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The guest who doesn't want to leave...

A gharial (a fish-eating crocodile) is caught in the floods and swept into a town. After the waters recede, he is stuck in the mud and that's where the people of the town find him. Obviously, they are scared! They want the crocodile to leave the town. But how?
The kids of the Delhi Public School, Mohammadwadi, who are watching the enactment of Catch the Crocodile, crane their necks, sit up in their seat, to watch what the gharial is up to.
The crocodile is mostly placid, not budging when the town people try their luck to shoo him out. First, comes the policeman. But he is no match for the aquatic reptile. Then comes a wrestler from Benaras. He huffs and puffs, flexes his biceps, making the children giggle and laugh. But the gharial doesn't budge. Out goes the wrestler, and in comes Bittu, the trainer, with his whip. Do you think it scares the croc? Not a bit.
Dr Dutta, a vet, decides to tranquilise the gharial with an injection dart. But, the injection loses direction and well, gets in Dutta's behind. The kids get a stitch in their sides, laughing, with the teachers telling them to concentrate on the action.
Since Dutta failed, Dhanno Dhoban (washerwoman) challenges the gharial, but the clothes of her customers are torn by him. Angry and upset, she walks away. Jhola Baba decides to try his luck. Actually, he is more interested in gobbling laddoos, jalebis and samosa. So you know, the gharial stays put. It looks as if he is going to make his home in the town. Ah! What to do! Little Meena has a plan. She lays a trail of fishes, and the crocodile follows the path all the way to the river. Yeah!
Based on a story by Anushka Ravishankar, the play has been directed by Shaili Sathyu of Gillo Repertory Theatre. It was brought to the Pune school under Junoon arts at play, Theatre Adventures segment.

After the show, the cast and crew of Gillo Repertory got together with the kids and interacted with them about endangered species and what each one of them can do in their individual capacity. The children also made some music. They took turns in identifying which kitchen instrument was used in creating music in the play. Towards the end, they clicked their fingers, clapped on their knees and raised their hands and clapped in the air – creating some wonderful beats. Music to our ears!
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