Refund — One Act Play: Summary

The Refund, one Act play, is an unusual story. A student who was a bad performer in school comes back to the school as a young man and wants a refund of all the fees that he paid. He jeers his professors, calling them names and tells them that they were as much “good for nothings” as he was and since he did not derive any value from them, it is only rightful that he be paid back all his tuition. He also threatens the school with legal action if they don’t return his money. The Principal is livid, but the Maths teacher sizes up the situation quickly and proposes a solution.

She says that each of the teachers would administer an oral quiz to him and if he gets even one question right, then he is deemed to have passed all his exams and so he will not be entitled to any refund, otherwise he can be given a refund if he fails to answer ALL of the questions correctly. According to her plan, every professor should ask him two questions – one easy and the other hard. The young man agrees to this proposition since he is determined to get his money and so he looks forward to answering every question incorrectly even if he knows the right answers to some or all of them. So, one by one, the teachers quiz him – the Biology professor, the English professor, the Chemistry professor and the Physics professor but he answers all of them incorrectly and is quite delighted at the progress he is making. The Principal feels uneasy but the Maths professor assures her that she can handle it. Finally it is the turn of the Maths professor. She says she is going to ask him the easy question first.

Her first question is, “If we represent the speed of light by X and the distance of the star Sirius from the Sun by Y, what is the circumference of a one-hundred-and-nine-sided regular polyhedron whose surface area coincides with that of the hip-pocket of a state railway employee, whose wife has been deceiving him for two years and eleven months with a regimental sergeant major of hussars”.

The young man is flummoxed with this question but recovers quickly and says “28 apricots” as the answer. There is tension in the air as the Principal and other Professors look expectantly in the direction of the Maths Professor, who coolly says that it is the wrong answer and that the correct answer is 27 apricots. The young man is greatly relieved and looks extremely happy in flunking this quiz. The Maths teacher turns around to the horrified Principal and coolly says that the young man is right about asking his fees back and that the school should refund him.

The Maths teacher turns to the young man and asks him how much the school owes him. Overjoyed at the prospect of getting some money, the young man goes over each year and the fees for that year in detail and comes up with the final amount the school owes him. All along as he is counting mentally and saying what is due to him, the Maths teacher writes the figures down on a piece of paper and calculates the total. Finally the teacher acknowledges to the young man that his mental arithmetic adds up correctly. The young man says that they can bet on it since he has it all worked out.

That is when the Maths Professor drops the bombshell that her asking him what the school owed him was her “hard” question and that since he got it right, he has now passed his course with flying colors and so the school doesn’t owe him anything now. That is when the young man realizes that he has been tricked and as he prepares to leave the school in disgust, he is mocked at by each of the professors in turn. 

*****

The Rising of the Moon — Lady Gregory

Lady Gregory’s The Rising of the Moon is a political play dealing with the relation between England and Ireland. Here we find Ireland trying to free itself from the English rule. The English has dominated over Ireland for a long period of time. In this play we find that the characters are torn between duty and patriotism and are ultimately united together as Irishmen through the folklore, myths and songs which they share as a nation. The thought of being the citizen of a country is considered as more important over one’s feelings of duty towards of foreign nation.

Patriotism is the force that unites the people of a country. Lady Gregory’s play written in Irish English presents two characters. One is an Irish patriot with a prize on his head who is involved in the Irish struggle for freedom. The other person is a sergeant who is on the look-out for him. He is posted at the harbor to check whether the wanted man who has escaped is seen passing by. The sergeant is a poor family man who is badly in need of money. The patriot comes that way disguised as a ballad singer. He sings patriotic folk songs and arouses the sergeant’s nationalistic feelings. Finally he identifies him but does not arrest him. He lets him go and willingly loses the reward. His patriotism outweighs his duty. The scene is a harbor somewhere in Ireland. The British are still the rulers and the Irish patriots are still fighting for their country’s independence. One such Irish nationalist has been arrested but he has escaped from jail. The authorities put a prize on his head and the play begins with a sergeant and two policemen pasting a notice or a placard with physical details of the escaped prisoner.

The sergeant suggests that they put up the notice on the barrel. There is a flight of steps that lead to the barrel.  This place must e watched because there is every chance that the friends of the escape might bring a boat there to help him get away to some a safe place. The sergeant reads the placard and feels sorry that he had not seen before he escaped from the jail. He knows that the wanted man is no ordinary criminal but an important political figure. He is the person who makes all the plans for the entire Irish nationalist organization. The sergeant believes that he could not have escaped without the support some of the jailors. Policeman B says that the hundred pounds reward is not enough but he is sure that any policeman who captures him will get promotion. The sergeant then says that he will mind the place himself because he is sure that he will be able to catch the wanted man himself. However he regrets the fact there is no one to help him. He, being a family man requires the money.    

*****

Are You an Entrepreneur – Victor Kiam

Q. Describe Victor Kiam’s views on how to become a successful entrepreneur?

Victor Kiam’s essay “Are You an Entrepreneur” advises an upcoming entrepreneur to follow certain self-restricted discipline to become a successful one.   He says a successful entrepreneur has to strive hard initially to win the confidence of a customer. The entrepreneur should be ready to take risks and he ought to be willing to roll the dice with his money and stake his reputations in support of his idea or a project to execute it. He must make some sacrifices if necessary to achieve success.

The author says that his thirty five years of experience of entrepreneurship gave him a good idea of the entrepreneur’s profile.  He says that an entrepreneur should ask himself the following questions if he wished to be a successful entrepreneur.

 Do I have enough confidence in my venture?

• Am I willing to make sacrifices?
• Do I recognize opportunity?
• Am I decisive?
• Do I have enough self-confidence?
• Am I willing to lead by example?

With these questions, the author of the essay proceeds to tell us the characteristics traits of a successful entrepreneur.

A prospective entrepreneur must believe in himself. We cannot inspire others if we don’t believe in ourselves. Lack of confidence is not a disease but a symptom. Self-perceived negatives rob an individual’s healthy ego. The author asks us to prepare a list of our minuses and pluses. One has to overcome the identified minuses with required efforts and cautious self-amendments.  So, one has to decide himself and do his best to overcome his minuses.

A prospective entrepreneur has to work hard for sixteen hours a day and all seven days of a week. The product you sell in the market or the service you offer should be qualitative. If not all efforts of an entrepreneur will become waste. You cannot sell anything which you would not ready to buy it.

“No pain – no gain” should be the credo of an every entrepreneur. Nothing can be achieved without painful risks. Working hours like ‘nine-to-five’ does not exist. One has to forget the clock while doing his work. He has to sacrifice his personal comforts and weekend relaxations. One should not be a successful entrepreneur unless he is ready to sacrifice some of his personal comforts and luxuries.

Opportunities are rarely come to us and we should make use of them by through examination of all angles of its proposition. One should not neglect any of the slightest opportunity that comes in your way.

An upcoming entrepreneur has to be a decisive. He should not be logged down by the difficulties and unexpected turns which may challenge him. One has to take right decision at the given moment and act decisively.

Finally, an entrepreneur has to become an example for his employees and workers. He cannot ask an employee to do something which he himself is not willing to do. He has to work harder than his employees do. There will be rewards for an entrepreneur who is ready to sacrifice. They find satisfaction in creating something out of nothing. They will gain a positive sense of self-confidence and of course, there will be financial rewards too.

Entrepreneurship is not as easy as we talk off. A prospective entrepreneur should work hard and work with a vision. He has to be practical and be able to apply his mind to the situations and circumstances. He should have confidence in himself and he should show others that he leads others by his own example.

To sum up, entrepreneurship is not easy but one has to strive hard to achieve his goal. David may not be remembered if had slain a dwarf instead of Goliath.

 * * * *