Book Extract : The Boy Who Wrote A Constitution – A Play For Children On Human Rights By Rajesh Talwar

SCENE 1

It is late afternoon, after school hours. Five children are sitting on a stage that is otherwise empty, except for a few tables, chairs and benches. The children are members of the school’s Drama Society and are meeting today to decide on a suitable play to be staged by them for the school’s annual day function barely a month away.

Sonia: So, our last play went off very well.
Karim: Yes, it did, didn’t it?
Monica: The script was awesome.
Hari: Yes, that was brilliant, Milan.
Sonia: It was so funny. We were talking – and we staged the play based just on our conversation.
Milan: We can’t do that this time though.
Hari: What’s the theme of the play this time?
Milan: We have to write a script and enact a play on someone who can be a great role model for children. Someone who was a true patriot, a great fighter.
Karim: Maybe Nehru?
Milan: I don’t think so.
Karim: Why not? After all we celebrate his
birthday as Children’s Day every year in the country.
Monica: 14 November.
Sonia: And he’s also called Chacha Nehru.
Karim: What’s your reason for not choosing him,
Milan?
Milan: I was thinking that we should maybe
choose someone who faced great challenges in his childhood – and overcame them.
Hari: That makes sense. Pandit Nehru may have been a great man, but he was the son of a rich lawyer and led a privileged life.
Milan: Exactly! I haven’t discovered any
information that would make his childhood experiences particularly moving.
Sonia: Why do we need someone who had an interesting childhood?
Milan: We need someone whose childhood was
fascinating, because we ourselves are children . . .
Monica: (nodding her head) And so it would be
good if the play spent time discussing that person’s childhood. Makes sense.
Sonia: What about Gandhiji? His father was not so rich as Nehru’s.
Hari: Still they were rich enough to send him overseas to study, and train to be a barrister.
Milan: A good point, Hari. And Sonia, one more
thing – Gandhi is too obvious a choice.
Sonia: Then who?
Milan: I do have someone in mind.
Sonia: Okay . . .
Monica: So, who is it?
Milan: His name starts with . . . Baba.
Sonia: Baba Sehgal?
Karim: (laughs) Come on, don’t be crazy. Baba
Sehgal was a singer.
Sonia: Still is.
Monica: Baba what? The only other famous baba I know is Sanju baba.
Karim: What about Baba Ramadev?
Hari: Stop joking guys, let’s be serious. Milan, tell us his full name.
Milan: It is Babasaheb . . .
Hari: Babasaheb?
Milan: The person who drafted the Indian
Constitution.

(Carried with due credits from the author and the publisher)