SWEET HOME by Amjad Prawej

Rita, a young lady is seated at a table. Her attire is very modern. She is sipping coffee. She occasionally glances at her wrist watch. Enters Karan Singh, a middle-aged man in a business suit. He is talking to someone on the cell phone.

Karan: Yes honey, I am meeting her now. Don't worry I will have it finalized today. It is going to be the best house in the world. Yes. OK. I shall call you later. Love you too. Bye. (Approaches the table) I am so sorry Miss Rita. I was caught in the traffic. It is getting worse day by day. Too many vehicle on the road. I am really sorry.

Rita: Don't worry sir. It's Saturday afternoon. I expected that. I took precaution so that I am not late.

Karan: Oh! You left your home early.

Rita: No, Mr. Singh. I walked. That's the only sure way to be anywhere on time these days.

Karan: Hmm. Maybe I should try that sometime. Anyway, let's finalize everything today. My wife is getting a little impatient. She is tired of rented apartment. We would like to move into our own home as early as possible.

Rita: I understand. There is nothing like living in your own sweet home. (She takes out a chart paper with a layout of a house) Here, I have changed the interior according to your suggestions. It is all based on the "Jungle" Theme. You'll feel you are in the middle of a forest when you are sitting in your living room.

Karan: Impressive! And the master bedroom?

Rita: Like a cave, the way you wanted it.

Karan: Great!! You know, I want to be closer to nature. I love nature.

Rita: Really? You should have spared those trees you then.

Karan: (At a loss) Well.. I... You see.. We have to compromise in life sometimes. Those trees were blocking the view of the Lake. And you know, my wife wanted to have that view.

Rita: I understand.

Karan: Good. How about the bathroom?

Rita: Theme "Antarctica". I remember your suggestion... or was it your wife? Anyway, everything will be snow white.

Karan: And the bath tub.......

Rita: Yes, it looks like a floating glacier. The moment you get into it, it'll slide sideways giving you the feel of being on top of a floating mass of ice.

Karan: Excellent! My wife is going to love it. I am very excited.

Rita: I am afraid Sir, the "Glacier" theme will be outdated pretty soon. At least, that's what I think.

Karan: Why? Is there a problem?

Rita: Well, soon there will be no more Glaciers left on Earth.

Karan: Really? And Why do you think...

Rita: Global Warming sir. It seems you don't really know and care about anything else other than YOUR sweet home.

Karan: I see. It's about those trees, isn't it? You are upset. Oh come on. Chopping 18 trees isn't going to end the world.

Rita: I really don't understand Mr. Singh. People chop off forest outside and want their living rooms to look like a forest! I shall take your leave now. YOUR sweet home will be ready for you to move in by the end of this month. (She starts to exit. stops and turns) Do you know Mr. Singh, the population of the Earth is around 7 Billion? If everyone thinks like you, 126 Billion trees will lose their lives. And that for sure will be the beginning of the end. You have a Good Day!

Karan: Wow! I'd never seen an activist before. (Dials a number) Hi honey. Everything is in place now. Our sweet home will be ready by the end of this month. Yes I'll.... (Exits)

Enter two young boys.

Alex: Hey Joy. You should come check out our new home someday. 

Joy: Sure. Will I be allowed in the swimming pool?

Alex: Of course. And you should see our rooftop garden.

Joy: Man! I want to go right now.

Enters a beggar. He is quite old.

Alex: Hey look, a homeless beggar.

Beggar: Who did you call homeless huh? You see that. The sky up there. That's the roof of my home and the earth below is my bed. My home is bigger than all your homes put together.

Joy: Yea, sure it is. Let's go man.

Just before exiting they burst out laughing.

Beggar: (Stares where they exited and faces the audience) I don't blame them. The idea “Earth as our home” seems to have become a joke. Something to laugh about. But I don't blame them. People have changed and so has everything else. (Takes a deep breath and is disappointed) The smell of air, the taste of water, the color of our sky. Everything has changed.The only thing unchanged is the fact that there's only one Earth, my biggest home. The biggest? yes... But... But my home... is not so sweet anymore... like it used to be... It's crumbling. And very few people care. But I don't blame them. Maybe it's time, to come up with new bed time stories, new fairy tales and even new super heroes. It's time to repair the attitudes; to repair our home. If not, we will truly become homeless. But I'd still not blame them.

The End.

TREE AND TIGER by Amjad Prawej

A tree stands centre stage and a tiger is pacing up and down.

Tree: Will you please stop? My eyes are hurting.

Tiger: I am telling you, we'll have no where to go. We have to do something. We have to act.

Tree: Calm down my friend. I understand your concern but killing them all is definitely not a solution. Not for me at least. We need them.

Tiger: Ha Ha.. You make me laugh. They need us more than we need them. But do they care? Absolutely not.

Tree: That is very harsh. There are the ones that care. You know that.

Tiger: Alright, yes there are. But how many? Very few. I can count them on my claws. They are outnumbered by the ones who don't give a hoot.

Tree: Calm down. We will find a reasonable solution.

Tiger: Calm down? You want me to calm down. The number of my clan has reduced to almost nothing. And you are suggesting I calm down.

Tree: I know. There are problems. I am sure they will realize.

Tiger: Realize? When? The entire Eco-system has been altered. We are not sure of seasons any more. It is raining here in December for God sakes. When will they realize? And look at what they have done to your kind. You covered most of the land just 10,000 years ago. And now you've shrunk to merely one-third of the total area. Thousands of species have been extinct and hundreds of them are in danger including you and me. When will they realize? On the Dooms Day?

Tree: I agree, it is a serious threat not only to us but also to mankind. The only solution is to live in harmony. There should be a give and take relationship.

Tiger: But there is a give and take relationship. We have been giving and they have been taking. It is a high time we stop this imbalance. We will force them to give back.

Tree: My dear friend. Violence will produce more violence in retaliation. Violence can never be a solution. Look what it has done to mankind. Hunger, famine, poverty. They are trying to cope with all these. And I guess that is why they don't have time to think about our problems.

Tiger: Ha.. They have created these problems. Their greed and hunger for power are responsible. They don't know how to live in harmony, in peace. And seriously I don't care. But I do care about myself and all my clan. They have driven us out of our homes. It is time we show them that Earth belongs not only to them but also to millions of other species. We were created by nature, like them. And we have all the rights to claim what is rightfully ours.

Tree: And how are you going to claim it back?

Tiger: We will invade their homes. We have had enough. It's our turn to drive them out of their homes. Let them know how it feels.

Tree: You are playing the same tune again. Violence, killing and war. I told you its not a permanent solution. You drive them out, they will rage a war. They will kill you and you will kill them. It will never end. You are already on the verge of extinction. Do you want to be eradicated altogether? Is that what you want?

Tiger: Definitely not. But how long can we keep mum. (Pause) Last night they killed my wife.

Tree: What? (Pause) I am sorry.

Tiger: Murderers. They kill almost everything that moves.

Tree: True. But you kill too. Don't you?

Tiger: Yes to eat and survive. I don't kill for fun. I don't kill humans and decorate my den with their skins and their heads. I don't kill for money. They are selfish. They would do anything for money. I don't understand really, how much money do they need to live happily. I've heard about people who have Billions of dollars. Why do they need so much money? I wonder if they eat money instead of food.

Tree: Everyone needs food. They have to rely on flora and fauna existing in nature in one way or the other.

Tiger: And yet they don't care about nature. (Pause) So tell me about your solution to this problem.

Tree: Education and awareness.

Tiger: Right. And who is going to spread this awareness? I am ready to volunteer.

Tree: That wouldn't be necessary. (Pointing to the audience) They are going to do this. They have been listening to us. They know our problems. I am sure they will act.

Tiger: Are you sure?

Tree: Positive.

Tiger: There is one more thing I forgot to mention.

Tree: What?

Tiger: I have been having... you know.. loose motions since this morning.

Tree: You mean diarrhea. You should watch what you eat. Why are you bringing this up here?

Tiger: The cause... I think it's the water. The river that flows through our home unfortunately flows through their town. They are dumping every possible wastes in the river. The waste from their houses, from their factories and what not. These wastes act like poison for our aquatic friends. Why only them, even we the terrestrial ones are affected. I hope they do something about it.

Tree: (Pointing towards the audience) Don't worry they are listening to you. They will certainly spread the message around.

Tiger: (To the audience) Thank you. You all look very kind to me. Please spread the word. Thank you again!

Tree: Alright. We must get going now. (Turns to the audience before exiting) Oh! I forgot. You have exactly five years. If in these five years we don't see substantial measures to balance the give and take relation, we will take drastic steps. I make this announcement on behalf of all the living plants, small and big, shrubs and trees, aquatic and terrestrial if you don't act fast to correct these problems, we will be forced to stop producing Oxygen! Good Bye.(Exits)

Tiger: What? No! Wait(runs to the audience) My God! Did you hear that? You better start NOW. Please. I can't do without Oxygen, can you? Well then do as she said. Plant trees, clean those rivers and please, stop killing us. All the best! (Exits)

The End

THE CAUSE by Amjad Prawej

Bare stage. Enter two Aliens. They are in strange costumes and they wear funny masks.

Alien1: 

(looking around) I told you. See for yourself. You believe me now, don't you?

Alien2:

Yes, I do. (looking around). But.. But wait.. I... I still can't believe this.

Alien1:

(surprised) You still don't believe me? After seeing this, right in front of your eyes?

Alien2:

I didn't mean that. Of course I believe you. But I can't believe what I see.

Alien1:

Seeing is believing my friend. And there is no doubt that this has actually happened.

Alien2:

Yes, I guess. You know I was here last week. And everything seemed so normal.

Alien1:

(surprised again) You were here last week? You came here without me? That's really.... wait a minute. You were here with Liena!! You traitor!! You..

Alien2:

Oh come on! She wanted a little stroll, thats all. We are just good friends.

Alien1:

(sarcastic) Yeah right. And I am Superman!!

Alien2:

No!! Really, we are just friends. And you know, I just dont miss any opportunity to visit Planet Earth. This is the most beautiful Planet in our Galaxy.

Allien1:

(Quickly) Was

Alien2:

What?

Alien1:

The Earth WAS the most beautiful planet. (Gestures around)

Alien2:

Ah yes. Of course.. Was.. This is strange. Just look around. There is nothing left. Everything is changed into.. into... I don't know... Dust!!... It's all black and white.. Where are the colors?

Alien1:

I see a little Grey over there.

Alien2:

Yes, but it's not very different from black and white. (Searching) Where are the Blues and Greens and Yellows and Reds?

Alien1:

(Thinks) I think they are all buried below these Blacks and Whites. It seems a long way before this planet sees any other color again.

Alien2:

(Disappointed) What a pity!! I liked this planet a lot you know. The entire civilization is gone. Vanished! Buried! What a pity!!

Alien1:

Yes it's sad.(Pause) Hey, how long do you think will it take for life to reappear on this planet?

Alien2:

I don't know. May be a couple of Million years.

Alien1:

Wow! And then human beings would evolve and they would learn to make fire all over again! They'd discover different things. They would dig and... (getting happy) And they would discover all the colors!! Yes, they would discover Red!

Alien2:

Not really. How'd they know its Red?

Alien1:

What do you mean? They'd see and they would know its Red.

Alien2:

Yes they would see. But they wouldn't know a Red is a Red.

Alien1:

They wouldn't know a Red is a Red? I am confused.

Alien2:

Listen. We know a Red is a Red because we call it "Red". They wouldn't know what to call it. They might not even know color.

Alien1:

(Realizing) Ah.... Of course.. Silly of me... How would they know?... They would have to learn sounds, alphabets, language and only then they'd decide how to refer to something that was "Red". Wow!

Alien2:

Yes. Red might actually become Rub or Glub or God knows what.

Alien1:

God knows what... (starts laughing) They wouldn't know "God".

Alien2:

Do you? Do you know  "God"?

Alien1:

Of course I do.. He's.... She's... It is... I don't know. But I at least know what "God Knows what" means..(Laughs) They wouldn't.

Alien2:

True.

Alien1:

They wouldn't know 1, 2, 3. They wouldn't know A, B, C. They wouldn't know "Sky".. They wouldn't know "Earth". They wouldn't know "Family". They wouldn't know "Love"... They wouldn't know.. to be short, they wouldn't know anything! They will have to learn everyhting from the scratch. From Zero: They wouldn't know "Zero", would they?

Alien2:

I am afraid not.

Alien1:

This is funny.

Alien2:

No, it's not funny. It's a shame. All the knowledge, wisdom, discoveries and inventions are destroyed forever.

Alien1:

Yes it's a shame. All the hard works of thousands of years are gone for a toss.

Alien2:

I still don't understand. How is it possible to destroy a complete planet in merely one week?

Alien1:

It's simple.

Alien2:

Really?

Alien1:

Yes. All you need is human beings.

Alien2:

(Smiles) I see. I get the point. Thank God, they were not living on our planet.

Alien1:

I'd say we were lucky.

Alien2:

I am still wondering what exactly happened here... One week?

Alien1:

To be honest, it was more than that. It was a result of a very long period.

Alien2:

(surprised) You actually know what happened here?

Alien1:

I overheard our wise men.

Alien2:

Tell me quick. I am dying of curiosity.

Alien1:

Faulty and leaky water taps.

Alien2:

Water taps? You are saying this planet turned into dust because of faulty and leaky water taps.

Alien1:

Yes. I guess I'll have to tell you everything in detail.

Alien2:

Go ahead. I am all ears. There is nothing left of this place to see any way. I might as well know the details of what actually led to this.

Alien1:

Alright. Did you know the country called Idina?

Alien2:

O yes. One of my favourites. What diversities it had. Both cultural and geographical.

Alien1:

Good. There was a serious problem with the people of this country.

Alien2:

And what was that?

Alien1:

They worried about problems that were trivial and ignored the ones that would pose a real threat in the long run.

Alien2:

Like?

Alien1:

Faulty and leaky water taps! They never repaired them.

Alien2:

Now that's stupidity. Why would people not repair their taps?

Alien1:

There are many reasons. Laziness, ignorance and mostly the lack of awareness. They simply didn't know the importance of water. I must mention here, that country relied heavily on the underground water for their needs. They never took Rain-water Harvesting seriously. They were just misusing the generosity of nature. Besides, they were losing thousands of gallons of water everyday through those faulty and leaky taps. As a result, the underground water level went so down that it was impossible to set up bore wells or hand pumps. At some places they were rendered useless because of pollution. The situation got worse day by day. Soon there came a time when there was no water left. People started panicking. The government tried to import water to cope with the situation. But there was a problem. Not everyone could afford to buy water. People started stealing water from their neighbors. They took to the streets. They were demanding free water. The Government didn't know what to do.

Alien2:

Governments never know what to do. So what happened next?

Alien1:

We all believe the Governments don't do anything. But that's not true. They are always busy doing one thing - enhancing their Military Power; buying missiles, nuclear weapons and fighter planes. The Idinan Government had done the same. They were extremely powerful.

Alien2:

(Impatient) Yes yes I know that. Just tell me how did the entire planet vaporize?

Alien1:

You are too impatient. I'll come to the point. Do you remember the country Kanla that was situated on the south-east of Idina?

Alien2:

Ah yes, that beautiful small country.

Alien1:

Yes. The situations were quite different there. They had invested a lot in natural resources.

Alien2:

And they had no problems like Idina!

Alien1:

Exactly. So Idina started bullying them to supply water. Kanla refused for obvious reasons. And that's when Idina declared war against Kanla.

Alien2:

A war for drinking water!

Alien1:

Right. Though Kanla was small and not so powerful, it had alliances with other countries equipped with nuclearware. They came forward to defend Kanla. And the ones that were facing similar problems like Idina stood by them. Soon the entire planet was divided into two groups. Ultra powerful nations like Caremia, Glanden, Sisura, Mengary and Paskitna were involved. They were ready to destroy each other.

Alien2:

And they did! In the process of destroying each other they destroyed the entire planet!

Alien1:

Bingo! You have it now. It was called The Water War! And it was worse than WW1 and WW2. Once they were into full fledged war, it took exactly 2 hours, 23 minutes and 35 Seconds to destroy everything!

They are silent.

Alien2:

If only they had repaired those faulty and leaky taps they....

Stops abruptly seeing the audience. Stares at them with amazement. Goes to Alien1 and turns his face towards the audience. Both of them watch the audience with surprise.

Alien2:

They look like human beings. What do you think?

Alien1:

Yes they do.

Alien2:

Two hands... two legs.. One nose.. And only one head.... My God, they ARE human beings. They are not extinct.

Alien1:

Of course we are not extinct. (Taking off his mask) This is just a skit.

Alien2:

Oh! (embarrassed laughter) I was so into my character that I..(taking off his mask) I thought I WAS an Alien!

They are silent.

Alien1:

(In a dead serious voice) We are not Aliens. That was fiction. And we are not extinct yet. That was fiction too. But what you heard and saw is not far from the reality.

Alien2:

Save water. Repair your taps. Preserve natural resources. Harvest rain water.

Alien1:

And if you don't..... There will be no colors.

They put on their masks

A1&A2:

Except Black and White.

They turn around and exit

The End