7-30-2026
The Subject
Saga: A Comedy in One Act
By Sham Misri
(A light-hearted, expandable drama inspired by a
real-life moment with granddaughter Aadya Misri, Srinagar to Seattle, 2026)
Scene 1: The
Living Room – A Lazy Sunday Afternoon
(The stage is set with a cozy living room. A
comfortable armchair sits center stage. GRANDFATHER SHAM MISRI, 80s, is
lounging with a cup of chai. Enter AADYA MISRI, 6 years old, holding a
worksheet, her brow furrowed in concentration.)
AADYA: (rushing in)
Daddy! Daddy! I need help with my homework!
SHAM: (looking up
from his newspaper) Beta, I'm your Daddu ji, not Daddy. Daddy is your
father. But anyway, what's the problem?
AADYA: (waving the
worksheet) It's English! I have to find the "Subject" in these
sentences. I don't understand!
SHAM: (chuckling)
Subject? In first grade? Are they teaching grammar already?
AADYA: (nodding
seriously) Yes! Look!
(She hands him the worksheet. Sham reads it aloud.)
SHAM: (reading)
"Read each sentence and write the subject..."
- The boy is collecting berries.
- The full basket is heavy.
- The thick woods get dark.
- The brave boy is walking towards home.
SHAM: (smiling)
Ah, this is simple, beta. Let me teach you the trick my father taught me.
AADYA: (eyes wide)
Your father? My great-grandfather?
SHAM: Yes! Pt. Janki
Nath Misri. He was a great teacher. He wrote many grammar books in 1958.
AADYA: (impressed)
Wow! Books from before even Daddy was born?
SHAM: (laughing)
Even before your Daddy's Daddy was born! Now listen carefully. To find the
subject, you ask a question to the sentence. Use "Who" or
"What."
AADYA: (confused)
Ask a question... to a sentence?
SHAM: Yes! For
example, look at the first sentence: "The boy is collecting berries."
Ask yourself: Who is collecting berries?
AADYA: (thinking
hard) Who... is... collecting... berries...
SHAM: And the answer
is?
AADYA: (brightly)
The boy!
SHAM: (clapping)
Correct! The boy is the subject!
AADYA: (excited)
Oh! I understand now! Can I try the rest?
SHAM: (nodding)
Of course!
(Aadya sits down at the table, tongue sticking out
in concentration. She writes furiously. Sham watches with amusement.)
AADYA: (after a few
minutes) Done!
SHAM: (picking up
the worksheet) Let's see...
(He reads her answers and bursts out laughing.)
SHAM: (wiping tears
from his eyes) Aadya! What have you written?
AADYA: (innocently)
The answers!
SHAM: (reading)
For sentence 1: "The boy is collecting berries." You wrote: "Hain!"
AADYA: (nodding)
Yes! Because you said, "Who is collecting berries?" and I said
"Hain!" Like when you ask me "Aadya, are you ready?" and I
say "Hain!"
SHAM: (laughing
harder) Oh beta! "Hain" is not the subject! It's "The
boy!"
AADYA: (confused)
But... but you asked a question!
SHAM: (trying to
control his laughter) Yes, but "Hain" is not the answer! Let's
see the others...
(He reads the rest of her answers.)
SHAM: Sentence 2:
"The full basket is heavy." You wrote: "Hain!"
Sentence 3: "The thick woods get dark."
You wrote: "Hain!"
Sentence 4: "The brave boy is walking towards
home." You wrote: "Hain!"
(He looks at her, still laughing.)
SHAM: All four answers
are "Hain"!
AADYA: (proudly)
Consistency!
SHAM: (shaking his
head) Oh, this is precious! I must show this to your parents!
AADYA: (worried)
No! Don't show them! They'll scold me!
SHAM: (winking)
Don't worry, beta. This is comedy gold!
Scene 2: The
Parents Enter – Panic Mode
(Enter MOM and DAD, both looking stressed. Mom is
holding an iPhone, Dad is carrying a Mac Pro laptop.)
MOM: (anxiously)
Aadya! How's your homework? The school starts in one week! We need to make sure
you're ready!
AADYA: (hiding
behind Daddu Ji (Sham) Dada is helping me!
DAD: (relieved)
Oh good! Dad, you're a teacher. You'll make sure she understands.
SHAM: (grinning)
Oh, she understands perfectly. She's just... creative.
MOM: (suspiciously)
What do you mean?
SHAM: (handing her
the worksheet) See for yourself.
(Mom takes the worksheet and reads it. Her eyes
widen.)
MOM: (gasping)
"Hain"? All four answers are "Hain"?
DAD: (taking the
worksheet) What? Let me see... (reading) "Hain, Hain, Hain,
Hain"... (he starts laughing)
MOM: (not
laughing) This is not funny! She's starting school in one week! What will
the teacher think?
DAD: (still
laughing) Maybe the teacher will think she's very enthusiastic!
MOM: (scolding)
Aadya! This is serious! You can't write "Hain" for everything!
AADYA: (teary-eyed)
But Dada (Daddu Ji) said to ask a question!
MOM: (to Sham)
What did you teach her?
SHAM: (defensively)
I taught her the right method! She just... misinterpreted it!
DAD: (laughing)
This is classic! "Hain" is the universal answer!
MOM: (frustrated)
Dad, this is not the time to laugh! She needs to learn properly!
SHAM: (raising his
hand) Calm down! I'll teach her properly. But first, let me tell you about
my father...
Scene 3: The
Story of Pt. Janki Nath Misri
(Sham sits back in his chair, gesturing for everyone
to sit. The family gathers around him.)
SHAM: In 1958, your
great-grandfather, Pt. Janki Nath Misri, published a series of grammar books.
They were graded from primary to high school.
DAD: (curious)
What were they called?
SHAM: "English
Grammar Through Hindi/Urdu/Kashmiri." He believed that to learn English,
you needed to understand it in your mother tongue.
MOM: (interested)
That makes sense.
SHAM: He taught us
that to find the subject, you ask "Who" or "What" to the
sentence. For example: "The boy is collecting berries." Who is
collecting berries? The boy. So "The boy" is the subject.
AADYA: (nodding)
So I should have written "The boy," not "Hain!"
SHAM: (laughing)
Exactly! "Hain" is what you say when you agree, not the answer!
DAD: (grinning)
But it's a very honest answer! She was agreeing with the sentence!
MOM: (finally
smiling) OK, OK. But how do we fix this?
SHAM: Simple! I'll
teach her properly. But first, let's make this fun!
Scene 4: The
Grammar Game
(Sham stands up, turning the lesson into a game.)
SHAM: OK, Aadya! Let's
play a game! I'll say a sentence, and you ask "Who" or
"What" and find the subject!
AADYA: (excited)
OK!
SHAM: Sentence 1:
"The dog is barking." Who is barking?
AADYA: (thinking)
Who... is... barking... The dog!
SHAM: Correct! What's
the subject?
AADYA: The dog!
SHAM: Excellent!
Sentence 2: "The cake is delicious." What is delicious?
AADYA: What... is...
delicious... The cake!
SHAM: Perfect! You're
getting it!
MOM: (relieved)
Oh, she's learning!
DAD: (teasing)
But will she still write "Hain" on the test?
AADYA: (giggling)
No! I'll write the right answer!
SHAM: That's my girl!
Now, let's do your homework properly!
(Aadya sits down and rewrites her answers correctly.
The family watches proudly.)
AADYA: (after
finishing) Done!
SHAM: (reading)
1. The boy. 2. The full basket. 3. The thick woods. 4. The brave boy. Perfect!
MOM: (hugging
Aadya) I'm so proud of you!
DAD: (grinning)
But I still think "Hain" should be an acceptable answer!
MOM: (laughing)
Only in Misri family grammar!
Scene 5: The
Epilogue – A Note from the Author
(Sham steps forward, addressing the audience
directly.)
SHAM: And so, the
subject saga came to a happy end. Aadya learned her grammar, the parents calmed
down, and I got to relive my childhood lessons from my father.
(He pauses, smiling.)
SHAM: You see, grammar
isn't just about rules. It's about connections. My father taught me Hindi and
Urdu. I'm teaching Aadya in English. But the method is the same: ask a
question, find the answer, understand the logic.
(He gestures to the family, who are now laughing and
playing together.)
SHAM: And sometimes,
the wrong answers are the best memories. "Hain" may not be the
subject, but it's definitely the spirit of our family!
(He winks at the audience.)
SHAM: After all, in
the grammar of life, love is the subject, laughter is the predicate, and family
is the complete sentence!
(The family gathers for a group hug as the lights
fade.)
THE END
Author's Note:
This drama is dedicated to:
- Pt. Janki Nath Misri (1958), whose grammar books taught generations
of Kashmiri students.
- Aadya Misri, the
6-year-old inspiration, who will join first grade in Seattle in August
2026.
- All parents who panic
when their children write "Hain" for every answer.
Moral of the story: Sometimes the wrong answers teach us the right
lessons. And "Hain" is always the right answer when someone asks,
"Do you love your family?"
Hain!
(Curtain falls. Audience applauds.)
Sham Misri, Seattle,
Washington, USA
7-30-2026
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