A FINE PLAY TO UNDERSTAND THE WORKINGS OF CHILDREN'S MINDS

 THE BOY WHO STOPPED SMILING (1998) is a children's play written in the Grips style by Ramu Ramanathan. The Grips movement originated in Germany in the seventies and spread to other parts of the world. The plays in this genre involve children's issues and question grown -ups  and elders for their actions. This play was Mumbai's Prithvi theatre's first production of a children's play and had a very successful run of 150 shows across many cities in the country.

The central character in the play is Malhar, a prodigious boy from a middle class family in Mumbai. Malhar's family consists of his parents and sister, Mallika. The play explores the complex issue of parent child relationship. Parent's lack of sensitivity to understand the needs of the children serves as the theme of the play. Mallika's constant poser, ''Why?'' prods the conscience of her parents. The eponymous character of Malhar, a child prodigy and a genius in chess, can mentally multiply two large numbers as easily as he can spell his own name. His parents' inability to understand him pushes him further into loneliness and alienation.

When his parent's refused to let him focus on chess, his great passion, Malhar's  reaction was to stop smiling. Blurting out facts and information on chess and other complicated subjects that are unintelligible to others mark the demeanour of Malhar. Keeping the chess set in fridge i sone the eccentricities of Malhar that the audience and readers are witness to. Mallika's and her friend, Ashwini's casual childish banter gives an insight into the workings of children's minds.

The extract taken for this text depicts a scene which is a fantasy of the children when their roles are reversed with that of their parents. The children ask their parents questions like why the father goes to work late and why the mother hasn't paid the bills which bring out the lapses in the parents. These exchanges create empathy for the children who are subjected to such constant questioni ng and criticism every day. This scene, in the true Grips style, seeks to literally put the parents in the shoes of their children in order to make them realise that there are imperfections and faults in everyone.

The quiz show sequence aptly captures the embarrassment that children face when they are are put in a spot and asked to display their talents in front of others. The extract highlights the actuality that children judged harshly for their mistakes whereas parents are allowed to go scot free.