INTO THE PAST WITH PAIN..129. PART I

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 go around like that.

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

CONTINUED