On Teacher's Day..

On Teachers’ Day

Gurdip Singh Bhamra
Vice principal

1. Teacher 1          A lady teacher dressed in Sari, carrying a bag, a handkerchief.
2. M. Teacher A male teacher.
3. Teacher Central Character.
4. Wife
5. Daughter
6. Guest
7. Peon
8. Boy 1
9. Boy 2
10. Boy 3
11. Boy 4
12. Boy 5
13. Boy 6
14. Girls 6 in number. 

Scene 1
	The stage is empty except a chair and a table. The presence of a black board gives the impression of a class room.
	The scene opens and a few students are seen moving around, busy decorating their class room for some occasion like ‘Teachers Day.’
	Two girls are seen fixing some decorating material when a few boys push up the stage a big block, made of some boys. They push it as if it is a big block.
	The girls ask them what are they doing and ask them where they are taking it.
	They put their fingers on their lips making sign of keeping mum.
	The school bell goes and the noise of a class is heard in background.
	A teacher enters and the noise stops all of a sudden.
Teacher:	This is the class. How stuffy it is? It is very hot here. Silence. Keep quiet. Where are you going? Sit down. (The class is complete silent.) Open your books. Which page? Any page… just read it. (A child stands up to read. But she snubs him.) Just sit down. Read it. (They start reading it aloud. But she shouts at them, wielding a stick in her hand.) Don’t read it aloud. Read it silently, in your mouth. (There is pin drop silence.)
Teacher-	Hey Bhayia, jra pani to pila do. (The class laughs. A child comes to her seeking permission for water.) No way, sit there. Don’t behave like a thirsty crow. Ma’am please send for the peon. (The peon enters with adjustment sheet.)
Peon	Madam ji, tusin chevan period vi lena hai. Third B vich.
Teacher	Oh my god. Again adjustment. How many periods more I have to take? Well, no way. Bhayia jra pani to pila do.
Peon	OK, abhi aata hun. (and he leaves)
Teacher	(The mobile rings, and the teacher starts talking on the phone.) Hi, Babbly, how are you? Kaisi ho. Yaar tune to bas fasa diya hai mujhe. Bari bakwas hai ye teaching line to. Ye class lo, ye class lo, kabhi, idhar kabhi udhar. So large are classes, and there is no one around to serve me water.  I am thirsty as a Thirsty crow. How are you? Ok, I shall talk to you later on. This old Vice Principal is coming this way. He is always on the lookout. Bye. See you.
	(The peon serves the water. She first looks at the glass in light and then with a scornful expression she gulps down water.) (She looks at the watch.)
Teacher	What time the bell goes?
Peon	12.30
Teacher	Five minutes more to go.
Peon	Yes
	Teacher starts walking across the stage. She bumps into the human block.
Teacher	What is this? Who placed it here?
	The whole class laughs. The bell goes. The teacher picks up her handbag and runs fast to the right aisles. Another male teacher enters the class room.
M.Teacher	Good after noon students. The whole class in a chorus says. The voice is heard from back ground: ‘Good Afternoon Sir.’
M. Teacher	What is this period for?
The class	Science. Sir.
M. Teacher	Ok. Take out your science books. Atul stand and wipe this black board. (The class starts making a noise.) Keep quiet. What is this? (Two boys enter the stage.)
Boys	Sir should we put it aside?
M. Teacher	No, there is no need. Let me see what we can make of it. Boys, everything is useful. We should use waste things to make useful things.
Boys	Right Sir.
M. Teacher	Can we make a rack of from this block. (The teacher tries, but as touches the block, it moves away.)
M. Teacher	Ok. Let us see if we can make it a table for some activity. (He tries again. This time the block keeps rising.) Oh the block, What should I do with you?
The block	Make us what we want.
M. Teacher	I cannot. I can make you either a table, a chair, a box, or any thing like that.
The block	We don’t want to be either of these. We are not dead wood. We are alive to ideas, Alive to the world. We want to be what our our heart says. Can you hear our hearts. Music: Sound of thumping heart.
Child	I want to fly like bird to go wherever I want. I want to swim the deep oceans of the world to explore the past. I want to swirl around like a whirlwind to change the things that stench. I want to swoosh up in the space and count the stars. I want to dance around to the perfect rhythm.
M. Teacher	I am afraid, I cannot do all these thing. I don’t know how to do it. (moves to the audience) Do you know how to do it. (Trembling with fear. ) You be the block again. Remain where you are. You are the stumbling block of my career. Be the block before somebody comes.
The block	So we are. (The bell goes and the teacher leaves, wiping the sweat off his brow and heaves a sigh of relief) Music in the background. First thumping of the heart it turns into some perfect rhythm. And the block disintegrating into six students and they start moving with the waves of music. Just then a teacher enters.
Teacher	Oh, you are dancing perfectly So rhythmic! So musical. What a perfect creatures of nature you are! I wish I could make you what you want. You are so smooth, so tender, so soft and so subtle. I wish I could make you……….. (Before he completes a sentence, one of the child breaks and bows to him.) Be it as you wish. (He waves his hands and the music rises and the block disintegrates, children disappears one by one in dancing motion. The first one leaves like a bird, flapping the wings, the second swirls around, the third with a swoosh and similar manner.)
Child 1	Sir I too want to be a doctor.
Teacher	But why are you standing outside.
Child 1	My teacher asked me to stand outside as I forgot to bring my text book.
Teacher	Ok. You can sit in my class but don’t forget you book in future. Have faith in yourself and be what you will.
Child 2	Sir, me too. Bless me to be an engineer.
Teacher	No I don’t want you to be an engineer. Be the architect of the modern India. The country needs you.
Child3	Sir me too, bless me too.
Teacher	What do you want to be?
Child 3	This, Sir, I don’t know.
Teacher	(laughingly) You can be what you will. Only have faith in honesty and hard work. It always pays.
(Song: Insaf ki dagar pe baccho dikhao chal ke. Yes desh hai tumhara Neta tumhi ho kal ke.) The scene changes.
	The teacher has got old and he returns home from his school. As he places his bag on the table his wife enters with a glass of water.
Wife:	(angrily)You have spent the whole life… teaching, teaching and teaching and have done nothing else.
Teacher	What happened?
Wife	For you only school was every thing and you spent every minute of life in the school. See what have you got? (She hands over the letters, she has just received.) As the teacher reads them, she speaks out. Bhayia says, he cannot come. He had to go abroad. Delhi wale Uncle and Aunt say, they cannot come as you did not attend their functions. Your cousin says how can you expect him to be there. He has advised you to remember your turn when you failed to attend his marriage.
Teacher	But then I was to conduct the Centre of examination at our school.
Wife	Yes, this is what they all say. They say you did your work and never cared for them.
Teacher	But I did what I thought was most important for me. I tried to build the future of my students.
Wife	So you tried to build future of your students. But your children have lost their future. They have nowhere to go. Three days later, nobody will be there to receive the marriage party. Stand there alone and console yourself. (Just then, the daughter comes, all crying. She clings to her father.)
Daughter:	Papa, what will become of me?
Teacher:	I don’t know. But if it is to happen, we cannot stop it.
Wife	Yes, you cannot stop it because you are the failure, a total failure. (They leave the stage)
Teacher:	Am I a failure…. a total failure? Have I have failed? (Turns to the audience) Do you think that I have failed in my life? Have I failed in my mission? (Call Bell. And a boy dressed as an adult enters.)
Boy	Good evening, Sir.
Teacher	Good evening, son. How are you? Who are you, I don’t get you.
Boy	Sir, you don’t recognize me. How can you? I was nowhere around. I am Manavdeep. The boy who was always punished in the class.
Teacher	Manavdeep, Now I remember. You were always without books.
Boy	Yes Sir, but when you held my hand to teach me how to walk, I learnt to fly. I asked you to grant my wish and you blessed me.
Teacher	Oh, so you have become a pilot.
Boy	No Sir, I got Civil Services and tomorrow I am joining as a Deputy Commissioner of the neighbouring town.
Teacher	Well done, (rising from his seat and offering him a chair.) Please be comfortable here.
Boy	(refusing) No Sir, I want to sit close to you. Five years ago when I lost my father, I thought of you and held you as my guiding light. But what is the matter? You seem to be dispirited. Is there any thing wrong? Have I come at the wrong hour. I am sorry, I have come unannounced.
Teacher	No, my son. You have come just in time. (some invitations fall off his trembling hand.)
Boy	(picking up the invitation, picked up one and reads it.) So there is some marriage round the corner.
Teacher:	Yes, but the occasion is turning bitter. My relatives have refused to turn up to attend the marriage. Now all alone I cannot not manage it.
Boy	No problem Sir, give this job to me and let me see what can we do with it. (He picks up his telephone and makes few calls. Just then the wife of the teacher enters, she is about to blow with anger but seeing the stranger, she controls herself.)
Boy	Sir, you just relax and let us do our job. Now it is our duty to see every thing through. We hope the marriage would take place as usual and with grandeur and style.
	(They leave the stage and from the other side, the setting is stage is being changed. Red chairs are put along the back wall.) The boy is busy directing the event. Music: Shehnai from the background A crowd of ten people arrives at the scene and they are being served by well attired young men. The greets every body with folded hand and the boy makes him comfortable in the chair in the centre stage. An young man, presumably a relative comes to him to greet him. The teacher receives him.
G Man	So many people around here. But none seems to be from our relatives? And the beares, (he calls the bearers) where have you got them. They seem to be from five star hotel.
Teacher	They are not bearers. They are my relatives. Would you like to meet them.
G. Man	Relatives, I have not met them before. I have not heard of them earlier.
Teacher	Let me introduce you. (He calls one by one. They holding trays of glasses, empty glassed and plates of eatables.) This is yogesh, my student, now he is Senior Superintendent of Police. This is Barinder, Lt. Colonol Barinder Singh Gill. This is Sunil, Sunil The General Manager, Western Railways. And This is Manwadeep, the Deputy Commissioner. That girl who is helping my daughter is Meenakshi Senior Scientist at the University. They are all my students and my relatives, my family.. They belong to me and I belong to them. Well, now we will have to go for the other ceremonies.
	Over