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Play - Forest Drums - IV

By Prema Sastri

Enter Minnies. They come in dancing. They greet Shyam and Group. They look curiously at the new comers, and try to inspect them. The newcomer draw back uncomfortably.

Ramu: What are they?

Shyam: They are Minnies, half human half fairy.

Rinoo: They keep us company when they can, but generally they are too busy.

Sheela: What do they do?

First Minny: We are the keepers of the forest. We keep it beautiful and flourishing.

First Minny:: We do repairs.

Nitin: What repairs?

Third Minny: We work hard all the time.(They flit around Showing their activities).

Minny: I paint the leaves. Green, Yellow, Brown and Red.

Minny: I repair them. I mend the broken branches.

Minny: I care for the fruit. I see they are not eaten by the beetles.

Minny: I make sure they are fresh and tender.

Minny: I see that the water reaches the roots.

Minny: I lift the branches so that they can reach the rain and the sky.

Minny: I take the bees to the flowers so that they can get honey.

Minny: I paint the butterflies and mend their wings.

Minny: I clear the waters of scum.

Minny:(Singing) We paint. We mend. We freshen up the plants. We keep the water clean. We protect the flowers. We sing. We dance. We fly. We are only passing by. Now off to work in the sky, on the ground, in the trees. Good Bye.

Minnies Exit

Sheela: That was lovely.

Tree: They do a lot of work and don’t expect anything in return.

Nitin: You will say…..not like human beings.

Tree: Exactly. But human beings are only selfish and stupid – not wicked like the Rogos.…

Sheela: (Scared) What are Rogos?

Shyam: Wicked spirits. They like to do harm.

Jani: Let’s run before they get us.

SRose: Too late. They are here already.

ENTER Rogos – dressed in black and grey. They enter screeching and squabbling. They make to attack the children.

First Rogo: what have we here?

Second Rogo: A new group of children.

Third Rogo: We’ll deal with them soon. First let’s make merry. They dash around calling out.

Break the branches. Put cankers in the buds.Make the ground slippery. Pour mud in the water. Dig up the roots(they run helter-skelter)

What Fun - What Fun!!:

Sheela : They are the forest terrorists.

One Rogo stops them. He raises his hand. Let’s go for the children. They attack the children. A fight ensues. Nitin takes off his belt. The girls take off their shoes. There is fighting and fisticuffs. The Rogos use branches. The children are getting the worst of it.

Suddenly Ramu pulls out a scout knife from his pocket. Nitin picks up his butterfly net. They attack. The Rogos flee.

S i l e n c e ....

Play V - Continued here

Back to Play - Part I

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