This is a visual experiment featuring the initial pages of ‘Justice.’ To read the actual graphic novel, purchase it on Amazon or visit the author’s website for more information.
Script & Excerpt
Daytime. Summer. 17-year-old TARA walks toward us. Surrounding her are rolling hills (within the foothills of the Himalayas), overgrown paddy fields, and a lot of trees. There are also scattered houses in the background located at the edge of a village. The sun is blazing in the background to make for a dramatic opening scene. TARA has been walking a long distance and carries a bag strapped across one shoulder. She looks tired, the hem of her dress is dirty, and her hair is windblown.
A REMOTE VILLAGE IN CENTRAL NEPAL, SUMMER 2009.
Narrator: It has been four years since the war tore my family apart.
Four long years since we were forced to leave the village where I grew up.
Four years since . . . since my life nearly ended.
Present day. Continuation of the previous scene; a view from over TARA’s shoulder. We see the uncultivated land her family once farmed stretching out before her. In the distance is a small rundown two-story house built from stone and clay with zinc plates making up the roof. The lower portion of the house is painted white and surrounded by bushes and shrubs. There is an empty rundown barn (large enough to hold two oxen, a buffalo, and a few goats) behind the house.
Narrator: I never thought it’d be safe to return here . . . to my childhood home.
Continuation of the previous scene; a side view of TARA standing before the house. She shades her eyes from the sun as she looks out on the farm.
Narrator: I have fond memories of what life was like growing up here.
From TARA’s point of view, we see three to four farmers in the muddy fields with waters splashing and clusters of paddy plants all around. Imposed on the farmland are ghostlike images of PUNYA (late 40s, Tara’s father) and SUDEEP (16, Tara’s older brother). They have two oxen yoked to a plow and are preparing the field for planting.
Narrator: My father, Punya, and brother, Sudeep, would be hard at work farming.
We were a happy family.
SUDEEP (GHOSTLIKE): DO YOU THINK WE WILL HAVE A GOOD CROP THIS YEAR, FATHER?
PUNYA (GHOSTLIKE): IF THE WEATHER IS KIND TO US, SON.
From TARA’s point of view, off to the side we see ghostlike images. DHANAMAYA (early 40s, Tara’s mother) is hanging clothes outside to dry and MAYA (7, Tara’s younger sister) is helping.
Narrator: My mother, Dhanamaya, would be doing laundry with my little sister, Maya, complaining as usual.
MAYA (GHOSTLIKE): AAMA, WHY CAN’T TARA HELP WITH LAUNDRY?
DHANAMAYA (GHOSTLIKE): BECAUSE, KANCHHI, YOUR SISTER HAS HER OWN CHORES.
A ghostlike image of TARA (11) pouring water from a bucket into a water trough that is next to the barn, overgrown with vegetation. We also see ghostlike images of animals in the backyard. There are chickens, a few goats, white colored buffalo, and two oxen that were used to plow the field.
Narrator: I tended to our livestock. Along with the oxen, we had chickens, a few goats, and a buffalo.
TARA (GHOSTLIKE): COME GET SOME WATER, SETI.
Narrator: I named her Seti because of her white color.
TARA is standing before the front door of the abandoned house. The door is slightly ajar.
Narrator: It was a simple life; a peaceful life.
(Inset). Close up of TARA’s hand pushing the door open.
SFX: CRRREEEAAAKKK!
From over TARA’s shoulder we look through the doorway and into the main living area of the house. It is a mess. In one corner of the room is a kitchen area where meals were prepared. In the center of the room, is a broken table where the family used to sit and eat their meals. Off to one side are pieces of broken furniture with a small table and a radio. In the back of the room is a hallway that leads to her parent’s room and a ladder that goes up to the second floor. There is also a back door.
Narrator: At least that’s what I thought in my childhood innocence.
Late monsoon of 2003. Pull back from TARA’s family farm (grown up paddies surround the house) to get a dramatic view of the crystal-clear Himalayas far off in the background.
Narrator: I did not know that outside our peaceful village, tucked within the foothills of the Himalayas . . . a war was brewing!
This is a visual experiment featuring the initial pages of Justice. To read the actual graphic novel, purchase it on Amazon or visit the author’s website for more information.
Translator of Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis into Nepali, Ram has worked as the managing editor and publishing manager for academic and commercial publishers in the United States. Originally from the Himalayan country of Nepal, he holds an M.S. in publishing from Pace University, New York, and an M.A. in English literature from Tribhuwan University, Kathmandu. Ram is passionate about diverse and impactful stories. Continue reading 🢂
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