- Arati: You wouldn't recognize me on the job.
- Subrata Mazumdar: What about at home? Would I recognize you at home?
- Arati: You don't recognize me? Tell me honestly.
- [Subrata shakes his head no]
- Arati: Why not?
- Subrata Mazumdar: It all feels a bit unfamiliar. It feels a bit...
- Arati: What about this?
- [points at her cheek]
- Arati: You don't recognize my mole? I'm still the same housewife.
- Priyogopal (Subrata's father): That's the schoolmaster's lot, I suppose. That's the way it is. All your life you sweat, trying to educate children, sowing the seeds of knowledge in their minds. Then they go trotting off to become judges and magistrates, leaving you like an ox yoked to the mill. So on one level - I'm proud of my students, but I'm jealous too. There's an injustice in it somewhere. The Almighty's accounts are out of balance somewhere.
- Subrata Mazumdar: If you were a bit less attractive, I might have wanted you to get a job. If a girl like you worked in an office, all the male employees' output would drop. There's a saying in English: A woman's place is in the home.
- Arati: You believe that?
- Subrata Mazumdar: Yes. I'm very conservative, like my father. A housewife should stay in her house and not wander about.
- Subrata Mazumdar: Someone can make a million manufacturing cheap cigarettes, but a bank employee with a BA can only go bald worrying about finances.
- Priyogopal (Subrata's father): If I get lucky just once, we'll leave all this behind and go to Cape Comorin. There's a bridge there that monkeys built. We'll go see it with our own eyes.
- Subrata Mazumdar: I suppose you'll say you supported a large family all by yourself and that Ma never had to go out an work. I'm not denying that. But times have changed. It's a new day and we have to change. We have to accept it. Change comes by necessity. We have no choice but to take this step.
- Priyogopal (Subrata's father): What does Arati say?
- Subrata Mazumdar: She took the job of her own free will. It wasn't a whim.
- Arati: Do you write our last name in English with a J or a Z?
- Subrata Mazumdar: Z. Z - the first letter in zoo.
- Pintu: Who's going to the zoo?
- Arati: I'm worried about one thing.
- Subrata Mazumdar: What?
- Arati: The girls I saw the day of the interview all looked so fashionable. So tip-top. How can I go to work in my tattered slippers?
- Subrata Mazumdar: Give me a list of what you need to look fashionable. I'll get an advance from the office.
- Arati: What if they call me in for an interview?
- Subrata Mazumdar: Then you go.
- Arati: Yes, but...
- Subrata Mazumdar: But what?
- Arati: What do I say here at home?
- Subrata Mazumdar: Say you're going to your father's house. It wouldn't be too far off. A boss is like a father. Both are providers.
- Arati: I'll sign it?
- Subrata Mazumdar: Why not?
- Arati: Me?
- Subrata Mazumdar: If you don't sign it, who will? Lady Mountbatten?
- Arati: But, I...
- Himangshu Mukherjee: Mrs. Mazumdar, I don't like the word "but." It's a very ugly word.
- Arati: You really don't want me - to work?
- Subrata Mazumdar: No, I don't. And Baba doesn't. Ma doesn't. Even he doesn't. You'd rather go on making so many others unhappy?
- Arati: It's not the others that concern me. What matters is what you want.
- Edith Simmons: Bill's got an Indian book on sex, you know. A famous one, that said Indian girls used to paint their lips, eyebrows, and fingernails and everything, in the old days. So, why shouldn't you?
- Sarojini (Subrata's Mother): I felt his forehead and he was warm. He had some milk and barley this evening. All day long it was, "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy. When is Mommy coming home. Why does she have to go to work? Mommy's mean. Mommy's naughty. I'm going to spank her." And on and on.
- Himangshu Mukherjee: Mrs. Mazumdar, you are too impulsive, and impulsiveness can lead to trouble.
- Arati: I know and I apologize.
- Priyogopal (Subrata's father): My generation is no more. We are dead, crushed into dust like reptiles. The backbone's broken, my boy. If we're still here today, it's only due to our mental strength. It's very hard.
- Arati: Giving you that sari was a mistake. You're still just a child.
- Bani: Then tell me what I should do.
- Arati: Will you do what I say? The potatoes, eggplants, and pumpkin are chopped and ready in the kitchen. Add the spices and make a curry. Go on.
- Bani: I can make the curry?
- Arati: But I won't help. Ma won't help. No one will help.
- Arati: Shall I tell you some good news?
- Subrata Mazumdar: Good news?
- Arati: I got a 50-rupee raise.
- Subrata Mazumdar: That's great. The wife's a hero, the husband's a zero.
- Priyogopal (Subrata's father): This age belongs to all of you. It's you who work and make our country's future bright. When I see your achievements, the heart under this old bag of bones rejoices.
- Subrata Mazumdar: You stood up to injustice. Was that wrong? I could never have done what you did. I wouldn't have had the courage. Earning our daily bread has made us cowards. But you weren't a coward. Is that a small achievement? Why should I be angry with you?
- Arati: Good heavens! How are you now, Baba?
- Priyogopal (Subrata's father): I've sinned too much to die just yet.
- Himangshu Mukherjee: She has this Anglo-Indian colleague. I shouldn't say this but our ex-rulers left behind quite a clan!
- Priyogopal (Subrata's father): You're too lenient, daughter-in-law. You will never make a good teacher.
- Himangshu Mukherjee: I don't know how friendly you are with Miss Simmons. But, may I ask you how much you know about Anglo-Indian girls?
