NCERT Solutions Exploring Society: India and Beyond Chapter 9 Role play — LET'S EXPLORE

Scene to enact: the class must decide how to spend ₹2,000 given for the annual day.

Roles — 5 voters per group, 3 candidates, 1 Election Officer, 1 Speaker, 3 ‘ministers', 1 judge.

1. The Election Officer announces the poll and the rules.
2. Each candidate speaks for one minute: ‘If elected, I will spend it on …'
3. Every student votes once, secretly, on a slip.
4. Slips are counted in the open. The winners form the ‘council of ministers' and the class becomes the ‘legislature'.
5. The proposal is debated, amended and put to a vote. The majority decides.
6. Someone objects that the rule was broken; the judge hears both sides and rules — even against the ministers.

The line that ends the scene: ‘We disagreed, we voted, and we accepted the result — and even the winners had to follow the rules.'

Scene to enact: the same ₹2,000 — but now the class is a kingdom.

Roles — a raja or rani, a council of ministers, a learned advisor, and subjects.

1. The crown passes to the ruler because of birth: ‘My mother ruled before me.'
2. Subjects petition the ruler; they may request, not vote.
3. The ministers advise; the advisor reminds the ruler of rājadharma — that the welfare of the people is the highest priority and that authority is temporary and bound by dharma.
4. The ruler decides. Play it twice: once as a ruler who listens (like Chandrāpīḍa going to the cobbler) and once as an absolute monarch who refuses to hear anyone.

The line that ends the scene: ‘The decision was fair today — but only because the ruler chose to be fair.'

Scene to enact: the same ₹2,000, decided by one leader and two aides.

Roles — a leader, two aides, and the rest of the class as citizens. Keep the tone thoughtful, not comic; the point is to feel the absence of choice, not to mock anyone.

1. The leader announces the decision without consulting anyone: ‘The money will be spent on X. The matter is closed.'
2. A citizen raises a hand to object; the aide says objections are not allowed.
3. Rules appear that have nothing to do with the money — everyone must sit in the same posture, no one may whisper.
4. A citizen is asked to report who whispered.
5. Someone asks when the next choice will be made. There is no answer.

The line that ends the scene: ‘Nothing was voted on, nothing could be appealed, and no one knew when it would change.'

After the three scenes, most classes will choose democracy — and the reasons will come from what they just felt, which is the whole purpose of the activity.