The show-stoppers

8220;It was primary school principal Meena Chandavarkar8217;s idea to have an exclusive parents8217; show,8221; says Girish Joshi, businessman and one of the parents on the co-ordination committee. 8220;We met exactly one month ago, and today, we have staged a 300-minute programme before you,8221; he adds. The school invited the parents to participate but they did not anticipate the enthusiastic response they received. Three hundred parents were short-listed and plans of presenting a short three-hour programme speedily abandoned.Continues Joshi, 8220;We had to extend the festivities to the entire day.8221; The parents met in the evenings everyday and rehearsed till late into the night, some groups meeting at home and others gathering at the school premises. 8220;It created a wonderful atmosphere for a sort of parents8217; assimilation,8221; he grins.

Dr. Sumedha Dhabke, a gynaecologist, enjoyed rehearsing and preparing for the Maharashtra Lokdhara, in which her husband and she participated whole-heartedly. Wearing the traditional nauwari, she made a fantastic picture as she moved around holding her incessantly-ringing mobile to her ear, answering her patients8217; questions. 8220;I wanted to share the school8217;s joy in completing 25 years,8221; she smiles.

Says another participant, Dr. Mandar Paranjpe, laughing, 8220;All this was possible courtesy the parents8217; dedication and the mobile phone.8221; Paranjpe himself is a busy pathologist but has dabbled in theatre and script-writing. At the show, he presented a script dripping with witticisms, titled, Y2K Business Festival, on the novel professions of the next millennium.

The 70-minute skit also featured the Blame-Me Service of the Scapegoat Agency, a satire on the national habit of passing the blame on others. Says Paranjpe, 8220;If we lose a cricket match, the umpires are castigated, if a movie flops, the audience is blamed. Indians are always trying to make excuses.8221;

The skit was very well-received by the audience, who found the Clinton-inspired episode hilarious. Clinton8217;s impeachment is in progress and the judge is about to make a declaration when Clinton8217;s tailor rushes in and says he is the one to blame, since he put so many chains and zippers on his suits. Clinton8217;s primary school teacher walks in next and says, 8220;It was all my fault, because I was unable to teach him the meaning of improper, inappropriate8217; and intimacy.8217; Punish me for his weak vocabulary.8221;

Gudi Padwa also happens to be the death anniversary of Sambhaji Maharaj and the parents prepared a small episode on the days he spent as Aurangazeb8217;s captive before his tragic death, saying that some serious issues also needed to be remembered, amongst the dance and song sequences. Another interesting session was the poetry-reading one, where some soulful verses were read out by a panel of parents. Especially moving were the poems on childhood in Hindi. Maa, Tu Mujhe Ab Jeena Seekh Lene De was a touching essay on a child8217;s plea for independence.

The parents of Generation Next8217; were extended full support by their children, who were seated in the auditorium and cheering them on. Paranjpe8217;s son Sanmoy, studying in senior kindergarten, would accompany his parents to the rehearsals. Eventually, he learnt the dialogues by heart. 8220;I loved the play and even pointed out two mistakes,8221; he says.

This is indeed one parents8217; day out, which the teachers, students and the enthusiastic parents themselves will cherish for long.