INTO THE PAST WITH PAIN….128

 

                                       Dr
K  Prabhakar Rao

 

                                                                                   

 

(Gandhi, Nehru and Patel are seen
walking on the Tank Bund in Hyderabad.
They are keenly seeing the various statues erected on the Tank bund one after
the other. They finally stop at the statue of a King who is dressed in South
Indian traditional style)

 

Gandhi. (Looking at the statue) He
appears imposing. Who is he Patel? I can not see inscription on the plaque at
the pedestal.

 

Patel. Bapu. Mere Bapu. He is
Krishnadeva Raya the great emperor of Vijaynagar Empire that ruled south India
for nearly 300 years.

 

Gandhi. I see. I heard about him
and also read his life history.

 

Patel. Were you not impressed by
him Bapu?

 

Gandhi. I was surely. Jawaharlal.
You wrote historical works. What you have to say?

 

Nehru. What can I say? What you
say is correct. He was great emperor.

 

Patel. I learnt that Andhra
Pradesh Government is celebrating 500 years of his coronation in a big way.

 

Gandhi. That is really good. But
why these nuts have not celebrated similar events for Ashoka the great?

 

Patel. In that case Muslims will
ask for celebrating for Jalaluddin Akbar the great. Some cranks may even ask
for Aurangzeb, Shah jehan and Jehangir, Baber, shersha, Humayun, Tughlaq, Razia
begum, Firoz Tughlaq, Bahlool Lodi, Sirazuddowla, Mohammed shah Rangeela,
Zahandar Shah, Bahadur shah, Shah alam, Mohammed Ghaznavi, Mohammed Ghori  too

 

Nehru. What is wrong is in that?

 

Patel. Please stop it. Enough of
false and foolish secularism. Hee..hee

 

( The climate suddenly gets cold
and sky gets dark. Street lights fail to glow. The entire area becomes dim.)

 

Gandhi. Look Patel, Things are
turning bad. The climate is not friendly. ( sings)

 

Look the sky is dark and dull

It is like a rusty ship hull

The climate is greatly scary

I am feeling highly tense and
weary

 

( In the mean time a great
flash   appears in the sky and the statue
gets illuminated. As the trio look at the statue, it gets into life.
Krishnadeva Raya adjusts his turban and yawns loudly. He then looks at the trio
and signals them to get close. The shit scared trio  go to the statue and  look at Raya)

 

Raya. Who are you guys here and
what are you doing at this odd hour?

 

Gandhi. I am Gandhi, Father of
this nation. These guys are my friends. Who are you sir talking to us?

 

Raya. I am Sri Krishna Deva raya,
the mighty emperor of Vijaynagar.

 

Gandhi. We are aware of your
greatness sir. But you were statue on this pedestal.

 

Raya.  True. I learnt  that the AP government is celebrating my
coronation  after passage of 500 years as
great event. But these nuts have ignored my statue Look at me.   Am I
looking like an emperor. See my dress. It is torn everywhere. Plaster has come
out at many places. The statue is discolored. My sword appears to be a kitchen
knife. I do not know which fool has designed this knife. I feel distressed
holding this cockeyed knife.

 

Patel. What can we say about this?
But you surely do not look like an emperor in this dress and state.

 

Gandhi. The state government has
invited President Pratibha Patil to  take
part in the celebrations at Ravindra Bharathi.

 

Raya. I know that. I also know
that she was presented with a large garland( Gajamala) which is craze in south India. Poor
lady will collapse if she takes up the weight of the garland. So Rosiah and
another flunky will hold the garland on each side and the president poses for
the snap.

 

Patel. Hee..heee..hee, well said
sir. Oh the mighty king.

 

Raya. I am impressed by your
salutations. (He twists his moustache holding his sword)

 

Patel.  Thank you sir. Oh ,the mighty one

 

Raya. Even my statue in Ravindra
Bharathi is not fit for   the occasion. I am depicted in full regal
attire writing (scribbling) on some palm leaves in a sitting posture. The foolish
sculptor should know that one never sits down to write poetry in such dress. One
has to be relaxed and dress should be fit for such solemn occasion. Do you
expect a warrior to enter a nuptial room after marriage in full armor, dress
and helmet? It is ridiculous.

 

Patel. Hee..heee.hooo…hooo. Sir
you are witty really.

 

Raya. That I am. I am a multi
talented one.

 

Patel. We know that.

 

Raya. I am only feeling sorry for
the people who approved the statue.  The
tragedy is that they are celebrating and glorifying me there while on Tank bund
my statue is neglected. It has not been repaired, lit up and illuminated. The
guys are real nuts here.

 

Patel. That they are.

 

Nehru. Patel. Why speak low of
ourselves?

 

Patel. What is wrong in accepting
the facts? This is an insult to the great Raya.

 

Raya. If similar thing happened
when I was alive I would have skinned the concerned alive.

 

Patel. We know that. You were very
moody and had strong feelings.

 

Raya. Thanks. But I am sure once this
tamasha is over, the statue in Ravindra Bharathi will be dumped around and some
one would steal the pen from my hand too.

 

Gandhi.. Haa..haaa. Well said
Rayaji.

 

Ray. What is this new word?

 

Patel. The letters ji are added to
give respect after the names.

 

Raya. Should I address you as
Patelji, Nehruji and Gandhiji?

 

Gandhi. Not required sir. We are
too small people.

 

Raya. You are too modest. You are
known as Father of India.

 

Gandhi. The people have made me. I
never wanted it.

 

Raya. India was already there even during
my time. It was much bigger including Gandhara, West
Punjab, Full Bengal and many more areas.

 

Patel. But after Partition of  this sub continent in 1947 a new India  which is truncated that lost its west and
east limbs was  formed and this credit
must go to us  for achieving it.  Gandhi led the freedom struggle and achieved
this truncated India which
is no more the former India.
So Gandhi became father of new India.He is the father of truncated nation. That
is the story.

 

Raya. Oh , I see . Infact I was
much confused. It is a tragedy that the nation has been dismembered like this
while people like me fought tooth and nail to preserve the country. Are you not
feeling sorry for partitioning India
and still glorify yourselves as great leaders.

 

Gandhi. We never called ourselves
as great leaders. People call us so.

 

Raya. It is OK. Changes do occur
in history. I am sorry if I have heart you guys.

 

Gandhi. Please   do not mind sir. We are used to this. You
know, Godse Shot me in cold blood after partition in 1948. I did not live to
see India’s
progress.

 

Raya. You are lucky. You escaped
the agony of seeing the downfall of rulers and society in the country.

 

Patel. Sir. You are well informed
about the country.

 

Raya. I stand as statue on this
pedestal throughout the day and night and see what goes on. It is better I do
not describe what goes on this tank bund near the statues after darkness falls
every day. This is a place for boozers, prostitutes, cheats, crooks, land
grabbers, kidnappers, pimps and shady men, I know everything that goes on
around.

 

Gandhi. Sir. Please stop telling
all these things to us. We get highly upset.

 

Raya. If I was alive, I would have
hanged all the corrupt guys, terrorists, shady men, to all these lamp posts
around at every statue without any trial. Or they would have been trampled  to death under elephant legs. You know we had
scores of elephants.

 

Patel. Now every one is happy that
you  are not alive.

 

Raya. But the day would come soon.
Plesae wait. All bad things have to stop one day.

 

(Suddenly the Statue gets stiff
and silent. Gandhi rubs his eyes and stares at the statue)

 

Gandhi. Patel, Jawaharlal. Let us
go. It is already dark.

 

Patel. OK Bapu.

 

Nehru. I am getting scared here.
Let us go.

 

( The trio walks away without
looking back  )

 

 

CURTAIN FALLS

---------------- Note: Content of this blog post is writer's personal opinion and may not be SanghParivar.org or Sangh's view.