[as Queen Victoria reaches for her stamp, Abdul grabs it for her instead]
Queen Victoria:
Thank you, Mr...
Abdul Karim:
Abdul. Abdul Karim.
[Queen Victoria continues to write her letters]
Abdul Karim:
I am always writing.
[Queen Victoria looks at him]
Abdul Karim:
In India, I'm writing, a-all day, every day.
Queen Victoria:
So in India, you are not a servant?
Abdul Karim:
No. In India, I'm writing in my very big book.
Queen Victoria:
You're writing a book?
Abdul Karim:
Yes. I'm writing every name, who they are, what they have done. This is my life. Every day, I'm writing, from morning to night.
Queen Victoria:
And this is fiction?
Abdul Karim:
No. It is the very truth.
Queen Victoria:
I don't understand. If you are an author, why are you here, uh, presenting me with the m... uh, with the m...
Abdul Karim:
Mo-Mohur.
[Queen Victoria nods]
Abdul Karim:
It is my humble privilege to serve Her Majesty.
[Queen Victoria smiles, then continues to write her letters]
Abdul Karim:
I was the one who chose your carpets.
Queen Victoria:
Carpets?
Abdul Karim:
Yes. The Viceroy asked Mr. Tyler, sir, but actually, it was me. Y-you have to have a very good eye for the carpets. Uh, like...
[walks to the carpet in front of the desk]
Abdul Karim:
This is a very nice one, for example. Very, very tight knots. The art of carpets, uh, came to India from Persia with the great Emperor Akbar. The s-skill of a carpet is to bring all the different kinds of threads together and weave something we can all stand on.
Queen Victoria:
You seem to know a great deal about it.
Abdul Karim:
My family were carpet makers, but now I write in the book. Life is like a carpet. We weave in and out to make a pattern.
Queen Victoria:
That is a very beautiful image.
Abdul Karim:
Look. Here is the bird of freedom, caught forever in the design.
Queen Victoria:
So, in India, you are a poet?
Abdul Karim:
No. In India, I make a ledger of the prisoners.
Queen Victoria:
We are all prisoners, Mr. Karim.
