Mira - XI Mathura

MATHURA

A busy street in Mathura; townspeople, country folk, vendors, passersby, gopis selling milk, children running around - all brushing shoulders and avoiding near misses here and there. It is noisy. Mira enters, excited that she is finally where Krishna is! She is jostled here and there. The crowd thins out momentarily. Mira stops a man.

Mira: Good sir, have you seen Krishna?

Man, looking her up and down: Which one? [She hesitates. He grimaces and hurries away.]

There is a flux of people and Mira is jostled once again here and there. The crowd thins out and she finds herself in another part of the city. She stops a gopi carrying a pot.

Mira: Miss... miss. Do you know where Krishna is?

Gopi, insolently: I don't know any Krishna.

Mira, catching a man by his arm: Sir, please tell me where I can find Krishna.

Man, grinning: I am Krishna.

Mira shakes her head looking at him. The crowd rushes by. The man merges with the crowd. She is in the center, desperate, the crowd jostling her from all directions. She reaches out to everyone passing her.

Mira: I'm looking for Krishna... I'm looking for Krishna... Krishna is here, isn't he? Where is Krishna? [But people are too busy to notice and they think she is mad. Soon a small crowd gathers around her, watching her. A young boy and his friends come up to her cheekily.]

Boy: You're looking for Krishna? [She sees him.] I'm Krishna. [He strikes a pose and smiles at her.]

Mira, a flash of joy on her face: Krishna!

Boy, almost hysterically: Ha ha ha! [His friends join him laughing loudly, pointing their fingers at her.] She's a mad woman... ha ha ha!

They run off through the crowd. The small crowd laughs at her. She is in tears. Another stream of passersby swirls around her. She covers her face with her hands. A cowherd peers into her face and stands behind her. He begins to play a flute. Somebody begins to strike a rhythm, and gradually, people are beginning to move to this rhythm even as they are circling Mira. Mira lets her hands fall to her sides, her face with tears but her eyes closed.

What follows next is the entire Mathura folk singing and dancing like Krishna to the song Madhuraashtakam around her.

Folk: Adharam madhuram vadanam madhuram
Nayanam madhuram hasitam madhuram
Hridayam madhuram gamanam madhuram
Madhuraadhipaterakhilam madhuram

Vachanam madhuram charitam madhuram
Vasanam madhuram valitam madhuram
Chalitam madhuram bhramitam madhuram
Madhuraadhipaterakhilam madhuram

Venuradhuro renurmadhurah
Panirmadhurah paadau madhurau
Nrityam madhuram sakhyam madhuram
Madhuraadhipaterakhilam madhuram
Geetam madhuram peetam madhuram
Muktam madhuram suptam madhuram
Rupam madhuram tilakam madhuram
Madhuraadhipaterakhilam madhuram

Her eyes are closed throughout. Slowly she comes down to her knees, and then she sits. Her despair begins to give way to joy as she listens to the song. She raises her hands in joy as the song ends. The Mathura folk break out of their Krishna consciousness and once again move about as before, as if nothing had happened. The cowherd who started with the flute brushes against Mira, and she opens her eyes. He walks downstage towards the wings. She quickly gets up, wondering who it was. The cowherd turns to look at her, smiles and exits.