The Community, Issue 3: Part 3.1

Page 64

Panel 1: Cut to present day with Jes doing a phantom hand shake with a cameraman by the name of HARISH. You can see Anika standing next to MP Borah in the background to the right.

JESMINDER

(courteous smile, to Harish; translated from Hindu)

Good to see you again, Hari.

HARISH

(same courteous smile, to Jesminder; translated from Hindu)

Same to you, Jesminder. How's the darling wife?

JESMINDER

(Bubble 2)

She's good- been nursing a bit of a flu for about a week now.

Panel 2: Action shot of the two of them taking a few steps away from the street; the taxi driving off off-panel right. You can see Anika glancing down at something as the two of them speak.

HARISH

(worried)

Oh. Has she been tested, just in case it's--?

JESMINDER

(nods)

A few days ago. We're still waiting on results- should know soon. I'm hopeful it's just the flu though.

HARISH

(Bubble 2)

Agreed. Send her my best wishes.

JESMINDER

(Bubble 2)

I will!

Panel 3: Slight close-up on Harish a moment later, stopping and opening his camera case as he speaks.

HARISH

(getting to business)

So, one part of the treatment I didn't get- was it gonna be just footage? Or did you piece together some remarks you want attached to it?

Panel 4: We shift over to Anika a beat later, shaking her head confidently at the second question. You can see clearly what's in her hands: an assortment of talking points and various newspapers.

ANIKA

(explanatory, to Harish)

Not at first. I want what they're going through to be the story. Then I'd pop in to hammer home the point.

Panel 5: Cut to Jesminder straightening out her modest blouse as she speaks; her eyes looking over at her friend's direction off-panel.

JESMINDER

(picking up on Anika's point, to Harish)

After it hits the air, I'll hit the rounds on the debate shows to push a stronger policy further. Anika and I already started working on a few talking points...

Panel 6: Same setting/layout as the previous panel. In the middle of her explanation, she's felled by a sudden bout of hard hacky coughing.

Page 65

Panel 1: Harish notices the coughing in the middle of his set-up procedure, flashing a concerned look as he speaks.

HARISH

(to Jesminder, translated from Hindu)

How long have you had that cough?

HARISH

(Bubble 2; reacting to Panel 2, Bubble 1)

Lingering cough is one of the symptoms. Tell me you got tested as well.

Panel 2: Jes looks back to her friend a moment after the coughing subsides, countering with a look of reassurance to the whole thing.

JESMINDER

(to Harish, translated from Hindu)

Don't worry, it's just some...allergies.

JESMINDER

(Bubble 2; reacting to Panel 1, Bubble 2) Of course I did! I've done it every day going into the Lok Sabha since the virus hit; the last one was negative.

Panel 3: Back to the cameraman who looks on with the same level of concern and worry he had in Panel 1 as he returns to setting the camera up.

SOLDIER

(Off-Panel)

Madame MP...we're ready.

Panel 4: Cut to a shot of the soldier standing at the entrance to a community hospital; the back of Jesminder to the reader. He's wearing head-to-toe PPE with a plastic shield around the face area, holding a gun which points toward an area off-panel right.

SOLDIER

(Cont.)

Step this way for screening and suiting up.

JESMINDER

(to the soldier)

Thank you.

Panel 5: Action shot of the politician a short time after the screening, getting fitted into a similar PPE suit along with Harish and Anika who are partially visible in the background of the shot.

Caption

(Jesminder, narrating)

"I can imagine some of you reading this heretofore unreported factoid must be wondering what I was thinking, not rescheduling doing the whole thing if I was noticeably sick."

Caption

(Cont., Jesminder narrating)

"I don't really have a satisfactory answer. I mean, yeah I didn't contract the virus then. But it was still a moment of carelessness that ended up fueling another moment that...well, you know the rest of the story."

Caption

(Cont., Jesminder narrating)

"No matter what you think of me though, there was some good that came from the whole endeavor."