EXT.

LOWER MANHATTAN, NEW YORK, USA - DAY

SUPERIMPOSE: "23 DECEMBER 2005 - NEW YORK CITY, USA"

OPENING CREDITS are SUPERIMPOSED through the following MONTAGE of SHOTS.

MUSIC: Christmas jingles are playing in the b.g.

It's Christmas time. It seems as if the whole of Manhattan is wearing

red Santa Claus caps. Shops are decorated with streamers. Large
Christmas trees are decorated in the stores. Running lights cover those
trees. Little children surround a man in Santa’s outfit outside a shop.
He is distributing candies to the children.

DISSOLVE TO:

It's a cold afternoon. Everyone is seen shopping, well, some are just
window shopping though. Streets are crowded with shoppers. There are
people everywhere in the streets, trying to cross the road, gathered in
little groups. They are out with family - laughing and smiling,
celebrating the spirit of Chistmas.

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. OUTSIDE THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING - DAY

We ANGLE ON the Empire State Building at a LOW ANGLE. As we begin to

PULL OUT, it starts snowing. One flake drifts in and flutters on the
SCREEN, the second comes down right away, the third, the fourth and
gradually the density increases. We slowly PAN towards the street.
Shiny black cars are already covered in snow. Few passer bys are
hurrying home – or wherever they’re headed to.

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. TIMES SQUARE - DAY

It's snowing at the Times Square. We see brightly lit animating

billboards on the buildings penetrating through the blizzard. Vehicles
are plying in the streets, people are hurrying off.

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. THE NEW YORK GENERAL HOSPITAL - DAY

The snowing has not stopped yet. We read a sign saying "NEW YORK
GENERAL HOSPITAL" besides the main entrance of the hospital. A passer-
by walks out of the entrance and leaves.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. THE HOSPITAL HALLWAY - DAY

MUSIC: Christmas songs slowly FADE OUT DISSOLVING into HOSPITAL

MONOTONY.
The hallway has been decorated in streamers. A small Christmas tree is
placed at the end of the hallway in the corner. Two people, presumably
waiting for the patients are present here seated in one of the benches.

END OPENING CREDITS.

INT. HOSPITAL DORMITORY - DAY

ALEX SHERPA - a chubby young Nepali Sherpa doctor in his mid 20's is
packing his belongings scattered in the table into a bag. He is done
with his duty and is leaving for a weeklong Christmas vacation. He is
very excited and we know that from the speed he is packing.

The door behind opens after a while and enters SAMEER ADHIKARI, Alex's
colleague and a Nepali friend. Sameer looks Alex's bag, pretending to
be surprised like he didn't know Alex was leaving.

Sameer takes his doctor's apron off as he comes closer to Alex.

SAMEER
Aajai jana thalischas ta!

Alex locks his bag lifts it off the table and slams it on the floor.

ALEX
Na sodh yaar. Daile aath palta
phone garisakyo. Bhare samma LA
pugina bhane malai marcha.

SAMEER
Ek haptako matrai leave cha, kina
tyati thorai din ko laagi jana
thalis ta?

Alex leans on the side of the table, arms folded.

ALEX
Talai thaha chaina yaar. Eutai
desh ma chau tara dailai maile
na bheteko tin barsa huna thali
sakyo. Yahi Christmasko time ho,
ahile gaina bhane malai kutna
Kathmandu bata aama aaucha.(sighs)

Sameer giggles and sits in the chair and throws his cellphone and few
other papers from his pocket on the table.

ALEX (cont'd)
Saathi haru sangai basera ramailo
garne bhaneko thiyau, tara,
talai thaha cha ni..

SAMEER
Ani maile ke bhane ta? Thikai cha
ni ta. Hami lai moj garna kina chutti
nai aaunu paryo ta? Pachi basaula
ani ta mojai moj ni. Haina?

ALEX
Ho yaar. Ta jasto saathi nabhayeko
bhaye ta uhile America chodera
ghar gaisakthe hola.

SAMEER
Huh. Chodera janthe are. Aaunu
bhanda pahile chahi taile kati tauko
phutayeko thiyis. Visa milena visa
milena bhanera ta royeko ho ki
haina?

ALEX
Yaar, tyati belako kura ta aarkai
thiyo ni.

SAMEER
Aaba chahi ke tyasto bhayeko cha ra?

ALEX
Huna ta ke hunu ni.

SAMEER
Kati bajeko train ho?

ALEX
6:30.

SAMEER
Ma aaunu parcha?

ALEX
Pardaina. Ta yahi moj gar.

SAMEER
Ke ko moj.

ALEX
Take Prapti out.

SAMEER
Boyfriend sanga janche re.

ALEX
Poor you.

SAMEER
Kina chahiyo ra tyo? Sabai jana
aa afno kaamma gaye bhai halyo
ni.

ALEX
(teases a smile)
Je bhaye pani.
 SAMEER
(smiles embarrassed)
Ke “je bhaye pani”. She's committed
with another man.

ALEX
I know.

SAMEER
Ke "I know"?

ALEX
(picks Sameer’s cellphone up)
Ma sanga lukaunu pardaina.

SAMEER
Mote! Badhi na ho ta.

Sameer raises his fist to hit Alex while Alex hops off to a distance
for safety. Alex is laughing as he turns on the cellphone.

ALEX
Mailai thaha cha, tero medical
crush ko barema. Sale, doctor
hune bela samma pani crush hanera
bascha.

SAMEER
Sale Mote. Parkhi talai.

Sameer throws a folder from the table aimed at Alex but misses it as
Alex jumps to another location, still laughing at Sameer. He is doing
something with his cell phone.

ALEX
Pauline. Peter. Peter “Saande”.
Phil. Prabin. Prapti Home.
Agh, Prapti Cell.

We now know he is reading the names from the phonebook of his cell
phone, trying to call Prapti up to tease Sameer.

SAMEER
Ke gareko?

ALEX
Pakh na.

SAMEER
Phone garna thalyo ki kya ho.
Oye saale, kaat. Phone kaat.

Sameer jumps out of his chair and runs towards Alex and tries to grab
the cellphone. He realises Alex was only kidding and had dialled no
number so he sighs after a moment. He grabs the phone back from Alex
and puts it safely on the table.
 SAMEER
Gadha. Tyattikai tarsaucha.
Bhan, kahile ho tero phirti?

Alex is perplexed because he does not know know what “phirti” means.

SAMEER
Sale. Nepali re. “Phirti” bhanya
thaha chaina. LA bata kahile
pharkera aauchas bhaneko..

Now Alex understands so he grins.

ALEX
Haina. Dui char din ma aauchu.
Dai pani kun free manche ho ra.
“I’m killing time” bhancha ani
raati 10 baje samma kaam garcha.
Uhi hididiye pachi ma tyasko
gharma basera ke garnu. Aauchu.
2nd Jan samma aaipugchu. Yaar. Ta
chinta na gar na. Ma bhanda pahile
Prapti aaipugche.

Alex carries a little bag by his shoulders and picks up the large bag
he slammed on the floor some time ago. He collects his cloak from the
stand and readies to leave.

ALEX
La yaar. Ma lage. Ramro sanga
basnu. Phone gardai garnu.
(jokes to piss Sameer off)

Sameer just laughs as he sits on the side of the table

SAMEER
Ja aba.

Alex just syncs his lip saying “Bye” and steps outside the door. He
winks at Sameer and walks off.

Sameer just looks down at nothing till his eyes rest on his cellphone
on the table. He quickly picks it up and thinks for a while. He scrolls
through the numbers, pauses for a while and decides to give Prapti a
call. He dials the number and just anxiously waits.

To Sameer’s and our surprise, Alex peeks back into the room popping his
head from the door.

ALEX
Thaha thiyo phone garchas
bhanne!

Sameer is horrified and he tries to hide the cellphone behind his back.
He just tilts his head a bit frowning at Alex.
But Alex does not stay long and quickly goes away. We hear the echo of
his voice as he walks away from the hallway ouside the room.

ALEX (V.O.)
Gar. Mastale kura gar.
Ma gaisake.

INT. RESTAURANT – NIGHT

It is a dimly lit, quiet and relaxing restaurant. The surrounding of

this table has been decorated with runner lights and a large Christmas
tree is visible in the b.g. Seated at the table are KEVIN MARGALEUS and
PRAPTI SHARMA. These people are on a date. The JAZZ playing in the b.g.
is so loud that we cannot hear a word they’re saying. We just see
they’re talking and they’re both very happy. There is some food on the
table.

Prapti looks radiant. Beautiful in the green dress she’s wearing. She’s
attentively listening to Kevin. At times she smiles, either blushes or
nods “yea” agreeing to whatever Kevin’s telling her.

CU: Prapti’s ears with bright studded earpiece as she tucks her hair
behind the ear and smiles.

Kevin is still talking. He waves the fork in the air, drinks a bit of
his liquor and smiles.

Prapti has a little translucent sort of purse by her side to which we

PULL INTO. We see a faded flickering beam of light from the inside of
the purse: Prapti’s cellphone is blinking. Prapti is unaware of it due
to the loud music and Kevin. She just looks at Kevin, stares and
continues to smile.

DOCTOR'S CABIN IN HOSPITAL – DAY

Sameer takes his phone off his ear and looks at it for a while. He
again puts it back on his ear to check if Prapti was on line, just in
case. But after a while of waiting, he clumsily disconnects the phone
and throws it back on the table.

Sameer starts narrating as he stands up and begins to pack to leave

home. He grabs his jacket, puts his cap on puts the papers and folders
into a bag he produces from underneath the table.

SAMEER (V.O.)
Sameer Adhikari ko zingadi.
Saathiharu bhayera pani eklo.
Sara khusi payera pani niras.
Zindagi le malai ke diyena? Yasto
ramro hospital ma internship, flat,
je jasto bhaye pani alikati paisa,
Maile chitta dukhaunu parne thau
chaina. Tara pani mann bhitra kata
kata euta gunaso cha. Afno ghar,
afanta, sathi bhai sanga chuttiyera
 tadha baseko chu. Eklopan mahsus
huncha. Saathi haru hudo hunt a
kehi garera man bahalicha. Tara
satyata ma bata tadha kahile pani
tadha gayeko chaina.

EXT. STREET - NIGHT

Sameer is walking alone. He's wearing a thick jacket and a cap and
hands tucked in pocket. We see him as he passes through different shops,
among crowded Christmas shoppers and lots of vehicles plying on the
street. We at various points peek into the shop's window display with
Sameer's POV.

We see him walking away, sometimes away from the FRAME while sometimes
as he approaches towards the FRAME. Sometimes he disappears in the
crowd and sometimes his head pops out from among a lot of other heads
in the street.

SAMEER (V.O.)
(cont’d)
Kahile Alex Mote, kahile Prapti, kahile
patients ani dherai jaso laamo laamo
lectures harumaajha shayad ma katai
aljhisakeko thiye. New York saharko bheed
bhaadma kahile harauhai kahile bhetidai
ma aafno gantavya lai aangalne
kosish gardai thiye.

The light of the city is gone. Now Sameer is walking away in an alley.
No people are visible except for homes beautifully decorated in chasing
lights and other Christmas decorations.

SAMEER
Dui varsha aagadi euta sapana aakhan
ma bokera America aayeko thiye. Aaja
yahan samma aaipudga sapankao ek kadam
najik chu tara aafnatako, aafno deshko
chayabhanda kaiyau mile tadha. Yo mero
vartamaan ho, ra euta bhavishya ko
parikalpana. Kahile saathibhai sanga
ta kahile eklasma bhautaridai ma aafu
laai aafai bhitra khojne prayatna
gardaichu.

Sameer takes on the stairs of his home, opens the door and goes in
letting the door shut.

SAMEER
Yahi ho mero zindagi..

INT. SAMEER'S APARTMENT IN QUEENS, KITCHEN – NIGHT

MUSIC: Some sort of faint rock music plays in the b.g., maybe something
from a local radio station Sameer has put on.
It's a dimly lit kitchen as Sameer approaches the fridge to fetch some
water. He holds the water bottle in one hand as he checks for some food
in there. He looks inside for a moment till he finally grabs a packet
of processed food and hits the fridge close with his knee.

CUT TO:

The glass of the shower compartment has been covered in steam. We hear
the sound of water OOZING out of the shower. We know Sameer is taking a
warm shower in there.

CUT TO:

Sameer is out of the shower. Water is trickling down his hair and he's
wearing a towel by the shoulders. He hurriedly runs into the kitchen
and gets his bowl of meal out of the microwave oven. His thumb is
slightly burnt by the hot oven handle when he’s taking the bowl out.

SAMEER
(slightly hurt by the burn)
Owe!

CUT TO:

It’s a darkly lit, pretty messy drawing room. Sameer is sitting in a

couch right in front of the TV watching news and eating spaghetti out
of the bowl he just brought with him. The VOICE of the NEWS ANCHOR from
the TV is audible in the b.g. throughout the SHOT.

NEWS ANCHOR (V.O)

..and there've been more reports of
death of casualties in Kailai, a remote
far-western district of Nepal while
the sit-in protest constituting leaders
of major political parties of Nepal still
continues in the capital..

In front of him is a little coffee table, completely messed with papers,

bills, mobile phone, data cable, chewable mint, etc. He's staring at
the TV and munching away his meal but there is hardly any expression on
his face. He just looks tired from the day’s work. There is colourful
reflection of the flicker of the TV on his face. The voice of the NEWS
ANCHOR is still audible, but we just continue to see Sameer’s face.

NEWS ANCHOR (V.O)

..Kathmandu. Leader of the Communist
Party of Nepal Madhav Kumar Nepal said
today that the sit-in protest would con-
tinue till the direct martial rule of
King Gyanendra was replaced by total
democracy. Another leader Ram Chandra
Paudel of Nepali Congress told this channel
that his party was in no intentions of
holding any talks with the King until all
the demands of the Seven-Party Alliance
 was addressed.

DISSOLVE TO:

The TV is still playing. But this time we just hear some WOBBLING SOUND.
Sameer has finished his meal, put the box on the coffee table and
rested his head backwards facing up on the couch, eyes closed. He sits
up, grabs the remote from the side and continues to watch TV, eyes
already drowsy.

DISSOLVE TO:

He’s lying flat on the couch. Looks like he’s already taken a quick nap.
He wakes up to find the TV still turned on. He looks around to find the
remote on his chest. He finds best to turn the TV off. He gets up
throwing the remote back on the couch and leaves.

We ANGLE ON Sammer leaving the room till he reaches the door and turns
the lights off.

CUT TO BLACK.

FADE IN:

EXT. A QUIET STREET IN QUEENS – DAY

The entire place is covered white in snow. It looks like a shot from a
fairy tale movie. Few cars are parked on the street side. Sameer is
covered in a thick jacket, muffler and a cap and is hurriedly walking
down the street talking into his mobile phone.

SAMEER
(into the phone)
..Ya. Ya, hajurle bhanisakisyo.
Tanna luga lagayeko chu.
(pauses for a while to
listen)
Mamu! Come on, na khai kana
maile kaam kasari garne ta?
Khanchu. Dhukka bhaisyo,
Dinma tin palta khanchu. I
know – no fat, no junk.
(cutely)
Mamu!

In the mean time, we see Sammer pass through the street, walking
hurriedly, without looking at anyone or anything. He sometimes looks
down or watches straight in front at nothing in particular.

SAMEER
Ani papa khai ta? Sutisakisyo?
Aajkal BP Level kasto cha?
Aushadhi na chutai khana bhanisyo
hai.
(pauses)
Ani bhai. Bhai bhanya’.
(stresses due to some sort
 on disturbance in the phone)
Eh. Tyasko ko SLC haina yaspali?
Padhcha ki ajhai WWE ra TNA
bhanera bascha?
(chuckles)

As he moves along, from the b.g., not clearly identifiable but a car
comes rushing down and ZOOMS over from right beside Sameer. As Sameer
starts to say something into the phone, another two cars ZOOM off the
SCREEN exactly the same way chasing the first one. This creates a loud
NOISE and obstructs Sameer’s conversation for a while. (This incident
is connected to a scene later in the story.)

Immidiately, he goes back to the phone, commenting on the reckless

drivers.

SAMMER
(to himself)
Dar bhar nabhayeka haru.
(pauses, and continues
into the phone)
Haina, kehi haina, yahan ko driver
haru ko chaal..
(doesn’t say much and
changes off topic)
Ani mamu, hijo yaha newsma Nepalko
kura dekhai rakheko thiyo. Kasto
cha tyahako political situation?
Tyastai ho?
(pauses)
Eh. Hajur haru laai ta ramrai cha
ni haina? Kunai darr ta chaina ni?
Kasto bhayo hagi tyahako halat, kahile
pani nasiddhine. Ke garnu.

As he approaches to his hospital, he looks up and hurries up a little.

SAMEER
Mamu. Mero hospital aauna thalyo. Hajur
ramrari basisyo hai. Chinta na garne
ni. Malai yahan ekdum ramro cha. Ma
chaina tyaha, papa ra bhai laai
samjhaune pani hajurle nai ho. Maile
naya apartment liyeko chu. Alikati
paisa ubriyeko cha, ma pathaidiula.
Chinta na garisyo hai. La, ahile
rakhe. Bye. Love you.
(kisses into the phone
and hangs up.)

Sameer looks up for a while, sighs and runs towards the hospital.

We PULL OUT from behind of Sameer to reveal a REAR LONG SHOT of the
hospital building, completely white out.

INT. MRS WALTERS’ CABIN – DAY

It’s a patient’s cabin where lying on the bed is Mrs Walters, a very
old lady, perhaps in her late nineties who spends most of her time in
the hospital due to her illness. Her face is wrinkled in thousand
places and wears a large glass and is completely covered in woollen
cardigans and tucked into the bed. There is her pet goldfish placed in
a jar next to her bed and she is being fed from an IV pole.

Sameer enters Mrs Walters’s cabin to which Mrs Walter is very happy.
She tries to sit up, but instead Sameer goes to press the button of the
auto-tilters and slowly raises Mrs Walters to sitting level,
comfortable enough to talk to her.

MRS WALTERS
Oho. There is my boy. Hadn’t seen
you for a couple of days. I thought
you were gone.

Mrs Walters has an incredibly soft voice like the stereotype ninety-
year-old American women have.

SAMEER
No. Just been upto something else.
Nothing important actually.

MRS WALTERS
How would a doctor have nothing
important to do? You’ve been saving
lives. What could be more important
than that?

SAMEER
I’m not a doctor yet.

MRS WALTERS
You would become one some day. Oh,
there’s nothing to worry about.

SAMEER
So how was your night? Did you sleep
well?

MRS WALTERS
Of course I did. I had a blast. I
must tell you I did not even need
the pills. That was incredible.

SAMEER
Really, that’s great news. I’m sure
you’ll be going home very soon.

Mrs Walters makes a sad face.

SAMEER
Why? Wouldn’t you want to go home?
Your children would be pleased to
see you.
 MRS WALTERS
I wished.

Sameer quite does not understand what she meant by that. He just pauses
for a while.

SAMEER
(cheering up)
Okay, how about Christmas preparations?
Did you find a stocking?

MRS WALTERS
They don’t even have a fireplace here.