There is a short story called Chhuti that Rabindranath Tagore had written in 1892, which captures the existential travails of adolescent boys in a heartbreaking manner. In it, the Bengali literary icon writes about how Phatik — the 14-year-old protagonist — is caught in that awkward age when he is not a baby anymore that his childishness will be laughed away, and nor is he an adult yet whose opinions will be taken seriously. All he needs in this in-between phase is to be loved, but his foster parents deny him that reassurance. The story ends in tragedy. But the inherent sadness that lies at its core emanates from society's unwillingness to empathise with adolescents like Phatik, leaving them starved of a sense of acceptance, and a gaping hole in their conscience.

Around 50 years after Tagore penned Chhuti, Pakistani scholar Muhammad Hassan Ansari explored the same theme of conflict through an Urdu lens, with a story called Phislan. Except that Ansari explored another crisis that teenage boys face — coming to grips with hitherto unexplored feelings of sexuality. That story has now been adapted for the stage, with the group Afsana Theatre retaining its essential elements. Pre-recorded versions of the physical play will be screened online this week, and director Jitender Singh tells us that the plot is set in the era of nawabs, in the early 20th century.