Drama of the evening class students

The Universal Education School (Alice Project) is presenting some dramas pointing out some of the evils in society. The motivation of the drama is that people should understand the problem of their society. If we give speeches like leaders do, it is not so effective in the mind of the people. But if we do this drama with action, sound, music, and words, then it is more effective than giving a speech because it will leave a deep imprinting on villagers' minds. We hope that one day these same people will solve the problems of the society because they were motivated by our dramas.

Drama classes - An Evening Class Project
The Universal Education School (Alice Project) herewith
presents a few play- scripts and essays written by the students. These plays express their feelings towards the evils in the rural society in which they live. As a play or theater comprises of words, action, music, comedy and pathos-hence it conveys a message emphatically and leaves the audience a bit ashamed of their failings or weaknesses. Among other things the Alice Project encourages students to develop their talents at school level and also helps to inculcate in them a sense of leadership. 

I Play  Lavisher Geon
By Munshi Premchand.

Once Sankar went to the Sahukar (money lender) who was the lord of his village so that he could borrow 1 kilogram and 250 grams of wheat to serve a saint at his door. The Sahukar gave the wheat and said," go and serve your guest". Sanker said, " Sooner or later I will return the loan." Then he returned to his house.
On a number of occasions the Sahukar came to Sankar's house to ask for the return of the loan. Sanker always gave him some wheat and he thought that he had repaid the debt. After one year the Sahukar came to Sankar and said," give me my 1kilogram and 250 grams wheat with ten times compound interest!" Then sankar said," My lord, I have paid it to you."
But the Sahukar said, "There is no way you can prove it."
Many people came with the Sahukar to the door of Sankar and told him that he had to pay the interest to the money lender.  Sahukar's guards took Sankar away   to work in the Sahukar's farm.  Sankar had to work day and night to pay the interest, but he could not succeed in it. At last he died working in the field of the money lender. Sanker' son cried when his father died. Then the Sahukar came to Sankar's house and said,"Your father could not pay the interest; therefore you have to pay it and you will have to work all your life in my fields!" The guards took away Sankar's son.

Moral

This play shows how the Higher Caste people robbed the poor lower caste before India gained independence.

.
II play Kafan.
By Munshi Premchand
( Premchand who was born in Lamahi, wrote several books on the problems of Society in a very simple language. His books are Gaban, Godaan, Nirmala, Karmala, Sojewatan, Rang Bhoomi and many more.)

 

In this play there is a son and his father. They are both very lazy and they do not like to work like the other people. The son was married to Budhiya and she was pregnant. As the son and his father refused to work therefore the wife had to work to feed them. They were dependent on the woman. It was winter time. They found some potatoes from somewhere. They were cooking the potatoes in the fire. At the same time the woman was about to give birth. She was suffering because of the pain. The son said," Father, look what happened to my wife." Then the father said, "How can I see her in this state, she is like my daughter. You go and check on her." The son said," You are very clever, when I go to check on her you will eat the potato; you go and check on her." Between many  you go and you go, both did not go to see the poor woman, and in this meantime the lady died because of complications.
In the morning when they went to see her they found her dead. They cried, "Budhiya! Now who will feed us?"
They did not have any money to buy the cloth to cover her body. The villagers collected money to buy the funeral cloth. Both the father and the son went to buy the coffin in the market. On the way they found a liquor shop and went into the shop. They drank alcohol with all of the money they had. After drinking they said, " May God provide heaven for Budhiya because she was feeding us when she was alive and now after her death she is still feeding us." Once back to their village, they told a lie to the villagers saying that had lost the money on the way. The villagers had no other choice but to perform the funeral of Budhiya by themselves.

Moral

This play written in the 1890's reflects the situation at the time of British Rule. Is the present situation better? Do the women are more respected now than in the past? We have doubt...

III Play -  Thakur ka kuan. (The Well of the Thakur Caste)
by Munshi Premchand--the revolutionary writer.

 

In this play there is one man who is dying because of thirst and there is no water to drink. All the wells in the village are dry and only the well of a high caste man is full of water.
He had one dog and when someone was going to fetch water from the well the dog used to bark. In this way Thakur was able to know that someone was there. The son of the man who was dying asked Thakur for some water. But the man said, I sell water. If you want water, you will have to pay for it. He compelled him to sign an agreement on a legal paper with the commitment to pay for the water. When the boy returned home, he found that his father was dead. After this, the Thakur  took away all the property of the man to repay the debt.

Moral
This play shows how a person of the high caste took advantage of the people of the lowest caste. Even today in India in some places, such problem still exists.

IV Play Tamasa
by Sabder Hasami.

One day a boy who was living with his master went to the Government Shop (where special discount was given for the poor)  to buy things for the marriage of his sister. When he went to the door the door keeper asked for money, so that the boy could enter the supply office. The boy gave 5 rupees to him. When he reached the shop, the officer said, "Have you have brought something for me?" The boy said," What is this something?" Then the officer said, "If you do not know the language of our office, then you go away from here."
The boy returned to his master empty hands and said, "Master what is this something?" Then the master explained, "My dear boy, something means that you have to give some money to the clerk and then he will provide the goods."
After this, the boy returned to the shop and said," Sir, now I know that something is money. You want money for your service." The boy paid the money and took his goods. He gave them to his sister for her marriage.

Moral

This play shows that even today some Government
Officers take bribes for doing their jobs. The officers gain money and the citizens become poor and suffer.

V Play  Bhagavan ki Dean. (The Gift of God)
By Moti Lal.

In this play there is one man who had eleven children. Each time a child was born he said that they were a gift of God. One day a friend invited him to a party and he went with his eleven children. When his friend saw him with his eleven children he said, " I have just invited you not your big family. Please go away from here immediately."  On the way home he wanted to take just an auto rickshaw but the driver said, "We can not carry all of your family because only three people can sit in it."  He became very sad and got sick.
He went to the doctor and found that he was his childhood friend. The man asked his friend, "Friend, are you married?" The doctor said, "Yes I am and have only two children so I face less problems. If you follow family planning then you and your family too will be happy!"  After that the man said, "The children are not God's gift; they are my gift. Now I will follow family planning. Thank you my friend."

Moral

This play is aimed to create awareness about over-population.

VI Play  Bechara Majbuti Singh

There was a man named Majbuti Singh. He was very strong and very healthy. All of the villagers were very proud of him. He was a very attractive man. One day the King of all Diseases met Majbuti Singh. This King had created a new kind of disease meant for this man. The King created a beautiful girl and sent her to him. Mistakenly, Majbuti Singh slept with her. He was infected with the H.I.V. virus. Then all the people started to hate him.
Once a clown came to the village to perform a show. When he was going to shake hands with Majbuti Singh all the people asked him not to do so because Majbuti Singh was infected with AIDS.
Then the clown told the people that AIDS was not transmitted by shaking hands, living together, talking together or eating together. Rather AIDS was contracted by having unprotected sex with a person, by having an injection with a dirty needle that had been infected with the blood of a person with the virus, by receiving infected blood or by exchanging bodily fluids such as saliva and blood.

 

Alice Project
Ghurahoopur
Sarnath
Varanasi
221007
UP
India
valentino1@rediffmail.com
v_giacomin@hotmail.com
Tel. +91-542-2595062, 9935681530
Fax. +91-542-2595379, 2585380
Bodhgaya + 91-09934637148, 09431278699 Mob.09431278699 

   Updated may 2007

top