Play- The Red Jacket

I recently converted a children's story I had written last year into a play for young kids. Many things need to be done to convert a story into a play that actors can enact out. Several characters had to be added so that more children could be part of the play. Each character had to have at least a few lines. Each character also had to be given a certain characteristics (pun unintended), such as class clown or empathetic friend. Their lines had to be in line with their characteristics. The key players (mother and Anya) also had to be fleshed out more. Finally, not everything could be converted into dialog, so I had to introduce a Narrator to hold the story together. 

The Red Jacket

Narrator, Anya, Raghav, Shreya, Palak, Mother, Father (only voice)

Scene 1: Narrator, Anya, Mother

Narrator: This is a story of a young girl, Anya. Look at her. Doesn’t she look very pretty in her red jacket? Her favourite uncle had gifted it to her just last week. She loves it so much! So much, that she wears it every day!

Mother: Anya, take off the jacket. It will get dirty. You should wear it when winter sets in properly.

Anya: But mom, what if I…

Mother: No ifs and buts! Take it off now.

Narrator: Do you think Anya took off her jacket? Uh-uh! She kept it on. It was Diwali, and she wanted to look special.

Scene 2: Narrator, Anya, Raghav, Palak, Shreya

Narrator: All the children had gathered in the town park. They played with colourful sparklers, writing their names in the air, and burst noisy crackers. There was so much fun to be had that evening!

(Children playing around the narrrator, bursting crackers and lighting sparklers.)

Raghav: Hey Anya, what is that on your jacket?

Anya: What?

Palak: Is that a hole? Oh no!

Anya (turning around to see): A hole? Where? Where?

Shreya (Pointing to the pocket): There! Could be that sparkler you were holding burnt that hole!

Anya: No, no, no! How could this happen! It’s my favourite jacket. It’s ruined now!

Raghav: It’s just a hole. What’s the big deal! My shirt has so many holes.

Anya:  Oh no! Mummy will get so mad. She had asked me not to wear it today. I should have listened to her and put it away in the cupboard. Oh, what will I do now? I am in big trouble! (Starts crying)

Raghav: Stop crying. It’s not such a big deal.

Palak: Maybe not for you, Raghav. But it’s her favourite jacket. Oh Anya! (Hugging Anya)

Shreya: Don't cry Anya. You said aunty asked you to keep it away. That’s what you should do. Just put it away. Nobody will know.

Palak: Except you!

Raghav (looking at Anya naughtily): And me!

(Everyone looks angrily at Raghav)

Narrator: When Anya got home, the only question in her mind was where to hide the ruined jacket. She had to hide it someplace no one would know. Not the cupboard certainly. Then where? Aah! Under her mattress!

Scene 3: Narrator, Anya, Mother, Father’s voice

Narrator: A month had passed. Anya’s uncle was back in town and the family was going to his house to meet him.

Mother: Anya, wear the red jacket today. Your uncle will be so happy to see you in it.

Anya (saying half-heartedly): Okay, sure. 

(Looks at the audience and makes a sad face and gestures "what to do" with her hands. Then, pretends to look for it in the cupboard). 

Anya: I can’t find it. I don’t know where it is, mummy.

Mother: Have you looked in your cupboard? Don't make me come there and look for it! 

Father’s voice: Everyone, out! Let’s go. We are already late.

Scene 4: Narrator, Anya, Mother

Narrator: Anya thought she had gotten away because everyone was in a hurry. She thought the jacket was forgotten. But her mother had not forgotten. The next day, she called Anya to her room.

Mother: Anya, have you given your red jacket to one of your friends? Tell me honestly!

Anya: What? No! I had kept it in my cupboard when you asked me to put it away.

Mother: It’s not in your cupboard. I checked. Where IS it?

Anya: I don’t know. I can’t find it.

Mother: Then surely you have given it to Palak or Shreya, haven’t you?

Anya: No, I would never do that. That’s my favourite jacket. I would never give away something Arun Uncle gifted me!

Mother: Listen! Either you have it somewhere, or you have given it away. So, which one is it?

(Anya looks very sad. She pulls out the red jacket from under her mattress and brings it to her mother.)

Mother (looking at the hole and feeling it with her fingers): Hmm…so that’s what happened!

Scene 5: Narrator, Anya, Mother, Palak, Shreya, Raghav

Narrator: Anya had expected to be scolded about the dreadful hole, maybe even punished in some way, but to her surprise, nothing of that sort happened. A couple of days later…

Mother: Anya, come here dear.

(Anya comes in, looking sheepish.)

Mother: Here. Here’s your jacket. Put it on.

Narrator: Why is her mother asking her to wear the jacket with a hole? Oh! Where is the hole? Where there was a hole earlier is now an attractive red and yellow flower. The red jacket looks even prettier than before. 

Anya (hugging her mother): Wow! The flower is so pretty! No one can tell there was a hole here. The jacket looks as good as new! Thank you mummy. Thank you, thank you!

(Anya puts on her jacket.)

Narrator: Now, some of you may think this story is about how bad lying to your parents is. But actually, it is about so much more. What do you say kids?

Palak: Sometimes grown-ups have solutions that we children can’t think of.

Shreya: Sometimes, by lying, we lose all the help we could have got just because we were too afraid to tell the truth.

Raghav: And sometimes, it’s okay to have some holes in your clothes!

Digender’s World

We moved to this town a few months ago. Mommy put me in a nearby school. I go to my new school only to play. They want all students to sit down, so I sit with my books for some time. Then I am off again, catching Pratham, teasing Ruansh and jostling with Rishu.

When English teacher makes us recite poems, I sit with my group and move my lips, copying others as if I know the words. I don’t know the words. I know she looks at each one of us, so I move my lips a lot.

Yesterday, she asked who all had a bath before coming to school. I was afraid she would look at me, so I tried to hide behind Prakriti, the tallest girl in the school. Mommy gives me a bath on Sundays. Last Sunday, she was at a new construction site. So, no bath for me.

Luckily, Ruansh spoke up saying he did not even wash his face this morning. Everyone started to talk to him or about him. I was safe.

After school, I play more, mostly with Aman. He is my best friend, even though he is in Class 5 and in another school. Our favourite thing to do is to jump over water channels. Sometimes both of us jump in the water and scream because its so cold. 

We climb trees if there are fruits to pluck. I like sour oranges the most. Wild pears are nice too, but one has to wait for them to be soft. The hard ones are bitter.

We race across meadows. Aman wins each time. Maybe one day, when I am older and taller, I will be faster than him.

We jump over the gate of Palak’s house to play with her dog Kalu. Kalu is a funny dog. He likes to run round and round in the front yard when he sees us. We chase him. Palak’s mother shouts at us to get off her vegetable patch.

Mommy has enrolled me in a tuition class near our house. I go there every day and make sure didi sees me. I sneak out after sitting quietly for some time.

A few days ago, English mam was walking near my house in the evening. She saw me before I could hide and said “Digender, wear a sweater.” I pointed to my yellow T-shirt, and said “I am wearing one.” I don’t know what’s the big deal about sweaters. 

Yesterday, I was pretend studying in the tuition class when Aman signalled to me to come outside. He took me to where mam was sitting on a rock. She gave me a jacket and insisted I wear it right away and every day. I put it on and ran away. As I was running, I heard her say "At least say thank you Digender!"

That night, mommy asked me where I got the jacket from. I pretended not to hear. She got busy cooking dinner and forgot about the jacket.

I did not take it off as I slid into my bed. One minute I was awake and another minute I was in deep sleep.  All night, I dreamt about water channels, meadows, trees, and Aman.

The Clever Mouse Meets his Match

This morning, I was sitting on my balcony and sipping tea. I could see my cat Lipi in the garden below.

It had been raining since last night. The garden was wet and muddy.

Lipi was trying to catch a mouse. The mouse was very clever. As soon as Lipi came near it, it would hide in the bushes. There was a big puddle in front of the bushes. The mouse was safe because Lipi was afraid of the puddle.

"Silly Lipi," I said to myself.  She was willing to get wet in the rain, but not in the puddle.

I continued to watch Lipi carefully. I saw her taking a few steps back towards the house. She then sprinted and leaped over the puddle and into the bushes. That was the end of the clever mouse.

She wasn’t a silly cat, after all!  My Lipi was as clever as the clever mouse, if not more!

Note: This story was written initially as a translation exercise for older students. It made a good reading activity for primary school students learning to read English using phonics because it has only 2 words that are irregular (bushes, since). It also has several words that can help revise phonics rules (leaped, sprinted, afraid, clever etc). And mostly because it is short! 

Upon reading it again, I realise that it can highlight the point about jumping to conclusions (pun unintended). 

A Gift for Suhani!

Madhavi was very sad. Suhani had invited Madhavi for her birthday party. But Madhavi didn’t have a gift for her. Her father had lost his job last month. She simply could not ask him for money for a gift. 

She decided she will not go to the party. “I will say I am not feeling well”, she thought to herself. But Suhani will feel very bad. They were best friends after all!

Lost in thoughts, Madhavi stepped out into her garden. Her mother was clearing the weeds in the garden. She saw Madhavi and asked her why she looked so sad. Madhavi kept quiet. Her mother cut a bunch of red and yellow Marigold flowers and asked Madhavi to put them in a flower vase. 

As Madhavi held the flowers in her hands, she got an idea!

She went inside her room. She picked up her favourite red and yellow ribbon and tied it around the flowers. She then placed the birthday card she had made for Suhani next to it. It looked like a beautiful gift!

Madhavi will be going to Suhani’s party tonight

Note: This story is inspired by a story written by my late father-in-law Sukumar Shankar, titled "The Ribbon". That story was also about a birthday gift and how a friend coincidentally found a lost favourite ribbon and used it to tie the birthday gift. 

My story has no happy coincidence. Its premise is simply about being creative with whatever resources one has.

Words that don't follow phonics rules: Month, decided, thoughts, favourite, beautiful

The Red Jacket

Anya was so happy in her new red jacket that her uncle had brought from Manali. “Anya, take off the jacket. You should wear it when winter sets in properly,” her mother said. But Anya kept it on. It was Diwali, and she wanted to look special.

All the children of the village had gathered in the flat ground in front of her house. The girls played with sparklers, while the boys were going crazy with noisy crackers. There was so much fun to be had that Anya got home later than her usual bed time.

As she took off her jacket, her heart nearly stopped. There was a round hole on the left side near the pocket. How could this happen? Maybe an ember flew off a sparkler and burnt this hole. 

Before she knew, tears had pooled in her eyes. Her beautiful jacket was ruined. And mother! She would be so angry. She had to hide the jacket someplace no one would find it. Where? Where? Under her mattress!

“Anya, wear the red jacket today. Your uncle will be so happy to see you in it,” mother said. “I don’t know where it is,” lied Anya, pretending to look for it. They were getting late, so the jacket was forgotten.

But mother had not forgotten. The next day, she called Anya to her room and asked her if she had given away the jacket to one of her friends. 

Anya was shocked. "How could mother think that? I love that jacket. I love my uncle. I would never give away a gift he gave me!" she thought to herself. 

She pulled out the red jacket from under her mattress and brought it to her mother. She expected to be scolded about the dreadful hole, maybe even smacked, but mom just looked seriously at the jacket and then at her.

A couple of days later, mother came into her room and handed her the jacket. 

Where there was a hole earlier was a beautiful embroidered flower in red and yellow. There was another similar flower on the right side of the jacket. The red jacket looked even prettier than before. 

Anya hugged her mother tightly, saying "thank you" over and over again.

Sometimes grown-ups have solutions that children like us can’t think of.

Note: This could easily have been a story about the perils of lying, but I stayed away from it. It is about creative solutions to seemingly untenable problems. It is about seeking help when lost. 

Words that don't follow phonics rules: Special, usual, flew, ruined, brought, couple

The beautiful illustrations are by Aradhya, a 12-year old friend of my daughter. 

But I am not all those things!

Vivan was livid. He had had a massive fight with Aryan during recess. He was still boiling with anger when he reached home. Even when his mother served his favourite meal of Rajama-Chawal, it didn’t elevate his mood.

“I absolutely hate Aryan. I am never going to play with him again!” he said when his mother asked him what was wrong. Mother was surprised. The two boys always played together, even during holidays.

“He is a cheat,” Vivan added. “You know why he always wins? Because he cheats all the time! When we play with marbles, he always takes one step closer than allowed. When we play hide and seek, he counts faster than all of us. And today, he insisted I got run-out when I had actually reached before the ball hit the wickets!”

“I thought you guys have an umpire to make such decisions,” mother said.

“Today everybody wanted to play, so there was no umpire. But I know I was not out. He just doesn’t listen, mom. Aryan is a cheat. And always so stubborn! He is no fun. I don’t ever want to play with him again!”

When she saw how distressed he was, mother gathered Vivan in her arms. She hugged him and stroked his hair. 

“I am sorry you feel so bad, Vivan. I want you to do something. Imagine for a moment that Aryan is with his mother right now. What do you think he is telling his mother about you right now?”, she asked gently.

Vivan was quiet for a while. Not that it was a tough question, but he didn't want to answer it. But mother insisted. 

“He must be saying that he doesn’t want to play with me anymore. That I am a bad player and a sore loser, no fun to play with,” Vivan said reluctantly.

“But I am not all those things, mom!”, Vivan added with tears in his eyes.

As mother nodded and murmured softly, Vivan closed his eyes and squeezed his tears out. Just before he opened them again, he could imagine Aryan telling his own mother, “But I am not all those things, mom!”

Note: This story is written to start a dialog with young children about perspective and empathy. I wanted to write a story that is not preachy, yet gets the point across, or at least gets children thinking about different perspectives of the same event. It is inspired by my own experience of explaining perspectives to my son when he was 8 years old.