Tamas

Several men—members of a morning singing party—are waiting outside the office of the Congress Committee. Two members of the CID (secret police) stand nearby, watching them. The Secretary of the District Congress Committee, a man named Bakshiji, arrives. Azis, a member of the singing party, greets him. Other men, Mehtaji, Shanker, Kashmirilal, and a shaggy, uniformed man they call The General arrive. Azis says that they are all waiting for Master Ram Dass before they can start the singing group, because he has the best singing voice.

It is revealed that Shanker and Mehtaji had a feud in the past. Mehtaji had failed to include Shanker’s name as a delegate for the Lahore Conference over which India’s Prime Minister Pandit Nehru was going to preside. The General stands on a rock and begins to make a fiery political speech. Most of the group goads him into continuing. It seems that none of them take him seriously. Finally Ram Dass arrives and says that they will not have the singing group that morning. Instead, he says that they will be helping with community reconstruction behind Imamdin’s mohalla. They walk away, with Ram Das singing as they go.

Nathu is nearly home when he steps on a broken clay pot. Next to it is a small stick figure—a black-magic fetish object. After the terrible night he has had, he worries that this is a terrible omen. As he walks through the Muslim neighborhood, he steps in something else: a pitcher full of dung. Nathu is happy, since he believes that stepping in the dung will nullify the effects of the black magic. The dung was placed in the pitcher by young boys who believe that it will cause it to rain.

As he rounds a corner, Nathu sees the singing party. Several men appear, intercepting the party and stopping their progress. One of the men, named Mahmood, blocks their path and says that the Congress party belongs only to Hindus; Muslims have nothing to do with it. Bakshiji steps out of the singing party and embraces him. However, when they let go of each other, Mahmood repeats that the Congress cannot lead Muslims. Bakshiji says that there are Hindus, Sikhs, and Muslims in his singing group. Mahmood, with hate in his voice, says that Azis and Hakimiji are the dogs of the Hindus. Bakshiji patiently says that when freedom arrives, it will benefit everyone.

As Nathu watches, The General jumps into the argument, proclaiming that Pakistan will only be established over his dead body. They all laugh, but when the singing party tries to advance, the men from Mahmood’s group block their way. Finally, they allow them to proceed, but they force Azis and Hakimiji to stay behind.

Nathu sees Murad Ali standing nearby. Not wanting to be seen disobeying orders—Murad Ali told Nathu to meet him outside of his house and would be angry to know he was here in the Muslim neighborhood—Nathu hides himself behind the singing group and moves on when they do, using them as cover. 

On top of a hill, a man and a woman, named Richard and Liza, stop their horses. Richard is the Deputy Commissioner of the Indian Civil Service. Liza has been away from India for six months. Now that she is back, Richard is trying to keep her interested with constant sightseeing and activities. Richard begins giving her a detailed history of the region, including the battles fought there during the time of Alexander the Great. Liza humors him and enjoys his enthusiasm, but wishes he would talk about more personal matters. He tells her that there is a fair nearby and she is interested, but he says that they cannot go due to tension between the Muslims and Hindus. Liza asks him if they are in any danger and he assures her that they are not.

When they go home, Liza watches Richard admire the collection of Buddha figures he has amassed. She is amazed, as always, at how different his personal hobbies are from his fierce professional demeanor. Richard teaches her how to distinguish between Sikhs, Muslims, and Hindus, and then encourages her to take up a social cause. One of their servants enters and brings Richard a City Report, a document detailing the current state of unrest in the city.