INTO THE PAST WITH PAIN..LVII

INTO THE PAST WITH PAIN.LVII
SCENE LVII
Prof Dr Colonel K Prabhakar Rao ( Retired)

( Lord Vishnu in heavens is seen resting on a serpent bed in reclining pose while his consort Laxmi is sitting next to him and pressing his tired legs. Close to them Tumbura is seen playing veena and Narada is seen singing hymns in praise of the lord. Narada approaches the lord..)

Narada. My dear lord Vishnu! Oh the greatest of all in the three worlds, why you always rest on this serpent with tired legs? This is the most common pose printed on all calendars on the earth.

Vishnu. Look Narad. What to do! I have to take care of whole world. Naturally I feel tired. I am ageless. But I also have limitations.

Narad. Lord I had been to earth and in one of the exhibitions I saw a gadget to soothe tired legs. It has a small machine with a wide opening and one has to put his feet into it and switch it on and some artificial arms start pressing our feet. Oh it is so good. I put my feet on trial. What a comfort I had ! Great it was indeed. Better you get one for you. Madam will be relieved much.

Vishnu. But nothing like the feet being pressed by wife

Narad. Sir. You know I am a bachelor boy and what can I say?


Vishnu. ( Laughs).haa…haaa

Laxmi. Narad, better get one fast. I am tired

Vishnu. Human beings expect money for everything.

Narad. Yes Lord. It costs about 3200 rupees.

Vishnu. What is this rupee?

Narad. We have to see every thing in terms of gold. A very small amount of gold is enough. Sir Indians are very crazy of gold.

Vishnu. Get me one and one for you also because you keep roaming every where. I pay for you also. Get one for Lord Shiva. He dances much on top of hills.

Narad. Thanks Lord. I am obliged..

( Narad goes away from there saying Narayan….Narayan.. and lands up in Hyderabad city. He is at Nizam college grounds. There is an exhibition organized there. He goes to the entrance along with his veena in his usual dress . At the gate he is stopped)

Sentry. O Bahia. Who are you? Do you have ticket? What is this strange dress you adorn? Are you from a drama company? This is not the place for you. Please go to a temple where you may get some coppers.This is not a place to beg

Narad. Do I look like a beggar. I am great sage. I can curse if I get annoyed

Sentry. Look bhai. You can not go without ticket. What else can be a bigger curse than living in India? Can you make it worst. That you can not make. Am sure.

Narad. Look. I am sage Narad. I have come from Vaikunth. I want to see the exhibition. What is this you call ticket?

Sentry. You pay Rs 25 at the entrance they will give you a slip and that is the ticket. Please change your dress too. You will be the odd man out here.

Narad That I will see. But what is this money? Any how I shall find out.

Sentry. Ohfo. What a guy?

( In the mean time Gandhi, Nehru and Patel also arrive in their usual dress. They have tickets and show to the sentry and he is impressed. In the mean time Narad arrives with a ticket. They enter the exhibition. At the entrance, they find many looking queerly at them)

Official. Welcome sir. It is great you have come in fancy dress. This is a great attraction for every one.

Gandhi. What do you mean? Is this fancy dress? This is normal dress for us. We are real Gandhi, Nehru and Patel. ( Sings doing jig)

Look Oh the odd man here
Know I am Gandhi, father of nation
Please know these are Nehru and Patel
Ignorance looks like todays fashion

Guys can not recognize us
That is their own fault
We are the real heroes of past
Who led the strike and made salt

Official. Oh I see. ( He looks at his friend )poor guys , ( In hush hush) Appear to be in other world .May need some counseling and treatment too at Erragadda hospital.

( Narad and the trio get into the exhibition and start seeing things. Many people are gazing at them. Narad starts playing his Veena Mahati. He is occasionally saying Narayan.. Narayan…… Gandhi, Nehru and Patel sing Ramdhun while going around. People gather around them and listen to them. While going around, they see the physical fitness stall. They see many items displayed)

Shop keeper. Sir please come here. Here is the machine that keeps your blood pressure low. Here is the machine that checks blood pressure. You have to insert your arm in the sling and press button. The band will tighten and BP is seen on the screen. (Looking at Gandhi) Please try sir. You look weak and need BP check.

( Gandhi sits on chair and inserts his arm and presses the button. The band tightens more and more. Gandhi cries in pain. He struggles like a lizard caught in a snakes mouth.)

Gandhi..eee…eee/…waa…waaaa…aah..aahh.. save me. My arm is getting crushed. ( He struggles to pull out arm and it further tightens. Shop keeper is helpless)

Patel. Wait Bapu. please sing ramdhun. It will be allright.

Gandhi. Ramdhun will not work for me. I can preach only to others.

Patel. OK Bapu, I shall take of care of this.

( He picks up stick of Gandhi and hammers the BP machine. It immediately loosens grip and entire machine is shattered to pieces. Shop keeper cries loud)

Shop keeper. You… You broke the machine..eee..eeee..aaa…aaaa

Patel. What can I do? My friend was about to die. What type of machine you sell? I may have to report to police

Shop keeper. Police..no….no. Plesae leave sir

(Gandhi and his friends get up and run away from the shop. Narad also runs after them holding Veena. Narad tumbles on a fat woman and both fall down. She starts abusing Narad)

Woman. You silly fellow. Are you blind? Why are you running around? Why are you holding sitar in hand. Why these drama company guys are here? ( she walks away limping)

( Soon they are at another shop displaying various gadgets for comfort)

Shop keeper. Please come sir. I have a machine that soothes your tired feet. Please try sir. Trying is free

( Gandhi and friends enter the shop and are made to sit on chairs)

Shop keeper. Sir! Why don’t you try this? ( Gandhi looks at Narad who is still playing Veena and singing Narayan…Narayan

Narad. OK I shall try. This is the one I was looking for. I recommended this Lord Vishnu

Gandhi. Vishnu?

( Narad inserts his both feet in the gadget sitting on chair. The shop keeper switches on the power supply. Narad feels the comfort and enjoys it. He feels excited and closes eyes with pleasure)

Narad. How much this machine cost sir?

Shop keeper. Just Rs 2500 only. Life time guarantee. That is your life time sir.

Narad. OK..OK This is really good. I shall take three of these.

( In the mean time the feet of Narad are pressed more vigorously with steel grip and Narad struggles to remove his feet. More he does the feet are held further tight. Narad struggles like a rat in cage held by clamp. He throws down his Veena and cries.)

Narad.. Narayan….eeee…eeee.. Narayana… eeee… save…aaahh

( Patel rushes to Narad and tries to pull out the machine from the feet. He fails , Narad cries loud)

Gandhi Patel.. Do some thing . Apply formula number one .

( Patel grabs Gandhi’s stick and hammers the machine and it breaks into pieces and . Nehru holds Narad tight and comforts him. Narad is freed. His feet are swollen red. He cries loudly)

Gandhi. Shall we see some more machines in other shops?

Narad. No.. Bapu. Let us run from here. I have to tell Lord Vishnu that it is dangerous to purchases these machines.

( All of them vanish from there soon. Narad is seen crying in pain and cursing the shop keeper and machine. Occasionally he says Narayan…Narayan)

CURTAIN FALLS

Dr K Prabhakar Rao