1999

Cast :	Sharad	Aman Batish	(B.Arch. IV)
	Vasanti	Vidhi Agarwal	(B.Arch. III)
	Vasu	Nitin Pal	(B.E. II CST)
	Kanak-1	Tulika Majumda	(B.Arch. IV)
	Nikhil	Gaurav Charya	(B.Arch. I)
	Sitanath-1	Nitin Girotra	(B.E. III Indl)
	Kanak-1's father	Pankaj Kumar	(B.E. III Indl)
	Kanak-2	Shashilata	(B.Arch. II)
	Vijay	Harsh Enkhia	(B.Arch. III)
	Sitanath-2,3	Vivek Kr. Sinha	(B.E. II Chem)
	Vidhubhushan	Aurcko Bhattacharya	(B.E. I Mech.)
	Kanak-3	Ashupriya Jha	(B.E. I Civil)

Baki Itihaas is a play that forces the audience to retrospect about their self-centered and monotonous lives. The question that is posed before us is that, "Are we really living a meaningful life?".

The play starts with a scene of a typical Indian household, where Sharad and his wife Vasanti are enjoying a quite sunday morning. They are soon joined by a colleague of Sharad's, Vasu. Vasu is a light-hearted and a jolly person who is a close family friend. While they are engaged in a usual conversation, they come across a news item which refers to the suicide committed by a person named Sitanath Chakravarthy, whom Sharad and Vasanti had met sometime back. As one thing leads to another, a small argument ensues between the couple as to what was the reason that forced Sitanath to take this extreme step. Vasanti takes it upon herself to write a short story putting forth her version...

We are transposed into the house of Sitanath-1 where we meet his wife, Kanak-1. We come to know about the weak and precarious economic conditions in which they are living in. After years of difficulties they had managed to set aside a small sum of money. Kanak comes to know that this amount has been spent by Sitanath in a manner he was not prepare to disclose. Kanak becomes distraught and threatens to leave him for his friend Nikhil, who used to harbour feelings for her. Sitanath had actually given the money on Kanak's father, whom she thought was dead. The old man had committed many vile acts and used to blackmail Sitanath in exchange for not telling his daughter of his misdeeds. And Sitanath used to let himself being taken advantage of in order that Kanak never comes across this horrible truth. When Kanak finally leaves Sitanath, his life in ruined, he has no other option but to commit suicide.

Sharad totally disagrees with Vasanti's story and then begins to write his story...

We meet Kanak-2 and Vijay, a friend of Sitanath-2. They were discussing as to why Sitanath was such a changed man for so many years and what was the reason that was eating him from within. We come to know of a recent event in which Sitanath had rusticated a student for the seemingly trifle crime of reading Nabokov's 'Lolita' in his class. Vidhubhushan, who is in the school administrative board also comes and tries to plead with Sitanath on behalf of that student, but to no avail. When Sitanath has goes for a stroll, Kanak tells Vijay about an incident that had happened many years back while they were on vacation at a small place. According to her Sitanath felt himself responsible for the death of a small girl, Parvati, and this was the reason that he was so changed. Finally Sitanath could not live with his past guilt and also of his polluted feelings towards another girl, Gauri, and decides to end his life.

But the question is that, "Did Sitanath take the right step?". Sitanath-3, who is just a manifestation, comes and confronts Sharad, as to why should not Sharad also commit suicide. When today everyone is dwelling such a meaningless existence, concerned only about one's own problems, and the rest of the history also has examples of cruelty, hatred and selfishness, then is it not better to give up this worthless existence. The logic and arguments put forth by Sitanath, makes Sharad think of committing suicide. He is saved when Vasu comes suddenly with the news that the promotion he had been craving for has been granted, and Sharad comes back into reality and probably into the same mundane life.

Cast :	Mollie	Avlokita Agarwal	(B.Arch. II)
	Giles Ralston	Rajkumar	(B.E. II Meta)
	Christopher Wren	Sachin Talwar	(B.E. I Chem)
	Mrs. Boyle	Itisha Tyagi	(B.E. II E&C)
	Major Metcalf	Saif Iqbal	(B.E. III Chem)
	Miss Casewell	Ishwinder Kaur	(B.E. I E&C)
	Paravicini	Bodhaditya Bhattacharya	(B.E. I Elec)
	Sergeant Trotter	Sameer Dhar	(B.E. I Mech)

'Three blind mice, see how they run...', it is with this haunting theme of a seemingly innocuous nursery rhyme that the we are introduced to Monkswell Manor, an old and cozy house in a quite English village.

The young Ralston couple, Giles and Mollie had not expected that their first experience as guest house owners would be so dangerous and eventful. At the start of the play we come to know from a radio new story of the murder of a lady in Paddington in London. During a continuous snowfall the guests begin to arrive- the difficult and aristrocratic Mrs. Boyle, the childish and eccentric Mr. Christopher Wren, the quite and observant Major Metcalf, the strange Miss Casewell, and the unexpectedly arriving Frenchman Mr. Paravicini. All the guests seem to hold some secret letting on very little about themselves.

The already harried Ralstons are in for further shock when they get a call from the local police station that a certain Sergeant Trotter was on his way there regarding some urgent business which needed immediate attention. When Sergeant Trotter arrives he informs that one person among them needs protection. He tells them about the 'Longridge Farm case' in which among the three children who were sent there by a court order for care and protection, one died due to criminal neglect and ill-treatment. The farm owners, the Stammings were convicted. While Mr. Stamming died in jail, Mrs. Stamming was the lady who was murdered at Paddington. At the scene of the crime, the police had found a note that mentioned Monkswell Manor. The suspect might have been any of the surviving children, or the their father, no one was sure. When Trotter tried to telephone the police station it was found that the line was dead, and because of the heavy snowfall, all access to Monkswell Manor were cut off, it had become a 'Mousetrap', with no contact with the outside world. Trotter proceeded with his investigation, but did not make much progress with no one willing to cooperate with him. And as everyone gradually gets involved in their own work, Mrs. Boyle is found strangled. The second mouse had met its fate.

Mrs. Boyle was the magistrate on the bench that was responsible for sending the children to Longridge farm. If anyone needed the confirmation that a murderer was loose among them, this was the one, and probably the third victim too. Trotter gets on with the investigation, and questions all the occupants of the house. Everyone seemed to account for their movements, but at the same time they had no alibis to prove that they were speaking the truth. The shadow of suspicion lay on each and everyone of them. The relationship between Giles and Mollie also deteriorates, with each suspecting the other of being unfaithful, and to top it all both of them realise that the other could have been in London at the time of Mrs. Stamming murder.

Seemingly stuck, Trotter gets an idea to recreate the scene of the crime and account for everyone's movements at the time the murder occured. But there was a slight difference this time round, everyone was playing someone else's roles, and Mollie being assigned to play the most dangerous role of Mrs. Boyle. We come to know of Mollie's past, when she was a school teacher whom the children had asked for help, but she came to know of it when it was too late. Georgie, the surviving brother, blamed Mollie as one of the people responsible and was there to avenge his brother's death. Georgie was know one else but Sergeant Trotter! He was not a policeman, and was the person who seemingly called from the police station. But just in the nick of time Miss Casewell and Major Metcalf appear on the scene and save Mollie from becoming the 'third little mouse in the trap'.

Miss Casewell was actually Georgie's sister who was separated from him after the tragedy and was searching for him. Major Metcalf was the real policeman who after discovering the Monkswell Manor connection had come there undercover to unravel the mystery and catch the murderer red-handed. The misunderstandings between the Ralstons are also finally cleared.

1. Three blind mice - (2)
     See how they run - (2)
     They all ran after the farmer's wife,
     Who cut off their tails with a carving knife,
     Have you ever seen such a thing in your life
    As the three blind mice.

2. Da da da da da, da da da da da
     One, two, three, four, five
     Once I caught a fish alive,
     Six, seven, eight, nine, ten
     Then I let it go again;
     Why did you let it go?
     Because it bit my finger so;
     Which finger did it bite?
     This little finger on the right.

3. Little Bo policeman has lost his skis,
     And does'nt know where to find them,
    Leave them alone and they will come home,
    Dragging a murderer behind them.

And history is made... 'The Mousetrap' was a landmark in the glorious history of the Dramatics Section, being the first ever English play to be staged. That's one more frontier conquered and what a play to do it! 'The Mousetrap' holds the distinction of running continuously, more than any other play ever had, and being one of the most famous and celebrated plays of all times. 'The' Sir Richard Attenborough had played the part of 'Sergeant Trotter'.

Under the able direction of 'Andy', a relatively inexperienced cast who had on an average just one play between every two of them, and had to cope with with the dictions and nuances of the Queen's English and even some French, and a much beleagured and tired backstage cast came up trumps to put all the Doubting Thomases to rest. One more notable thing about the play were the sets that were conceived and designed by our archi team Aman, Tullu, Niharika and Bhagc. It would'nt be an exaggeration if it is said that they were the best ever sets that were ever put up, and they went a long way in contributing to the aura and atmosphere of the play.

Cast :	Einstein (old)	Anindo Mukherjee	(B.E. IV CST)
	Einstein (child)	Ishwinder Kaur	(B.E. I E&C)
	Einstein (young)	Saif Iqbal	(B.E. III Chem)
	Helen Dukas	Ashupriya Jha	(B.E. I Civil)
	Jewish teacher/ Michaelangelo Besso	Vishal Chaudhry	(B.E. II Civil)
	Small girl	Rashi Rastogi	(B.E. III Indl)
	Christian teacher/ Margaret	Sweety Agarwal	(B.Arch. III)
	Mileva	Vidhi Agarwal	(B.Arch. III)
	Marcel	B. Rajkumar	(B.E. II Meta)
	Max	Sameer Dhar	(B.E. I Mech)

Imagine if some of the greatest minds of our time, whom we hopelessly try to emulate, were to go back into their pasts, what sorts of contradiction and dilemmas will they face? Will they look back upon a life well lived, or will they lament at how things could have been handled better. The play tries to bring out this humane side of one of the greatest and most influential minds of this century and see as to what were the circumstances that shaped his life.

The story begins with Einstein, now 68 years old, sitting in his room and contemplating on his past life. He then takes the audience to a journey through his life- starting as a young and curious boy of age 10. He speaks to his own self as a young boy, who is very different from the others at his age. We see how his transformation from a religious frame of mind to one with a scientific temperament takes place. Einstein's qualities and characteristics emerges slowly through these chain of thoughts coupled with the questions that his younger self puts before him to answer.

The story moves to another chapter of his life- Einstein as a young and energetic person full of brave new ideas and ever eager to debunk the pristine scientific theories which have enchained the human thought for years. Through the dialogues and interaction between the young and old Einstein, and through his interactions with his friends Mileva, Margaret and Marcel, the character of Einstein becomes clearer. It comes to light that as a person Einstein was just like any other at his age- he has his own dreams, inhibitions, fears; great friends; and a sweetheart and staunch supporter in Mileva. Einstein gradually sacrifices his personal life for his pursuit of knowledge. His relations with his wife, Mileva becomes strained and she loses her importance in his life.

Thus the plot etches out Einstein's life from his younger days, to a graduate student at E.T.H., Zurich, to his first job as a patent officer, then to his research in gravitation, electromagnetism, relativity; his intellectual and emotional conflicts; his friendship with Marcel, Besso, Margaret; and finally to the Einstein at present, still sitting at his desk till late and the lamp gradually fading out along with his reminiscences.

Cast :	Nawab	Dhananjay Kumar	(B.E. IV Indl)
	Chintak-1	Itisha Tyagi	(B.E. II E&C)
	Chintak-2	Alpana Saini	(B.E. I Civil)
	Hawaldar	Sachin Talwar	(B.E. I Chem)
	Devilal	Vivek Sinha	(B.E. II Chem)
	Juggan	Nirjhar Shah	(B.E. I Civil)
	Alladad Khan	Bodhaditya Bhattacharya	(B.E. I Elec)
	Nagrik-1	Vipul Singh	(B.E. I Civil)
	Nagrik-2	Rashmi Sonal	(B.Arch. I)
	Sutradhar	Nitin Pal	(B.E. II CST)

The play exposed the hypocrisy prevalent in the various sections of the society. It shows how our leaders, government officials and so called social workers exploit the feelings of the common people to suit their vested interests.

In this play the Nawab wants to earn the praise and honour which would touch the masses. This motive are purely selfish and not moral. He is soon informed by the Kotwal about the death of a person named Alladad Khan which is deeply mourned by the local people.The Nawab gets a brainwave and decides to attend the funeral and make a memorable speech, thus proving his plain and the down to earth nature. But as the plot unfolds it is brought to light that Alladad Khan was infact a donkey and not a person.

Nawab is deeply troubled by the thought that that he would become a laughing stock infront of the commoners. But he is spared the trouble because his stooges catch hold of an innocent man by that name and put him to death. The Nawab is thus successful in keeping up his good name and hiding the blunder.

This play is an insight into the lives of the people forming various parts of our society. It shows how gullible the citizens are and how easily they are misguided by the false promises and big words. It tells us how the people we consider our leaders are slowly licking the roots of our society like termites.

1. Aaye Nawab aaye,
     Aaye Nawab aaye,
     Le apna band baja,
     Dekho janab aaye.
     Aamo ke aam loote,
     Guthli ke daam loote,
     Chamce hai inke daaye,
     Chamche hai inke baaye,
     Harfan kamawalee,
     Padhkar kitab aaye.

    Hasna bhi yahaan lachaari hai,
    Rona bhi yahaan lachari hai,
    Hasne rone ke beech yahan
    Hona bhi yahaan lachaari hai
    Lachaari hai jeevan ka safar
    Yeh jeevan ke safar ka kya kehna

    Ye andha shehar hai andha shehar,
    Is andhe shehar ka kya kehna

    Kuch daam to kuch bedam bike,
    Kuch naam to kuch benaam bike,
    Bikne ko bike sab log magar,
    Kuch subah bike kuch shaam bike,
    Girvi hai yahaan har ek nazar,
    Har ek nazar ka kya kehna.

    Ye andha shehar hai andha shehar,
    Is andhe shehar ka kya kehna

3. Alladad Alladad, kahan gaye Alladad,
    Juggan ko chhodd , duniya se Moonh Mod,
    Kahan gaye, Alladad.

Cast :	Bhupati Rai / Raghuda	Anindo Mukherjee	(B.E. IV CST)
	Manohar / Choudhry	Vishal Chadha	(B.E. IV E&C)
	Pawan	Nitin A. Sadafule	(B.Arch. IV ) <Non-dram>
	Sahu	Anshul Bansal	(B.E. IV Indl) <Non-dram>
	Sanjeev Bose	Aman Batish	(B.Arch. IV)
	Mr. Haldar	Dhananjay Singh	(B.E. IV Indl)
	Swapna	Tulika Majumdar	(B.Arch. IV)
	Chanda	Niharika Singh	(B.Arch. IV)

A delightful and heart-warming play, this is the story of a young landlord, Bhupati Rai, who lives in a dilapidated palace in memory of the lost grandeur of his ancestors. A dentist by profession, but penniless to even finance a chamber, his only hope was to sell hi palace. But to throw a spanner in his works was the ghost of his ancestor, Raghuda, who was also his look alike.

Luck finally shone on him when a wealthy businessman, Mr. Haldar, came along with his wife, Swapna and daughter, Chanda, to check out the palace. Bhupati fearing that seeing that the palace was going to pieces the Haldar's may not buy him out, conspired with his khansama Manohar and his creditors, Sahu and Pawan to present a picture of opulence. When his friend, Sanjeev Bose, happens to arrive on the scene, he too is given a role, that of the royal 'Diwan Sahab'- complete with a hilarious moustache and all. With every one enacting his part to near perfection but not without with many heart-stopping and hilarious moments, the plan seems to be working.

The situation starts going awry with the sporadic appearances of Raghuda and the budding romance between Raghuda/Bhupati and Chanda. Mrs. Haldar on seeing this new development, squarely blames Bhupati for misleading his daughter, never believing for once that it was actually a ghost who with his recital of sanskrit slokas had smitten her daughter. For her the deal was as good as over. But Mr. Haldar founding out that it was a ghost, saw it as the perfect opportunity to outfox his competitor for antiquities, Choudhry. In his opinion even though Choudhry may get an older house, where will he get a ghost to inhabit it! So on his request his wife allows Bhupati to prove his innocence.

When Choudhry too arrives on the scene he meets his match in Raghuda, who had an old score to settle with Choudhry's ancestral family, and finally gain his salvation. An excellent piece of comedy and romance, the play concludes with Bhupati marrying Chanda and opening his chamber in Calcutta with Sanjeev and Mr. Haldar making his dream come true.