INTO THE PAST WITH PAIN...162

INTO THE PAST WITH PAIN…162

Dr K Prabhakar Rao

(Gandhi, Nehru and Patel are seen walking on Tank bund in the city of Hyderabad. They are keenly looking at various statues erected on the Tank bund all on one side of the road. Some are neatly maintained while some have collected dust.)

Gandhi. Patel. This is strange to see so many statues standing in queue along the road.

Patel. Bapu. These were erected by the past CM, NT Rama Rao. These are all Telugu stalwarts who excelled in various fields in the state.

Gandhi. Surely many must be missing.

Patel. That will always happen. It is not possible to erect statues for each and every one.

Gandhi. True. Look what happened to our statues. We find hardly one in the cities here. Many have been removed. Some have been thrown into dust yards.

Nehru. Same is the fate for my statues. In Abids my statue is there. That is the only one in twin cities. Atleast there are few statues for you. For Patel also there is only one. But Bapu, for Ambedkar there are hundreds of statues everywhere.

Gandhi. Let him have. People love him more. He represents Dalits. There is nothing wrong in having many statues. You can have on every inch of ground. How does it matter. After some time they will get tired.

(They reach end of tank bund and see large crowd at the crossing. A very large statue is kept on a pedestal and it is covered with a cloth and nothing can be seen of statue.)

Gandhi. looks some tamasha is going on.

Patel. What could be? The statue does not look like yours. It is much stout and very large.

Nehru. Let us wait and see. We shall find out from some one

( Nehru goes to the crowd and asks a person named Govinda)

Nehru. Bhai. What is happening here? What is this statue? It is so big

Govinda. Mere Bhai, This is some great statue. We also do not know what it is. Some leader is arriving soon to unveil the statue

Gandhi. What happened Jawaharlal. Plesae come over

Nehru. Bapu. Iam coming.

( Nehru returns to Bapu and patel)

Gandhi. What news you have brought.

Nehru. No one knows what it is. Some leader will soon remove the cloth around it. Then we will know

Patel. Haa..haaa.. Let us wait till then

( In the mean time a convoy of cars arrives. A leader steps down from a large car.)

Patel. Who is the guy?

Gandhi. Looks like the CM.

Patel. Looks like that this guy does not have any work except unveil statues

Gandhi. It is their main job. Keep people are happy.

(Many leaders run to the Chief Guest and some fall on his feet also,
The guy politely refuses such acts but appears to be enjoying the tamasha. His ego is satisfied. An announcement is made over mike that the Guest will soon unveil the statue.
The leader slowly removes the cloth after climbing the stairs provided. In the mean time a chopper arrives and sprinkles flowers over the statue. All stare at the statue)

Gandhi. Ohfo. What is this statue? It I so horrible looking. Is he demon?

Patel. Bapu. It is surely of a demon.

( The statue is very large with a large ponch. It is dressed in glittering clothes and ornaments. He has a very large moustache and thick eye brows. He has very large lips. He is sporting a very large mace over his shoulder. Patel goes to the statue and reads the inscxription. He returns to Gandhi.)

Patel. Bapu. It is written Narkasura.

Gandhi. This character is a great devil as per mythology. He troubled all and was killed by Lord Krishna.

Patel. True

( The crowd raises slogan.. Jai Narkasura.. Jai Jai Narkasura.. Ho Narkasura.. Ho Ho Narkasura.. Live Narkasura.. Long live Narkasura.. Ho Narkasura.. Jai ho narkasura)


Gandhi. Patel. What I am listening? They are shouting glorifying Narakasura. Strange.

Patel. Recently there was some problem. Some Dalit Guys held a seminar in Osmania University and claimed that Narakasura was a Dalit King and he was killed by Krishna an Aryan by deceit. Similarly Mahishasura who was killed by Durga was a Dalit king and killed by Aryans. They see these actions are the deliberate attempts of Aryans in the past and they depicted Dalit kings as demons. They asked people not to celebrate Dusserah and Deepawali. These guys observed Deepawali as Narakasura Vardhanthi. Moved by the Dalit observations I think government has erected Narakasura statue at this crossing. Very soon they will replace all existing statues with that of all Dalit kings in past killed by Rama, Krishna, Hanuman, Balarama, and other gods. All these statues will be well proportioned with big moustache and holding maces and look ferocious.

Gandhi. This is something strange. Have the people stopped celebrating these festivals?

Patel. Will they? People laughed at these gimmicks. But this statue erection is strange. You know political leaders will not let go chances to gain votes. Haa..haa. At these rates all crossings in cities will be filled with the gory statues. Very soon children also will be named after them. Some day Narakasura will become the CM of AP and Mahishasura would be a home minister, Hidimbsura could be minister for agriculture and Bakasura would be Health minister. Poothana could be minister for womens welfare. Tataki would be the minister for protocol.

Gandhi. How about minister for Mines?

Patel. He will be Myravana

Gandhi. Who could be minister for fisheries?

Patel. He will be Alambasura

Gandhi.. Ha…haa.. Nice

Nehru. You are talking all cock and bull.

Patel. No .. no.. This will be true very soon. Keep looking man.

Gandhi. Haa..haa.. let these mad people enjoy. Hell to them. Let us go.

Patel. OK Bapu.

Nehru. Let us go.

( The trio walks away)



CURTAIN FALLS