disrespect for His mercy (pp 35 36) Finally in making the climax turn on Girdhan s and Geeta s unwillingness to reveal their extra jobs the film stresses the ned for more open and honest communication among family members Bedi also shows in several sequences of Garm Coat that he has begun to master the visual aspects of the film medium The street scenes both in the beginning and after the loss of the note the claustrophobic atmosphere of the post office and the contrasts inherent in the scene with a rich man from whom Girdhan must humbly beg payment for a money order that he neglected to collect all add depth to the themes of the film One particularly imaginative sequence in which a host of coats overwhelm Girdhan as he flees exhausted from his work in the tailor s shop shows Bedi s ability to transcend strict visual realism a quality seen again in Dastak and Aankhan Dekhi Bedi s award winning film Dastak is based on his own radio play Naql-e MakanJ First broadcast on All India Radio Lahore in 1944 the play depicts the experiences of a young Muslim couple Azra and Nafees after they move into an apartment formerly occupied by a courtesan Feeling fortunate to have found such a good flat at such a reasonable rate in the tight housing situation of wartime Bombay Azra and Nafees gradually discover the identity of the former tenant through signs left behind in the flat and when one of her former customers arrives Azra herself is an accomplished musician and enjoys singing for Nafees Consequently after two months of Azra s and Nafees protest ing that they are respectable people the neighbors who remain unconvinced force a police raid of the flat one evening while Azra is singing Again asserting their respectabil ity Azra and Nafees are assured by the police inspector that he has thoroughly investigated them and is convinced they are telling the truth Faced with insufficient funds for gifts for his niece s wedding Nafees laments that his respectability has netted him nothing and decides to ask for a bribe from one of the contractors dealing with the canal department where he works The same evening that the attempt falls through a wealthy patron of the flat s former occupant comes requesting Azra s music Feeling that the neighborhood has refused to accpet their respectability anyway Nafees forces Azra to sing for the rich man as the play ends Within this relatively narrow frame—the play contains only three scenes all set in the flat—and with relatively flat characters Naql-e MakanJ explores several interesting issues To begin with the Bombay housing shortage is referred to here several times it ultimately is the reason why Nafees and Azra commit themselves to remaining in the flat despite their trouble with the neighbors A more important issue here is that of respectability Sarafat and whether it consists in external appearances or interior morality In their protest that the panwala who let the flat to them should have recognized them as respectable people and in Nafees concern for the neighbors and his office mates opinion of Azra s involvement with music the protagonists suggest that external behavior is the most important component of respect ability Nafees sense that his honesty is worthless and his decision to take a bribe indicate that his recent experiences have more firmly convinced him of the truth of this idea Much more pragmatic in her morality than Nafees Azra agrees with his decision declaring What s wrong with occasionally taking a bribe9 This poverty is the worst sin of Annual of Urdu Studies #5 86