Monkey Business on Stage - Kallu's World 2 - Episode 2 - A Ramlila rehearsal tale

Jul 17, 2026

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A village in Khajuria waits for the annual Ramlila, guided by Masterji, who writes key dialogues and chooses scenes to perform before Dussehra. While rehearsals start in the school, Kallu and his friends secretly learn the lines and dream of getting roles. This year, their wish comes true when they play monkeys in the vanar sena—masks, tails, and energetic battle acting included—sparking envy among the girls and provoking debate about who should perform.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryStory & Novel

FormatPDF

Pages28

Reading Time43 min

Monkey Business on Stage - Kallu's World 2

Masterji’s Ramlila plan

Rehearsals and the village question

Kallu’s monkey roles and the girls’ reactions

Monkey Business on Stage Kallu's World 2 Author: Subhadra Sen Gupta Illustrator: Tapas Guha English Story Book Monkey Business on Stage Kallu's World 2 Author: Subhadra Sen Gupta Illustrator: Tapas Guha Reformatted for Bloom By: Cara Ediger Pratham Books English Copyright © 2011, Pratham Books [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) You are free to make commercial use of this work. You may adapt and add to this work. You must keep the copyright and credits for authors, illustrators, etc. Monkey Business on Stage-Kallu's World 2 Author: Subhadra Sen Gupta Illustrator: Tapas Guha Khajuria village was suffering from Ramlila fever. It was nothing new, as Kallu said, they got it every year. The fever usually started a month before Dussehra. As the low, dark grey monsoon clouds drifted away and the sky turned a glittering blue, there were festivities in the air and everyone began talking about Masterji and the Ramlila. Everywhere in the village, at Dharampal’s chai shop, in the vegetable fields, at the grocery store, in Moti Dadi’s courtyard and at the tube-well, there was a single question being asked. “What is Masterji planning to do this year?” Kallu often said admiringly,“Masterji is the producer, director, scriptwriter and music composer of Ramlila and only he knows what we will see this ” year. Masterji was the head of the village school and the Khajuria Ramlila Party that put up a fantastic show every year. Of course, they couldn’t do the whole Ramayana because that was a very long story, and Khajuria did not have enough actors. So Masterjihad written the dialogues of some of the most important scenes, and he would pick a few of them to enact for a week before Dussehra. So Khajuria never knew which scenes they would see. A tent was put up in a corner of the field where Badri, the milkman kept his buffaloes. A stage was built with a bunch of wobbly folding tables they got from Jai Bhagwan’s Tent House. The audience sat on the ground on durries and nowadays, as the village had electricity, they had both gas lamps and electric bulbs to light up the stage. From the first day, Kallu and his gang were hanging around the school building where rehearsals were held, hoping Masterji would give them something todo. In the gang were Kallu, his sister Munia, brother Shabbo and his best friend Damu and his sister Saru. Day after day, they sat and watched the rehearsals, and by the end they knew most of the dialogues by heart. Every year, Masterji would select scenes like the Sita swayamvar with Ram breaking the giant bow; then Kaikeyi and Manthara scheming to send Ram into exile and Dasaratha weeping and dying. Munia’s favourite scene was of Laxman cutting off Surpanakha’s nose and Ravan kidnapping Sita. Then there was Hanuman setting fire to Lanka, and finally the fantastic battle scenes with Ravan, Kumbhakarna and Meghnad fighting Ram, Laxman, Hanuman and their monkey army. This year, their begging had paid off and Masterjihad let Kallu, Damu and Shabbo play monkeys in the vanar sena. They were acting in the final battle scene and had to wear shorts, have monkey face make-up and long tails. It was amazing fun as they jumped about waving tin maces and swords. It made the girls, Munia and Saru very envious. “It’s sooo silly!” Saru said grimly as they headed for the school one morning.“Why can’t girls act in the Ramlila?” “Did you see ‘Sita’ last night?” Munia asked.“That boy studies in Kallu Bhaiya’s class and he’s starting to get a moustache…” “And his voice kept cracking,” Saru giggled.“I really think Billo Chachi would be just perfect as Sita.”

FAQs

Why does the village start talking about Ramlila before Dussehra?

The Ramlila fever typically begins about a month before Dussehra, and Masterji’s plans become the village’s main topic of conversation.

How does Masterji decide what scenes to enact?

He selects important scenes from the Ramayana and writes the dialogues, then chooses a few to enact for about a week before Dussehra.

What opportunity do Kallu and his friends get this year?

They are allowed to play monkeys in the vanar sena for the final battle scene, complete with monkey make-up, tails, and stage costumes.

Why are Munia and Saru envious?

Because the boys get to act as monkeys in the Ramlila, while the girls are not given comparable roles, leading to complaints and suggestions about female casting.

Jul 17, 2026

Upload by Quinn