GUFTARGOO

Written By
Ayaat Attar
The curtains are drawn and it’s hard to tell the time of the
day. It could really be anything.
Sameer’s status reads ‘online’.
A movie analysis post and another text of hers has been
viewed. There isn’t a reply. Not yet.
Aisha opens the 85th tab on her system which is hanging by a
thread from a total crash, as a pigeon coos in the background.
She scrolls down the game development manual of her favorite
animation game, and her phone which is on silent glows to show
an unknown number. She tenses her lips and looks at it as it
turns into a missed call. She lets out a dejected sigh and
opens a fresh tab for “jobs in game development”.
This time her phone lights up her pitch-dark room, with a call
from “Sha”.

INT. BEDROOM – NO IDEA

AISHA
Sha?
SHAZIA
Abba tried calling you.
AISHA
I know.
SHAZIA
Look. Just talk to him. I’m sick of playing the
mediator here and …
AISHA
I’ll talk to him. Aur kuch?
SHAZIA
You doing okay?

Aisha lets out a sigh.

 AISHA
I’ll be good Sha. I’ll talk to you kal or
something ok. You good?
SHAZIA
Haan. I’m out with Anil. Heading over to his
place uske baad. I’ll be safe and fine, and all
that you’re going to say. You be okay alright?
Take your space. Call me when you feel like it.
And call Abba when you feel like it. Ok?
AISHA
Thanks baby. Bye, have a good time with Anil.

EXT. BOMBAY BUILDING SKYLINE – BRIGHT MORNING

The city is up and about, and the cars are bustling. It sure
looks like a bright, productive and happy day. Well, at least
for the world outside Aisha.
The pigeon continues cooing.
(It has been through the entirety of the scene)

GUFTARGOO

INT. HOME – NIGHT

Aisha tosses and turns as her fan which seems to be the newest
addition in the list of items around the house that do not
want to see her happy, stops working. Irritated, she kicks the
blanket off her ankles and steps out of her bed to head to the
bathroom.
(we follow her from the back of her drowsy shoulders, shaking
up and down as she takes each step.)
As she pushes open the door, she sees the pigeon on the floor
of her washroom. Only now, it occupies the whole damned space,
from floor to ceiling, from wall to wall. Her eyes fly wide
open. Shocked and rattled, her brows start tensing with morbid
fear, till she is angry and furious.
She sits up on the bed, almost calm with anger.
It was a nightmare.
The the pigeon continues cooing from the bathroom, when she
decides she needs to sort this stuck pigeon problem, before
she can start getting her life together. She looks really
angry.

INT. OFFICE – MORNING

Leaning against a coffee-wending machine, Aisha calls multiple
people from the municipality to come get the wretched bird
away. After a few phone calls that do not work out because she
can’t speak Marathi and has no patience with those that do,
she finally gets to a man on the other end.

AISHA
Hello sir. There’s a pigeon stuck in my window
sir. Please can someone come take it?

There is no response from the other end.

AISHA
Hello?

GUY FROM THE MUNICIPALITY

Hello madam?

AISHA
I said can someone come take it?

There is no response from the other end.

 AISHA
Hello?

AISHA
Hello sir ji?

GUY FROM THE MUNICIPALITY

Pigeon kya madam?

AISHA
Hello sir. Aapki awaz nai sunai de rahi. I said
can you please come and take the fucking bird
away before I lose my mind and do something
crazy with it?

GUY FROM MUNICIPALITY

Something crazy manjhe kaai madam? It is a poor little bird
madam, please treat it with kindness and respect.

AISHA
Agar respect nai hoti, toh uska gala daba kar maar daalti aur
pigeon fry bana kar khaa leti.

There are a few seconds of silence. Aisha calms herself down a

little. She clears her throat, and with reinstated
assertiveness continues.

AISHA
App aayenge na sir?

There is a plain dial tone from the other end. He has hung up
on her.
Aisha looks at the wall ahead of her, her colleagues walking
hurriedly by her. Her life is getting out of her hand. She is
aware of that. She just yelled at a poor man from the
municipal corporation who was just trying to do his job, and
she absolutely showed him no respect. She is cognizant of
that. She holds her phone against her forehead and breathes
out.

EXT. BUILDING COMPOUND – SUNSET

As Aisha is walking into her building, she sees an old
maintenance man, crossing her by. She looks at him and starts
walking faster behind him. He turns back to see her, and
starts walking much faster, almost as if to escape her.

AISHA
Why you running? Saala Aap bhaag kyun rahe ho
yaar?
She asks, all furious.

MAINTENANCE GUY
Kyunki aap aise ho.
The maintenance man replies, still trying to stay out of her
reach.
Aisha takes a second to think about what he said, and stop
chasing after him.

AISHA
Stop, I wan’t to talk. Aapko kaise pata main
kaisi hoon?

MAINTENANCE GUY
Do saal se aap yahaan reh rahe ho. Sabko hi
pata hai.

He stops too, and looks at her. Aisha looks visibly angry,

which then softens into a little bit of sadness.
 AISHA
Dekhiye sir ji. Please, I need your help.
She folds her hands. The maintenance guy gets a little scared
as she does that. Almost like he expected a blow in place of
it.

EXT. STAIRCASE – LATE SUNSET

(Overhead shot)
Aisha is leading the maintenance man up the stairs to her
flat. He follows behind her. It’s a run-down middle class
Mumbai apartment. Stagnant water and chained, rusting cycles
fill crammed spaces.

AISHA
Aapko bass haath daal ke bahar nikaalna hai. Samjhe?

She instructs him, with actions like he’s deaf

The poor man looks up to see how much more he’d have to climb.
But she keeps climbing ahead. It’s not like she cares for
anyone, does she?

INT. HOME – EVENING

The pigeon coos away.
The main door of her apartment flings open, after a world of
‘khad-khad’ that she has to do with her lock. (We view this
shot from inside the house)
She leads him through the way to her bathroom, with no
explanation for why her place looks like it does. The basement
of the building is a prettier sight.
(We then follow her back/shoulders, moving up and down
diagonally with her steps, just like we did when she had that
nightmare.)
She pushes open the door, and slowly peeks inside from one
side of its frame. And then stands right in front of its
doorway. With excitement and mad happiness in her eyes at the
anticipation that the wretched thing will be taken away, she
looks back at the maintenance guy. She gestures towards the
bathroom.
He pushes his head back slightly in scepticism and frowns at
her, almost making an “oh, ok” with his lips. Hesitantly he
steps onto the threshold of the bathroom.
For the first time in the feature so far, the audience gets a
vision of the “pigeon” since her nightmare, which wasn’t an
accurate depiction.
The maintenance man looks at the pigeon, trapped in the middle
of the bathroom window’s pane, and the grill. It starts
fluttering, cooing all along.
He lets out a loud laughter. It’s a long one.

MAINTENANCE MAN
Isse darr gayi aap? Is nanhi si jaan se?
And he continues laughing.

AISHA
Darr nai gayi main. It’s annoying me. Kuch kar
nai paati main ghar pe. Din bhar iski gutar
gutar aawaz sunni padti hai. Aap please ise le
jaayenge?

She says as does a bunch of activities like putting down her

bag, untying her hair and checking her phone.
Sameer by the way, is online yet again. No reply yet.
Aisha tenses her brows, gets a little angrier. She gets a
little distracted.

MAINTENANCE MAN
Yeh aaya kahaan se?

AISHA
I don’t know.
She says refreshing her internet, holding it up for signal.
Like it network that’s ruining her love life.

MAINTENANCE MAN
I don’t know matlab?

AISHA
She looks up from her phone, in rage.
I don’t know matlab – I. Don’t. Know.
Ek din I was shitting. Kabutar ki bohot tez
aawaz aayi. Peeche mud ke deekha toh yeh chut
mere window mein hag raha tha.

The maintenance man gulps down nothingness.

INT BATHROOM – EVENING

There is a bunch of things the maintenance man tries to get
the bird out. Nothing seems to be working. Aisha tries too.
There is a lot of screaming from her end.
She starts losing her patience. She also starts losing energy.
She starts losing hope. She starts giving up for real. The
maintenance man doesn’t want that for her. He tries cracking a
joke to keep the morale up. And then another, just so she
loosens those knots between her brows. All the while the
pigeon continues cooing. And fluttering. And cooing. And
fluttering. Aisha has been living with the ‘gutargoo’ for
close to four months. All day, every day. When the maintenance
man lands his third joke, Aisha blows up and yells at him. It
gets ugly.
There’s a silence that seems to last an eternity.
The maintenance man takes a moment to let the feeling sink in.
He collects his stuff, and walks out without a word.
She looks in front of her, at the pigeon fluttering, trapped
in her window. The apartment is ‘silent’ once again.
She bangs something in rage, and then drops on the floor in
front of the bathroom, crying.
All you can see from the dingy kitchen is a cramped, dark,
living room, with nothing but delivery packages and huge video
game boxes as clutter in its corners. The only light in her
house is that from the bathroom, which reflects on her. And a
little bit from outside her main door which lies just a little
beyond, widely flung open after the maintenance man’s walk
out. The only sounds in the frame are that of her crying and
the pigeon fluttering.
(This scene is a little long for impact’s sake)

It is probably at this point, that it sinks into Aisha(or

viewer), that the fluttering pigeon is the metaphor of all the
problems in her life. She doesn’t know where they come from.
Once they come, they do not leave. She lives with her problems
till they haunt her dreams, and then she gets desperate.
Desperate to solve them.
She is so, so alone.
Maybe that’s because she lost her mother before she could have
a bond with her. Maybe that’s because she never got along with
her father. Maybe that’s because her only and best friend, her
little sister moved so far away from her, leaving her all
alone in this big ugly city, when they moved in this apartment
together.
Maybe it’s because she doesn’t have a boyfriend, or has never
had a stable relationship. And this one boy that she slept
with, isn’t returning her texts anymore. It could also be
because of the fact that she works day and night at an
Operations firm, and has to talk to “clients” all day. Sure,
she fights with them, but has to apologise because she can’t
lose the job. Right?
Her personality just isn’t complying with the job she holds
for a living. And after working nine hours a day at hell,
she’s broke, has a crushing debt and miles away from designing
computer games – her passion for real. I don’t know where her
money went, don’t ask me. She doesn’t have an answer herself.
All she knows is that in this lifetime, she cannot afford a
therapist.

INT. APARTMENT – FEW HOURS PAST MIDNIGHT

As she continues sniffing, the maintenance man walks through
the front door, carrying a heavy tool box. He walks over her
sobbing frame and straight into her bathroom.
She is shocked looking at him, and stands back up, wiping
dried tears off her face.

MAINTENANCE MAN
(Opening his tool box and crouching to get tools out)
Madam ek idea aaya hai. Yeh aap dekh sakti
hain, yeh window panes? Inko hum nikal sakte
hain, aur andar se kabootar ko pakad sakte
hain. Try karein?
Emotionally drained, she leans against the wall, her nose
completely red. She sniffs a little, and wiping her tears nods
to agree.
The old man, with a lot of difficulty climbs on top of her
toilet seat, and starts removing the glass blinds of the
window. She just leans against the frame of the bathroom door,
tired, watching. He turns back to see if she’s doing okay, and
then raises his eyebrows at her, almost to ask her that.
She slightly nods to imply ‘she’s better’, further wiping her
nose.
He continues struggling with the glass blinds, as the bird
continues fluttering.

INT. BATHROOM – DAWN

After some more struggle, the maintenance man gets fed up, and
breaks the glass pane with his hammer.
The bird flies inside the bathroom. (In slow motion)

MAINTENANCE MAN
(In exaggerated slow motion, against the backdrop of Spanish
music that her annoying neighbour plays as a part of his
morning Riyaz)
Madam! Hatoooooooo!

Aisha holds the sides of her head, covering her ears, and
ducks down, almost as if she faints.
The bird flies out into the hall and the maintenance man leaps
after it to catch it. It keeps flying and he is unable to get
his hands on it.
A panic-struck Aisha, who is passed out on the floor opens her
eyes. She attacks the bird from the other end, and in a truly
victorious moment, catches hold of the bird between her hands.
(Slow motion ends)

INT. HALL – EARLY MORNING

Aisha looks at the bird petrified and then looks at the man.
Ans then back again at the bird.
And screams.
He comes and grabs the bird gently from her hands and tries
calming her down. Aisha is holding her hands and shaking with
fear. (It is a little comical)

MAINTENANCE MAN
Arrey koi nai ji, pakad liya humne. Shanti
Shanti.

He says calming her down.

He examines the bird as she is still reeling from her
experience, and sees that its wing is injured.

MAINTENANCE MAN
Arey madam. Yeh aise bahar nahi udd payega.

AISHA
Toh ab kya?

MAINTENANCE MAN
Ise aise bahar nahi chod sakte.
 AISHA
I can’t take it to a fucking vet. Kitna charge
karte honge, I don’t know. And I don’t have the
money. I’m broke sir ji.

MAINTENANCE MAN
Ghar par treat kar sakte hain.
AISHA
Ghar pe? Aapne dekha na mujhe? Fattu hoon main
ek number ki. Harr cheez se darr lagta hai
mujhe. I’m an absolute loser, main iski madad
nai kar paungi.

MAINTENANCE MAN
Aap na madam, apne problems ko apnana seekho.
Unko door rakh kar, unse bhaagne se, who kabhi
solve nai hone waale.

Aisha takes a second for the maintenance man’s words to sink

in. She looks at him, and he reassures her with a warm look in
his eyes. She picks up her phone reluctantly to look for a vet
nearby, when her phone buzzes with a message.
She pulls down the notification bar, which reads there is a
text from Sameer.

Hey love
I’m in town.
Free tonight, after 9ish?

As she reads his text so goes on a roller coaster of emotions

from instant excitement to a deep sense of sadness. And then
to being offended, to deeply angry.
The maintenance man continues playing with the bird in the
background and talking to Aisha.
She swipes left to dismiss the message and slides the
notification bar up.
EXT. STREET – EARLY MORNING
(Slow motion, against the backdrop of a slow piano music)
Aisha steps out of her run-down building’s gate, with a long
trench coat thrown over the office clothes she has been in
since last evening. The maintenance man walks next to her,
with the bird in his hands, its injured wing wrapped in
Aisha’s scarf. She looks at the maintenance man next to her,
and the bird. She looks ahead and lets out a smile filled with
satisfaction. It’s a feeling she hasn’t had in forever.