Eklavya (A play)

SCENE 1

Arjun: Hello! I am Arjun, the son of Pandu, and this is my school, where I stay with my brothers and cousins to learn from our sir, Drona.

(Enter Drona, Arjun touches his feet and Drona blesses him)

Drona: Arjun, you seem to be getting better at archery day by day. There is time yet for the day's lessons to begin so why don't you go to the forest to practice? I would have come too, to guide you, but there is work I must see to.

Arjun: As you say, Sir.

SCENE 2

(Eklavya is seen practicing his bow and arrow, when Arjun comes)

Arjun: Hello! Who are you? I'm Arjun, but I haven't seen you seen you in this area before. (Looks about) And you seem to be a pretty good archer too. Who is your teacher?

Eklavya: I am Eklavya, the Nishada prince. My teacher is Drona, the famous teacher of the Kuru princes. You must have heard of him.

Arjun: Heard of him? I am his best disciple. But neither do you learn with me and my brothers and cousins, nor have I ever heard him mentioning any other student.

(Suddenly, a barking noise is heard)

Eklavya: What's that? Seems like a mad dog barking. It might disturb my practice.

(He aims and shoots with his bow)

Arjun: Oh, wow! Seven arrows at once! Wish I could do that. But I must leave now, as my lessons start soon. Bye.

SCENE 3

Arjun (to himself): Sir Drona had promised had I will be the best archer in the world, yet Eklavya shoots so much better.

(Drona enters and Arjun touches his feet)

Drona: What happened? You seem to be in some deep thought.

Arjun: Sir, today I met Eklavya, the Nishada prince, in the forest and learned from him that he is your student. But sir, hadn't you promised me that I would become the best archer in the world? Yet, Eklavya is far better.

Drona: Eklavya? But, I have no student of that name. Tell me where exactly was he?

Arjun: In the forest clearing, sir. He told me he practices there everyday. And there was a mud statue of you there, too.

Drona: I shall meet him tomorrow morning. You rest assured that this surely a misunderstanding.

SCENE 4

(Eklavya is practicing, Drona comes, Eklavya touches his feet but does not get blessing)

Drona: So, prince Eklavya of the Nishada tribe, you call me your teacher, do you? But I do not know you.

Eklavya: Forgive me, sir, I knew that you will never accept me as I am a mere tribal prince of low caste and you are the teacher of the Kuru princes. But it was my heart's desire to be your student; and hence I made this statue of you and practiced before it.

Drona: In that case, you shall have to give me my fees. I demand the thumb of your right hand.

Eklavya: Willingly, sir.

(He goes down on one knee, takes out a knife and cuts his right thumb; and places it in Drona's feet with his other hand)

Narrator: This was the story of the great disciple, Eklavya. He later learnt to shoot with four fingers; but was never as good as before. Everyone calls Drona a bad teacher, but few know that the Nishadas were enemies of the Kuru kingdom; and what Drone did was his loyalty to the Kurus, as he had to save them from such a great archer.

The End.

Written, directed and acted by Saloni Chandna.

For props, I went and searched for tree branches, two bent and one straight. I shaved them with a knife, and used coloured decorative thread as bowstring to tie the bows after bending them to the right extent. A triangular piece of cardboard that had been coloured silver was attached to the arrow. For the knife, I cut out cardboard in that shape, then used coloured decorative tape to turn the lower part into a hilt, and coloured the blade silver. Shooting with the fake bow and arrow was difficult, but practice makes perfect. Please don't attempt seven arrows like Eklavya, unless you're as legendary an archer as him.

Thank you.

P.S. If any of you wish to use this for your own acting, please seek permission and give credit.