You and I will not be consulted when war begins….You and I are meant for playing games in the woods,” argues Jamaluddin Luthfullah, a Pakistani diplomat, posted in Switzerland. His Indian counterpart has been urging him to be serious about finding a peace solution for their two countries.

But Jamaluddin, who has been posted in Switzerland for a long time, has seen many an Indian diplomat come and go, with no concrete result across the table. So, he’d rather walk in the beautiful Swiss woods and entertain himself at the expense of Ram Chinappa, the latest straight-backed diplomat sent from Delhi to keep the negotiations going. Much to the latter’s exasperation, Jamaluddin prefers to chase rabbits and plucks flowers than listen to Chinappa’s meticulously drawn-up blueprint for peace.

In this Ratna Pathak Shah-directed Motley production, the two diplomats, played by Naseeruddin Shah and Rajit Kapoor, are delightful studies in contrast. Grey-haired, twinkle-eyed Jamaluddin appears to take his job very lightly, while Chinappa is the epitome of a humourless, career diplomat, intent on proving his credentials. Indian film stars seem to matter more than Indo-Pak friendship to Jamaluddin and he’d rather talk about Dara Singh than Kashmir. Even as Chinappa launches forth earnestly about a viable plan, Jamaluddin interrupts insouciantly with, “Have you ever screwed a Bollywood starlet?” And then proceeds to hum a Hemant Kumar ditty...

But Jamaluddin is no empty airhead. The grey on his head has come from years of experience that tells him nobody really wants peace. When Chinappa persistently badgers him to focus on the task they have on hand, he asks him, angrily, what their respective governments have really done for ending their mutual hatred. “Our leaders have convinced us that without nuclear powers we will be nothing! Like bloody adolescents, we keep showing off that mine is bigger than yours and spend more money on moving our armies back and forth across the LOC; than we do on food, healthcare or education.”

The seasons change…Jamaluddin returns from a trip to Pakistan. It is now winter; a winter of discontent for him, but, paradoxically, the cold formality between him and Chinappa thaws. As they share tea from Jamaluddin’s thermos they share more than just that.

If the first two acts of the play are peppered with sparkling satire and wit, the final act, when spring sets in, is a warm, touching one and you want to reach out and hug the two lovable characters on stage.

Marvellously adapted by Faisal Rashid and Randeep Hooda from an American play by Lee Blessing, A Walk in the Woods would perhaps work better than cricket diplomacy in preventing the two nations from “being dogs in Uncle Sam’s farm” because the play makes us laugh at ourselves, at the folly of both, Indians and Pakistanis.

Ratna Pathak Shah on the challenge in directing A Walk in the Woods

“I think the most challenging part was in trusting my own judgement. Though staging a play may be a collaborative effort the final call is the director’s. There are different ways of approaching a scene and it was a challenge for me to decide what was good for the play. Initially, Rajit Kapoor’s approach was somewhat different from Motley’s and it took a little time to adjust to each other but there was no serious difference of opinion on how the play should eventually be.”

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