till she is introduced. She has an intense wariness
of people from ethnic backgrounds. However, she is
a bit curious and proceeds to the park once again
to see if she can catch sight of this mysterious
stranger.

They eventually start being friends and she finds

his conversation very refreshing. So different from
the world she is used to. It is her birthday and
she is spending it with her parents and family at
their own restaurant. She invites him and the
Father is a bit displeased that Alexis is not
Italian. However, all Italians are gracious hosts
and they are kind to him knowing that is probably
someone who has captured his daughter’s kindness
instead of her fancy. Gabby is a bit sad at
learning that Alexis has no parents. She prods him
to call Father Ignatius regarding this as the old
Priest must be having some information.

Somehow Love does blossom eventually between the

two, very gently. Neither can even think that they
would be suitable for each other but they find
quite a few things in common. She loves partying
but he shies away from extra attention, they both
love going for walks, she teaches him simple
cooking, they visit museums, they are able to laugh
a lot, tease each other and also have one or two
fights… In short it is not an easy relationship.

Eventually Alexis, does get tired of her questions

regarding his family, and he calls the Orphanage.
But the old father is dead. Alexis is named his
heir to a property in Seville and the names of some
of his family in Spain. His successor goes through
old records and comes across the name of Tondu as
an Uncle and the GrandFather’s name is mentioned as
Amar Singh. A name future generation used to scare
their children with. So, callously Alexis is told
that his Grandfather was a famous dacoit, his
father had been blinded at childbirth and his
Mother’s whereabouts are unknown.

Alexis is quite shocked with this news and

withdraws into a shell. He refuses to be contacted
by Gabby. She is desperate to speak to him as she
has to have an emergency appendicitis operation and
he is nowhere to be found. His phone is off the
hook, he does not answer her calls. But Alexis,
does rush to the Hospital when he hears her pleas
for him to come there. He does but is barred entry,
but the father.

Eventually, she forgives him and sees him looking

pale after the operation which was an emergency.
He tells her what the Orphanage has told him, she
does not look aghast or terribly surprised. She has
grown to love him for what he has acheived in his
life given the circumstances. They realize that
they want to spend the rest of their lives
together. When they meet her Grandfather
Capt.Mario, something clicks in the old mans brain
as he has Alzheimer’s. He points to the bookcase “
The Chambal Tragedy - and he says Your grandfather
saved my Life, he was not all bad…

The end is when they both sit down to read The

Chambal Tragedy.