Harlesden High Street

Abhishek Majumdar

• Publisher: Oberon Books
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781783195237
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: British Drama
• Index: Literature

Meet Karim, Rehaan and Ammi, three first and second generation Pakistani immigrants trying to make a living, a life and a home in the UK's cultural capital, London. Another day on Harlesden High Street and business is not going well. Karim needs to save for Ammi's operation and time is running out. Rehaan wants to marry Firoza but who will take a man with such pitiful prospects? Something has to change and it has to change soon, but what hope is there when all they can sell is toilet roll and jackfruit? Harlesden High Street is a feast for the senses, an explosive exploration of the meaning, value and significance of home.Thought-provoking, witty, carefully observed and beautifully written in verse, this is a play for everyone and anyone who has ever lived in London. Boasting one of the most diverse populations on the planet, London has an influx of thousands of immigrants every year. But what happens to this population when the country's social, financial and political climate is stretched?How are London's demographically diverse boroughs affected?What changes and sacrifices have to be made in order to survive?

SCENE 1

A street, with shops on either side. The play starts in the morning as KARIM and REHAAN are setting up their shop on Harlesden High Street in west London.

KARIM:	Imagine a foundationless building
	A sunless sky
	A waveless ocean
	Not smaller, or weaker, or shallower, or lighter
	A needless morning
	A morning which…
	No…a needless morning
	In this village
	Lives the fort
	The fort without a history, without tourists
	Without tickets…without
REHAAN:	Why, I mean why does one need poetry…over here
	Someday our shop…will close down… (Interspersed with setting up of vegetable baskets.) … (To passersby.) this…hello…hello…here…beautiful…here.
	Karim…Karim…where, where is the…that Gujarati.
KARIM: (From inside.) He’s gone to the temple Bhaijaan…
REHAAN:	With the bananas? He’s gone with the bananas!
KARIM:	He has paid for the bananas Bhaijaan.
REHAAN: (To pedestrians.) Hello…hello beautiful…here…beautiful
KARIM:	Beautiful parsley
REHAAN:	Beautiful…here
KARIM:	Beautiful bananas
REHAAN:	Beautiful
KARIM:	Beautiful jackfruit
REHAAN:	How…how can you mix up women and vegetables!
KARIM:	25 years Mian. I have had silver jubilees in vegetable stands. Anyone would become like this.
REHAAN:	There were at least three girls, about to come in…but no
KARIM:	I can’t stand it…when you call these girls beautiful
REHAAN:	They are
KARIM:	These…black girls in a white land. An eyesore…
REHAAN:	You would never say that…not in Karachi
KARIM:	Where’s the white land in Karachi
REHAAN:	White women in a black land…aren’t they eyesores
KARIM:	…whites…they are pretty…no matter where.
	I sold scarves...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Half-title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Scene 1
• Scene 2
• Scene 3
• Scene 4
• Scene 5
• Scene 6
• Scene 7
• Scene 8
• Scene 9
• Scene 10
• Scene 11
• Scene 12