Guards at the Taj

Rajiv Joseph

• Publisher: Oberon Books
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9781786821430
• eBook ISBN: 9781786821447
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: American Drama
• Index: Literature

It's 1648. Agra, India. Imperial guards keep watch as the final touches are put to the mighty Taj Mahal behind them. The emperor has decreed that no one shall turn to look at the building until it is complete. Now, as the building nears completion and the first light catches on the pure white domes behind them, the temptation to steal a glance at the most beautiful monument the world has ever seen grows stronger. Guards at the Taj takes as its starting point an enduring legend and prompts contemporary audiences to revisit questions about art and privilege.

SCENE 1

Agra, India. 1648. Night. HUMAYUN, a young Imperial Guard, stands watch.

Brilliant stars dot the sky, but there is no moon. Crickets chirp. The distant call of a crazed bird. Otherwise silence.

Another guard, BABUR, hurriedly enters, very much disheveled, late to his post.

He awkwardly sets up in guard position a few feet away from HUMAYUN, trying to get properly dressed. HUMAYUN doesn’t move — but he’s clearly irritated by BABUR.

Finally BABUR is set. He stands at attention like HUMAYUN.

HUMAYUN: Wrong hand.

BABUR switches his sword to the proper hand, holding the blade perfectly upright, against his body.

A long beat. They stand guard. Crickets. The same crazy bird calls out. Aaarixah!

BABUR: (Imitates.) Aaarixah!

HUMAYUN: Shhhh!

BABUR: Which one is that?

HUMAYUN: Shhhh!

Crazed bird again. Aaarixah!

BABUR: I don’t know them like you know them. The birds. Which bird is that one? Chickadee? Sandgrouse? Thick-knee?

HUMAYUN: Shut up!

BABUR: You always know the birds, I don’t know any birds or –

HUMAYUN: Would you be quiet!?

BABUR: I’m just saying…

HUMAYUN: “Imperial Guards of the Great Walled City of Agra, Sworn to the Eternal Dominion of His Most Supreme Benevolence Emperor Shah Jahan… Do Not Speak.”

BABUR: You just spoke.

HUMAYUN: “Among the Sacred Oaths of the Mughal Imperial Guard is to Never Speak.”

BABUR: You keep talking about not talking.

HUMAYUN: “In silence, we are vigilant.”

BABUR: Swearing an Oath to Not Speak: Contradiction!

HUMAYUN: Babur! Stop! You have to be careful!

BABUR: Okay!

HUMAYUN: I’m serious!

BABUR: Okay.

HUMAYUN: They’ll release us from this Honored Fleet without a second thought! The tiniest of infractions will see us both gone; quick-stuffed to the lowliest gullies of Agra.

BABUR: You won’t tell on me.

HUMAYUN: Well, I won’t lie.

BABUR: Come on! We’re brothers, you and me.

HUMAYUN: We’re not brothers, we’re just friends.

BABUR: That’s insensitive. That makes me sad. I think of you as a brother. As a bhai. You call me bhai. I call you bhai.

HUMAYUN: Don’t make me lose my job.

BABUR: Hah! You?! And who is your father? Only simply the highest of high command in the All-On-High Imperial Guard.

HUMAYAN: My father yearns for my defeat. Always has. You know him.

BABUR: Sons are sons. Fathers are Fathers. And one day you’ll be Chief Top Boss Man of the Imperial Guard just like him.

HUMAYUN: That will never happen. He thinks I’m soft. Stop talking. Stand guard.

Beat. Other bird sounds. Then quiet.

BABUR: You know what I wonder about?

HUMAYUN: No. Shut up.

BABUR: I was wondering… When will we get to guard the Imperial Harem?

HUMAYUN: Ha.

BABUR: I’m serious, when?

HUMAYUN: Guards of the Imperial Harem are tip-top guards. Seniority. Best position in the fleet. We are not tip-top. We get the Dawn Watch. We’ll both be grey and toothless before they let us guard the Harem.

BABUR: But your father… maybe he could…

HUMAYUN: That will never happen.

BABUR: Never?

HUMAYUN: Absolutely never.

Beat.

BABUR: Man, I want to see the Harem.

HUMAYUN: It’s supposed to be pretty boring.

BABUR: (Skeptical.) Really.

HUMAYUN: It’s not so salacious a venue as the gossip would have you think.

BABUR: It’s a Harem.

HUMAYUN: It’s a government department, like any other office. It’s where the emperor does his most confidential work. Thus, only the Mahaldar, the concubines and eunuchs are allowed within the walls… and the two most trusted Imperial Guards who are, decidedly, not us.

BABUR: (Marveling.) But I mean… Surrounded by naked women!

HUMAYAN: It’s not like that!

BABUR: Okay.

HUMAYUN: It’s not some depraved house of sluts!

BABUR: Okay.

HUMAYUN: It’s not some hotbed of wanton lust!

BABUR: Okay.

HUMAYUN: It’s just… You know… A place the emperor goes… to work.

(Beat; both guys imagine what goes on in the Harem.)

(HUMAYUN clears his throat.)

Let’s stand guard.

BABUR: Okay.

They stand guard. BABUR start...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Characters
• Scene 1
• Scene 2