SCENE1-

(Prajakta arrives; her friend Prapti is already there)

PRAPTI- Finally, Prajakta! I’ve waiting for you for so long. I’m gonna go get pizza
for us…. My mom made it… it is delicious!!
PRAJAKTA- yes… bring it on…
(Prapti goes)
(Prajakta faints)
(Kanika enters- expressionless- reading Sherlock homes/any book- not wearing the
placard)
(Prapti enters)
PRAPTI- I’m back with a pizza straight outta the oven, with loads of olives and
cheese, just as you like it.
KANIKA- I’m not hungry (still reading the book- expressionless)
PRAPTI- Ha ha, very funny (sarcastic laugh). I of all people know you’re always
hungry, especially for pizza.
KANIKA- I said I’m not hungry
PRAPTI- (Freaks out a little) Uhm… did something happen… are you… alright
Prajakta…?
KANIKA- Hmn.
(Prapti leaves to keep the pizza out)
(Kanika leaves)
(Seema enters listening and vibing to a song- without the placard)
(Prapti enters- sees ‘Prajakta’ dancing- freaks out)
PRAPTI- PR—AA—JAK—TA… Wha… What’s… wro—ng…!?!?!?!
SEEMA- (Looks up) Hmn…
(Prapti freaks out completely and runs away)
(Seema leaves)
(Prajakta wakes up)
PRAJAKTA- (yawns) (loudly) Prapti…? Prapti…? (slowly) It seems… I overslept
(while stretching)
(Prapti peaks inside)
PRAPTI- (still visibly shaken) You know you behaved REALLY WEIRD last
night…, don’t you…?
PRAJAKTA- What…? I just fainted… I guess I was just tired… What happened?
You look pretty shaken…
SCENE2-
(Prajakta speaks while walking away)
PRAJAKTA- Later she told me what happened and I couldn’t believe it at all. All
of it sounded very strange, as if she were talking about someone else. I had
absolutely no memory of it. The only thing I remembered was that I was at Prapti’s
house and suddenly passed out. Next thing, I wake up in her room with a very
scared Prapti staring at me. I searched blackouts and memory loss on the internet
but there were no clear results, just a few vague posts here and there, which didn’t
seem reliable at all. I talked to my grandparents and we decided to visit a
psychiatrist.
SCENE3-
DOCTOR- Hi Prajakta, so your age is 15, am I right…?
PRAJAKTA- Yes doctor.
DOCTOR- What all problem you are facing or what all changes have you been
experiencing
PRAJAKTA- I have been experiencing some weird blackouts lately and when I
wake up, people tell me of things I did, which I have absolutely no memory of. I get
anxious about even the smallest of things and many a times fail to relate to the
outside world and have memories which I fail to place. I feel burdened and stressed
for no reason...
DOCTOR- Do you have any sort of bad memory which you might have kept
trapped inside of you, any harassment or abuse or any family problems?
PRAJAKTA- Not any that can think of… (after a pause) or perhaps…It might be
the passing away of my parents. My dad passed away in a car crash when I was
only 3 and my mother got so depressed, she started drinking. 2yrs later, she died
too.
DOCTOR- Hmm… I’m afraid all the signs tell that you have Dissociative Identity
Disorder. You might have heard of it as split personality disorder or multiple
Identity disorder. It basically means that you have more than one person living in
your body, in your case- 4. (Pretending to look into a file) More scientifically,
dissociative identity disorder (DID) is a mental health condition. Someone with
DID has multiple, distinct personalities. The various identities control a person's
behavior at different times. The condition can cause memory loss, delusions, or
depression. Don’t worry, it is treatable, it may take a few years, but it is treatable.
SCENE4-
PRAJAKTA- (to the audience) Its been a while since I was diagnosed with DID
and I’ve kind of worked my way around it. With the help of my grandma, I figured
out what these personalities were like. I’ve differentiated them and even given them
names. (as Prajakta introduces them, the personalities enter, wearing their
placards) There is Kanika, Seema, Somya, and off course me- Prajakta. I had my
grandma ask all my personalities the same questions to figure out what these
personalities were like.
KANIKA- I love football and eating healthy and I can spend any amount of time at
the ground playing with the ball. I do not like any kind of music. I’m definitely the
cool one.
SEEMA- (interrupting) I’d say the rebel one…
KANIKA- Hey! So as I was saying, I can’t see any bully getting away with doing
whatever mischief. Visual wise, I like an oversized t-shirt and jeans, unlike the
others who prefer skirt and tops. The one thing by which you would mainly be able
to tell us apart is the way we dress our hair. I like mine hair tied up in a ponytail.
SEEMA- I like my hair down. I don’t like ponytails or buns. I love dancing,
especially to pop music. I hate sweets. I love all animals, but most of all, I love cats.
An ideal day for me would be sitting by the window with my cat while sipping tea.
SOMYA- I don’t really like talking as much, but I’ll tell you, for my hairstyle, I
prefer a messy bun. I like reading books and love drawing and painting. My favorite
genre of music is classical music. Prajakta too likes drawing, so perhaps her
personality is closest to mine…
PRAJAKTA- Yeah! And my favorite hairstyle, as you can see, is half up and half
down.
SEEMA- Sometimes, we leave notes to each other if we have something to tell each
other, as, that’s the only way for us to communicate with each other.
KANIKA- Yeah! Like one time when we were 13, we had a school drama, and we
switched personalities mid performance. The only reason we could prevent it from
getting messed up is that we made sure all 4 of us had memorized the script.
SOMYA- DID is just something we had to get used to. The change usually happens
anytime between 2 to 6 hours after a personality takes control, but when there is any
stress, the change can happen every 30 min!!!
KANIKA-The longest time any one personality has been in control is 8hr and it was
me.
SEEMA- Usually we get to know when we’re about to switch personalities, but we
can’t decide which one of us will take control. Sometimes, different things can
trigger the change, like some sort of smell or taste or place that is specific to a
particular personality, cool right...!?
SOMYA- For the most part, people are understanding. Our teachers know about it,
but no one usually notices when it happens in class, as the only thing that changes is
the hairstyle or the way of the pen. But some people are mean… They say that we
are faking it or doing it for attention. Except Kanika, all of us ignore these people as
they are not worth out time. Kanika makes sure to give them a piece of her mind
though…
KANIKA- Well they deserve it! The people that neither understand one’s struggles
nor are bothered enough to not make mean comments about ‘em, need to be taught
a lesson. (hitting her palm of one hand with a fist of the other)
SEEMA- Then there are nice moments, like when our younger cousin drew us
drawing with all four of us on it. So cute!
PRAJAKTA- So this is my life. Most of the time, I’m not myself, literally, but I’ve
learnt to love myself, all four versions of me…
THE END