Sunday, July 18, 2010

INTO THE PAST WITH PAIN...130

INTO THE PAST WITH PAIN.130

Dr K Prabhakar Rao


(Gandhi, Nehru and Patel are seen sitting in a small room in heavens. They are busy discussing some thing.)

Gandhi. Patel. Nowadays I hear great commotion of world cup football

Patel. Yes, bapu.

Gandhi. How come it has become suddenly so popular in India?

Patel. I am also surprised.

Nehru. Hee..heee

Patel. What is there to laugh?

Nehru. I am laughing because you guys are discussing sports out of all problems.

Gandhi . Sports is equally important for national well being.

Nehru. True. I know India is crazy of only one sport. That is cricket.

Patel. Haa…haa. In India kids are born with cricket bats in their hands.

Nehru. While in Brazil, kids are born with footballs in their hands.

Gandhi. In America many are born with base ball clubs in their hands.

Patel. Haa.haa..hee..hee

Nehru. Hoo..hoo…hoooo…heee…heee ( sings and does break dance)

In India every joker plays only one thing
It is the game of cricket no more a gentleman game
Whole nation comes to grinding halt
Whenever Sachin hammers and attains fame.

Patel. That is fine. Jawaharlal. I never knew you have some sense of humor too.

Nehru. Am I so dry?

Patel I never said that way. I appreciated your poem that was sarcastic. You are correct. Indians are crazy and mad of cricket. No other game appeals to them.

Gandhi. True. India is such a big nation. It is next to China in terms of population. Yet we can not win gold medals in world sport events. We stand at the lowest of the lists.

Patel. We can not win gold, silver and even bronze. For us they must institute leather medals as king Tughlaq introduced leather coins..

Gandhi. Pakistan is no better..

Patel. This is the tragedy. We compare ourselves to the neighbor that is no match to us .

Nehru. I do not know why we can not compete in foot ball?

Patel. Look. we are physically weak. We have no stamina. Foot ball game requires great stamina. Indians can never have it. Our climate and food habits make us that way. We are underfed mostly and are vegetarians. Certain food items are taboo with us. Then what can be expected from Indians?

Gandhi. Hee..hee.. Well said. Are we good in any thing?

Patel. Yes. Why not? We have high birth rate.

Gandhi. Haa..haaa.heee..hee.

Patel. We used to be great hockey game nation. We were at the top.

Nehru. We have been pushed down the ladder by others. We stand no where. Politics in Hockey has destroyed the game.

Gandhi. True Indians are good at destroying the existing things. We can not look after our heritage structures. I learnt that a month ago the great tower at Kaalahasthi temple built by great Krishna deva Raya 500 years ago fell down due the carelessness of the government. It developed cracks and it was known to the authorities. None did any thing. Now we have lost it. Why talk of all these things? We have destroyed our great nation by partitioning them in 1947.

Patel , Bapu. Are you talking these things? Strange indeed. Coming to Rayas tower, Government would build it soon. They have plenty of poor mans money as taxes.

Gandhi. This is good opportunity for swindlers to grab some money in the contract.

Patel. That is the way in which Indians are experts.

Gandhi. Ha..haa..haa ( sings and dances jig)
Indians are good in swindling
And throughout the year they are at it
They do not spare even a sparrow’s nest
The nation is looted bit by bit

Patel. Yeah. Well sung Bapu.You are great.

Gandhi. That I had been always. We were discussing Foot ball and sports. We must do some thing to win this game.

Patel. Bapu, We must change rules of foot ball. We are useless in foot ball. We can never win against the Western countries or Africans.We must appeal to change the goal dimensions whenever we play. We must have the existing goal frame for defense while for attack we must accept goal with double the size. Then we can hit many goals while our opponents can not score many. Rules must be changed. For penalty corner we must be allowed to kick the ball from a distance of six inches from goal while same is not true for opponents. Then we can win world cup. After all we are poor in physical strength.

Gandhi. It is a very good suggestion. I think you must be given Bharat Ratna for this suggestion

Patel. I already got Bharat Ratna.

Gandhi. That was a joke. This time it will be real.

Nehru. Haa.haa..haa

Patel. Bapu . Thanks. As it is Bharat Ratna is the greatest joke in this land. I do not want to be a party to it. I am getting embarrassed by having it. Even if I sell it no one is ready to take it.

Gandhi. Let it be with you. Some day it may fetch something to you. It may become antique piece with great value.

Nehru. True. Patel. Plesae believe Bapus words. There is some truth in it.

Gandhi. Why some truth? It is full.( sings and does jig)

I always tell truth
Even if my neck is to be cut
In future never say such thing
Or else I shall confine myself to a hut

Nehru. Sorry Bapu. We did not mean any disrespect to you.

Gandhi. That is ok. Shall we call it a day? I am tired
Patel. That is fine

( Patel and Nehru walk away from the room)

CURTAIN FALLS

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

INTO THE PAST WITH PAIN.PART I and II

INTO THE PAST WITH PAIN....129
PART I


Dr K Prabhakar Rao

(Gandhi, Nehru and Patel are seen sitting in a room enjoying a cup of tea. The tea is very hot and Gandhi pours tea I saucer ad is seen blowing air on to tea to cool it and sips slowly.)

Nehru. Bapu. Pouring in saucer is not the correct way.

Patel. Then what for saucer is provided?

Nehru. It is to collect any spill over.

Gandhi. Jawaharlal. Is pouring in saucer and drinking from it considered impolite?

Nehru. I did not say that. But it looks odd no doubt.

Patel. Look Jawahar. Bapu has also graduated from England. You are not the only guy to study in England. He knows what is he doing very well..

Gandhi. It is over. I drank all tea. ( He lifts his hands and yawns loudly) Yeah….Yeah..ooo….ooo..aa….aaah

Patel. What next Bapu? You appears to be very energetic than ever.

Gandhi. Sure. I am itching to lead salt Satyagraha again at Dandy.

Patel Heee…Heeee

Nehru. What is there to laugh?

Patel. Nothing special. I am only laughing at Bapu’s new plans.

Gandhi. Bhai. Now let us go for a long walk.

Patel. That is fine.

( All of them step out and start walking on the street. Slowly they enter a posh area in heavens where streets are wide with mansions. It is named kings enclave)

Gandhi. It looks we have entered a posh area.

Patel. Yes Bapu. Here all kings and emperors who ruled in India and deserved heavens live.

Gandhi. That is good. It is a posh area.

Patel. This is something like MLA colony in Hyderabad. Near Jubilee hills. All the top guys although engaged in corruption, mischief, politicking, Hera feri ( mischief), getting involved in scams and land grabbing stay there. There may be some good guys. But they would be very few.

Gandhi. I see, good guys are always there. That is why the world is going on.

(Gandhi finds a sheet of news paper on the road side and picks it up. He reads the head lines)

Gandhi. Ohfo! What a tragedy!

Pate. Bapu, what is it?

Gandhi. It is printed that at Tirumala shrine, the jewels presented by the erstwhile Emperor Sri Krishna deva Raya to Balaji are missing. Some say they were melted long ago and converted to gold.

Nehru. Could it be true? Some one must be trying to fan trouble.

Patel. It could be very well true. Any thing is possible in India. The guys in every department are corrupt, crazy, and outright shady. This is not the time for good people to survive in India.

Gandhi. Patel. You appear to be highly biased.

Patel. Bapu, you are mistaken. I am straight forward and down to earth. I am not that type of guy who earns bread by flattery.

Gandhi. Ok, Ok, Relax. But this is something not acceptable. I think we must go to Tirumala and know what exactly happened.

( The trio sees a very well dressed person riding a horse and approaching them. The rider approaches them, halts and gets down. He is dressed in full royal attire with a jeweled sword at his waist. )

Rider. Look gentlemen. I am Sri Krishna deva Raya, the former emperor of Vijayanagar in south India. Who are you? Why are you walking on this road? This is a VIP enclave.

Gandhi. Namste sir. I am MK Gandhi known as father of Indian nation. These guys are Nehru and Patel my associates.

Raya. Strange. Did you give birth to India? Then where we all lived in our days? You know, we lived and struggled in India.

Patel. True sir. Great changes have taken place in India after you left this world. Sir , do you know 500 years have passed since you left India. Bahmani sultans have vanished. Your empire too vanished. Maraths grew and vanished. Mughals have disappeared. Englishmen occupied India, ruled and they also left not before wrecking the country.

Raya I know that. ( He looks at the news paper in Gandhi’s hands)

Raya. What is it in your hands?

Patel. This is called news paper. Important happenings in the world are printed here every day.

Gandhi. The latest news is that the jewels presented by you to Lord Balaji in Tirumala have vanished and no one knows where they have gone

Raya. Oh! No. How can it happen? Have Bahmani attacked Tirumala?

Gandhi. No sir. Bahmani disappeared long ago.

Patel. Bahmanis have disappeared. But their descendents are still there around.

Raya. This is not acceptable. I must go and check at Tirumala.

Gandhi. In fact we were planning to go there.

Raya. Let us go there.

Patel. Raya sir , oh, the mighty one. Please change your dress and accompany us. That would be better.

Raya. That is very good idea. In fact during my time, I used to around like that.

(The trio and Raya arrive at Tirumala. Raya is dressed as a common man with turban. But still he has royal glow on his face and looks imposing in the company of the trio who look shriveled, sick and tired and weak.)



CONTINUED



INTO THE PAST WITH PAIN..129
PART II
Dr K Prabhakar Rao


( At Tirumala , the trio and Raya watch a crowd demonstrating in front of TTD office . Crowd is shouting at pitch of voice. They are led by Satyam, Raja, and Narsimha and Yadgiri)

Narsimha. Down with TTD Officers, They have swindled Balajis jewels

Yadgiri. Where are Rayas jewels? Who has played mischief ? Catch them. Put them behind bars, shoe them in public..hooooo

(The trio and Raya slowly make way into the crowd and watch. In the mean time some officers of TTD come out of the office to pacify the crowd)


Officer, Please be quiet. We are making all efforts to find.

Narsimha. What you can do? You have already swindled.

Officer. We have checked the accounts. 40 years ago the jewels were melted and made into gold.

Yadgiri. With whose permission it was done? Is it your pops property?

Officer. I can not answer for what has been done 40 years ago.

Narsimha. Some one also said they were not melted. There is no such record. Then where are they?

Officer. Only Balaji knows.

Yadgiri. Hooo…hooo…hooo. Go back. You swindler or I shall send you to Balaji.

Officer. Come on. Behave yourself.

Narsimha. Who should behave? Is it you or me?

( Gandhi slowly emerges out of crowd along with others, Ray a is also there)

Gandhi.Hey, Officer. Do not try to escape. You were paid fat salaries to look after Baajis assets.Is this has been done in return?

Officer. I have not done any thing.

Gandhi. Some time ago one priest took away Gods jewels and mortgaged for his personal benefits. He was caught by Police. What type of guys are here. Is the gods property in swindlers hands? Shame. Are you not humans. Don’t you have fear of god/

Narsimha. They are shameless. They are prepared to do any thing to swindle. There is no check on them. You swindlers. Shame on you. May god kick you and throw in hell for all time.


( Raya emerges out from the crowd)

Raya. Look guy. What has been done to my jewels?

Officer. Are they your jewels? Are you mad?

Raya. They are mine. I presented to Balaji.

Officer. You appear to be mad guy.

Raya. No I am perfectly fine. You are only mad. You want to know who I am.

Officer. Who are you.? Ypu must be a crank. Mad guy devoid of balance.

( Raya shrieks loudly and suddenly there is a flash and raya is transformed into regal attire along with his kingly sword at his belt and he is seated on his royal horse. All are shocked)

Raya. You swine. Now know who I am. I am the kannada Raya Rama Ramana Moou raya ganda.
I am The emperor of great Vijay nagar. I presented many jewels, gold ornaments to Balaji during my visits. All the records are available as Sasanalu ( Inscriptions). You jokers of first order. Can’t you look after gods jewels? What for you are here. Why you are being paid? Is it for swindling? Is there no control over you guys? Who is your ruler?. I shall sack that guy. What are they doing. Even the Bahmani sultans did not steal them after I left the world. They were safe. Are you worst than those guys? Don’t you have shame to mismanage Gods property? It is disgusting to see you guys.

Officer. Enough of it you imposter. Are you Krishna deva Raya? What you are talking. Are you mad and insane. Raya died long ago. His empire also vanished. Do you think we are fools to believe you. You are a trickster. I shall inform police. They will take care of you.

Raya. ( looking at Gandhi) What is this police?

Gandhi. Police means Rakshaka Bhatas of your time. They are responsible to look after law and order in the state.


Raya. What they will do?

Gandhi. they may take into custody and pout in prison.

Raya. I see. How dare they would be to pout Raya in prison. Ask them to come . I shall show what I am.

Gandhi. Sir . Please go slow. The world has greatly changed. The police has weapons. Pistols, rifles and AK 47 to kill people.

Raya. Is police meant to kill people here.

Patel. Not only here . Every where in world they are there to kill people if required while looking after aw and order.

Raya. How sad? We have side tracked from the main issue. Hey officer, Where are my jewels. Show me the accounts and show them.

Officer. I am not obliged to show them.

Raya. Why?

Officer. I am not answerable to every tom Dick and Harry.

Raya Am I no one. How dare. I shall show.( Raya draws his sword fro scabbard)

(The officer greatly scared runs away from the spot followed by his clerks)

( in the mean time a police party arrives in a van with screaming siren. From it get down scores of armed jawans along with a pot bellied Inspector)

Inspector. What is happening? Who are you guys? Who is this guy on Horse? Horses are not allowed on Tirumala.

Raya. I am Krishna Deva Raya of Vijay nagar. We are asking the officers about Balaji jewels.

Inspector. There is police to do that job.

Raya. If so why this happened?

Inspector. Police investigates only after crime takes place.
Raya. Haa..haaa. Very good. Don’t you have any methods to prevent such mischief .

Inspector. This is none of your business.

Raya. It is very much our business. I gave such costly jewels 500 years ago and you guys can not even take care of it. They were safe during medieval times during wars and even during the rule of Englishmen who are said to have plundered India. They were safe even after my empire vanished. But you guys have plundered in fact. What a shame indeed.

Inspector. Enough of these discussions. You guys disperse from here in five minutes.

Raya. Or else what you will do?

Inspector. First of all you are holding a long sword that is against law. You are creating disturbance and even threatening govt officers. I may have to arrest you.

Raya. That you can never do.

Gandhi. Inspector. Please do not take sides. You know that these guys have swindled Balaji jewels.Why don’t you arrest them.

Inspector. That the government will do. I am here to prevent violence.

Gnadhi. There is no violence here

Inspector. Why this person is holding a big sword?

Gandhi. He is the great king Krishna Deva raya of vijaya nagar who presented jewels to Balaji.

Inspector. How it is possible? He was dead long ago. I know history. By the by you look like Gandhi. Are you from a drama company?

Pate. We are real persons. Wake up Inspector. Learn to respect elders.

Inspector. Enough of this. Please disperse. Or else I have to use force.

Raya. We also know how to use force.( He claps)

( Suddenly thousand cavalry armed men appear at the scene all well armed with Swords, lances, Helmets and even sporting ancient portugese rifles. Inspector and police personnel who in few dozens run away looking at the Vijaynagar army)

Officer ( Falls at the feet of Raya) Sir. Please spare me. I have three children and all of them are young. I have not done ay thing for Balajis jewels. I am only the spokes men. Real men involved are different. We are trying to find out. Plesae spare me. Plesae do not kill me

Raya. It is ok. I shall watch the investigation. If I find out the guys I shall skin them alive. Go away you fool.


(The officer runs away)

Raya. Mr Gandhi. Let us go back.. We shall give them time. If some guys had swindled many years ago, one day they will be in heavens or hell. I shall catch them and skin them. Let us go for present

Gandhi. That is fine. Patel and Jawaharlal. Let us go.

(Raya claps and entire Army of Vijaynagar vanishes. Raya, Gandhi, Patel and Nehru too vanish)

CURTAIN FALLS

WHO MASTERMINDED CREATION OF PAKISTAN?

WHO MASTER MINDED CREATION OF PAKISTAN?
Dr K Prabhakar Rao

Usually, late Mr. Mohammed Ali Jinnah ( Qaid E Azamof Pakistan) is considered as the greatest villain for creation of Pakistan in 1947 that has permanently divided the sub continent preceded by holocaust, mayhem, murder, exodus of population, abductions, rapes, burnings, hatred and lootings of properties ( 1). The actual happenings, circumstances etc that finally resulted in creation of Pakistan are still shrouded in mystery and many skeletons will roll out of the cupboards if these issues are dug out dispassionately and revealed by the government..

It is very well known that in 1857 first war of independence ( Sepoy mutiny as dubbed by the Englishmen) Muslims and Hindus fought shoulder to shoulder against the forces of East India company. Muslim troops fought under the command of Hindu Generals and vice versa. There was no single instance of division between the communities. There was national spirit. There were no betrayals between communities. Famous Maratha General Tantya tope was betrayed to East India Company by his close associate Hindu friend. Ghulam Ghouse Khan the chief of Jhansi artillery died of gun shot with Rani Jhansi at he side during the seize of Jhansi. Muslim soldiers fought and died for their Rani of Jhansi. Bahadur Shah II Zafar of Mughal dynasty who was the nominal emperor at Delhi was proclaimed as the Real emperor of Hindustan and this was accepted by everyone and there was no disagreement on the issue. Sadly the uprising failed as every one knows it. But it shook the foundations of the Company and its rule was terminated and Hindustan was brought under the direct rule of the crown (2).
This was the period when industrial revolution was already on the way and many scientific discoveries were transforming the world into a modern era. The American independence also had impact on world affairs. Under the rule of crown in India new reforms were brought in, education was modernized (Although contested by Indians now) and freedom of expression became a bit liberal. People became more vocal and more representations for natives were demanded in all matters of governing. There was awakening on the whole in the country. Modern education and its impact no doubt had its influence on the people. The talk of Swaraj was more frequent and it was being realized that one day the Englishmen had to go from the sub continent. During this period Hindus and Muslims were slowly attracted in to groups. Sir Syed ahmed khan emerged as an intellectual during these times. The most important seed of poison for separatism was infact sown by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan ( 1817-1892) the much glorified founder of Aligarh Muslim university. He is much glorified in India by Muslims and pseudo secularists. He wrote ( 3):-

“UNDER A DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM OF GOVT WHICH FORMS THE IDEAL OF THE CONGRESS LEADERS, THE LARGER COMMUNITY WOULD FULLY OVERRIDE THE INTERESTS OF THE SMALLER COMMUNITY”.

Thus Sir Syed Ahmed khan expressed fears that in a democratic setup with Hindu majority based on counting of heads meaning votes, Muslims would be dominated and probably would never attain political power. This was enough to stir the Hornets nest.
Poet Iqbal was the next Muslim gentleman who suggested for formation of a Muslim State. He was a lawyer and probably he did less of his profession and did more of writing of poetry. In a 1930 lecture, Iqbal suggested the creation of a separate state for the Muslims of India. Although Iqbal died in 1938, nine years before the formation of Pakistan in 1947, it was his ideas that have been the main force behind the creation of Pakistan (4).

Thus we see that Sir Syed Ahmed Khan was the first one to sow the seed of hatred between Hindus and Muslims followed by Poet Iqbal in 1930 from which advantage was taken by the cunning and clever Jinnah at a later date who poisoned the atmosphere. In fact, the first two were the bigger villains to put straight in this murky game of partition and probably Jinnah deserves slightly lesser degree of condemnation than them. There is a saying that a pen is more powerful than a sword. Even today it is true. The amount of good or bad media in the form of a news paper can do today is known to one and all.
It is very sad that these two men who were infact the masterminds behind formation of Pakistan are much glorified in India every day and it is a tragedy that Indian army and other uniformed forces of India unfortunately march to the tune of Iqbal’s song every day while he was one of the masterminds for wrecking this country. In central schools this song is much glorified. Netaji’s songs of INA are rather taboo in this country. That is the part of much debated India’s secularism (Pseudo?).

In Hyderabad Sir Syed Ahmed Khan memorial lectures are being conducted regularly at Nampally at Sir Syed Ahmed Khan hall. Earlier Mir Osman Ali Khan Asif Jha, Nizam 7( former ruler of Hyderabad state) memorial lectures were conducted and after some objections and hue and cry, it was changed to the present one. It is well known to all that Nizam 7 abetted Razakars under Kasim Razvi and unleashed a wave of terror against Hindu population in the state with an intention of staying independent after 1947 and finally he was deposed by Police action in 1948 and the state became part of Hindustan. Probably it was agreed that these two were slightly of lesser culprits than the Nizam 7.
Nizam 7 although was good builder of buildings, Osmania university and few reservoirs like Osman sagar and Himayat sagar and thus had some credits in his own way ( He was also considered a poet in urdu in his own way and his poems were published in local urdu papers under Royal farman), he abetted Razakars and the crimes committed by them along with the rascal and Islamic fundamentalist Kasim Razvi ( He was jailed after police action and after release went to Pakistan where he died unsung and unheard) duly abetted by Deen yar Jung the police chief of Hyderabad. Some credit must be given to Nizam for his earlier good activities as a ruler. But this will not absolve him from the crimes committed by his Razakars and for his policies of inability against activities of Razakars where he abdicated his responsibilities towards his Hindu subjects. He wanted to remain independent as a ruler while Sir Khan and Iqbal were the master minds behind partition that was a bigger crime in fact than what Nizam did. Syed khan and Iqbal clearly divided the populations with strokes of their pen and shown the path and provided clues. Unfortunately these two men were accomplished men in their spheres of activities but they did not rise over the narrow outlook of Islam and intolerance towards Hindus. They had national outlook and much narrow minded in this respect. But those men died much earlier after doing the damage and poisoning the minds of Muslims in India. Gandhi’s slogan Hindu Muslim Bhai..Bhai just vanished into thin air inspite of his loud chest beating and singing Ramdhun at pitch of the voice everywhere and every time once the call for separation was given.

Then comes the role of Mohammed Ali Jinnah in this murky affair of partition who did practical implementation of the plan of the earlier men. Rest is history. Some might say that the Englishmen clearly took advantage of these divisions and played their murky cards. Finally the Muslim league inspired mayhem, murders and arson resulted in partition of this subcontinent and is attributed by some quarters to the prevailing situation. The fact is that the situation developed out of clear thoughts of division by Syed khan and Iqbal who rather escaped criticism and are rather considered holy cows. Thanks to pseudo secularists.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1.Dr K Prabhakar Rao, Washing dirty linen in public,on kuntamukkalaprabhakar.blogspot.com , December24, 2009, 03:49 and also on sanghparivar.org, December 26, 2009, 2:06

2.The first war of independence, http://www.indhistory.com/1857-war-of-independance.html

3 . Majumdar, RC Roy Chaudhry, Kalikinkar datta,Advanced history of India, St Martins press, New York, edition III, 1967, PP 893

4..Mohad Iqbal, http://74.125.153.132/search?q=cache:ZxpPbh5j3bEJ:www.whereincity.com/india/great-indians/freedom-fighters/muhammad-iqbal.php+Poet+Iqbal+suggested+formation+of+a+Muslim+State+in+1930&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=in

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

INTO THE PAST WITH PAIN......128

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. He has a title Sahiti Samaraangana sarwabhowma. Meaning the greatest achiever in literature and wars.

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, Farookh siyar, Akbar II, Allauddin Khilji, Tippu sultan, Hyder Ali, Bahadur shah Zafar,Kutubuddin Aibek, Malik kafur, Humayun Shah of Gulbarga, Shah alam, Mohammed Ghaznavi, Mohammed Ghori too.. there is no end to this list…heee..heee..haa..haaa

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