not a tongue between you then?
so, you want to be a human horse?
he doesn't talk? can he neigh at least? you -- do your ears function?
neigh! like a horse. ashoka pulls back his lips, shows his teeth and imitates a neigh: "ne-igh! ne-igh!"
don't touch me. no one touches me.
not working? how will my father eat this evening?
you have a daughter?
keep working. give this to sister joan and your friend the doctor when you go home. now he hands hasari a sealed envelope and turns his ear loose. hasari springs toward his passenger.
you!
the entire package we're proposing will cost you three thousand rupees a month. joan is taken aback by the sum.
i'm told you're very resourceful.
how do you expect to make a profit off of lepers and the poor, doctor?
who gave you your rickshaw?
who provides the food you eat?
remember: loyalty. he gives hasari's ear a last tug.  and the car continues on, leaving hasari. he looks at his children, ashamed to have been cowed. manooj fixes his father with a hard look.
you taking that to the clinic? you like it there? and they love your smile, don't they? she's fearful now and doesn't respond. he grabs her, the water pitcher crashes to the ground, he puts his knife into her mouth and lays her face open on both side with his knife.
in a world such as ours, everyone needs protection. for the fee we discussed, from this day forward, i can assure you nothing like this will happen again.
you. i warned you about the company you keep. he revs his motorcycle and screeches away, leaving hasari staring after him in his dust.
well. what have you got to say?
from this minute, you are off the list! you will leave your rickshaw here.  where it will be reserved for a man who deserves our trust. he stands up. hasari is near tears.
my father's ill! you are speaking to me!
the decision is made. i have made it. now get out before i have mr. bhose break your legs. he gives hasari's ear a vicious twist and slams his head against the table.
do you know how much it costs to change the spoke in a wheel? or how much baksheesh i have to pay the police? impulsively, hasari moves forward. cries from pullers: "who will be the victims of this madness? you?" "hell no!" "you don't need the six rupees each old crate brings you per day to fill your belly! for us, it means death!" the street is so packed with rickshaw and pullers now that cars can't get through. a chorus of horns honk; drivers scream.
that's what i thought. all right, get to work! customers are waiting!
we helped this man! we gave him a job, a place to live! this is how he shows his gratitude. get on the streets now! or turn in your machines! hasari gets up and tries to speak.
go home, doctor. before he can respond, he's slammed down into the tub of water again and held there until it seems his lungs will explode. then he's dumped backward, gasping for breath.
you've become very brave of late, haven't you?
oh, i do what i please. you see, my father's dead, i'm in charge now. so you will get off my streets, you will leave my country, and that clinic and school will close.
my father was weak. he let you and your european friend give these little people ideas. it's over.
no, no, come forward. come. ashoka glides toward the petrified amrita. the goonda remains unmoving, watchful. ashoka puts out his hand with its rings, and strokes amrita's cheek.
what a little woman already, hey?
what did you say?
she's going to give someone a lot of enjoyment. yes.
he said 'please' didn't he? 'please, don't touch her?' the goonda stares at ashoka.  and now ashoka reaches out and we follow close on his hand as it moves ever so slowly through space to settle on amrita's breast. and now hasari explodes. he hits ashoka. a hard punch to the chest. ashoka stumbles and falls to one knee.
bhose, help me! hasari unloads a punch into ashoka's face; ashoka's nose pours blood; he starts to whimper. he clutches hasari hard to him. holds him. hasari struggles, slams his palm into ashoka's chin, sending ashoka to the ground, sending the knife skidding across the ground. hasari grabs the knife, straddles ashoka, about to kill. but he can't do it.