INTO THE PAST WITH PAIN...163

INTO THE PAST WITH PAIN…163

Dr K Prabhakar Rao


(Gandhi, Nehru and Patel are at a park in Hyderabad and are discussing intensely about something.)

Gandhi. Patel. The city is in very bad state indeed. In slightest rains, streams of water flow on roads and they become rivers in fact. How shitty is the Municiapal administration is!

Patel. Bapu. These guys are used to mamool ( Bribes) and actually roads are not being laid to quality. Mostly it is eye wash. They start laying road from one end and from othrside is getting damaged. Again sanctions are given for repair and the same story is repeated. The guys have become thick skinned like Komodo dragons.

Gandhi. Sha.. ahhh.. It is highly disgusting.

(Gandhi tries to cross a very small pool of water. He thinks it is very shallow and steps in. Suddenly his leg goes down four feet into a hole and is trapped. He shouts loudly. His stick falls down and he is in bad shape)

Gandhi. Bachao mujhe.. Girgaya hoon is khadde mein. Arre bachao. ( Please save me. I have fallen in this hole, save me)

( Nehru and patel try to pull him out and they are unable to pull him out. Many on lookers gather around. They are angry at the Municipal staff and the government. Changiah, Jangiah and Mallesh are among them.)


Mallesh. This is bad. No one cares for lives in Hyderabad. This hole was there since four months. At least a dozen guys fell in this. Three became crippled after pulling them out.

Gandhi. I also will become crippled. Eee,,,eeee…eee aa…aa..What will happen to me. Will become crippled?

Patel. Bapu. Please have faith in god. You always sing Ramdhun. Then why are you scared?

Gandhi. That is fine. I also was singing Ramdhun at Birla Mandir when Godse killed me. Everything has its own way. Ramdhun has nothing to do with fate. If I have to loose my leg I shall loose.

Nehru. Bapu. Be brave. You have seen many things like this.

Gandhi. Not like this surely.

( In the mean time some insects bite Gandhi in the hole. He cries)

Nehru. Patel. We must do something immediately. Look there a earth digging machine JCB is going there. Let us bring it here.

( They run to the machine and request the operator to rescue Gandhi)

Operator. Look. I am going on urgent work near CM’s house. Go and inform police. They will do some thing for you. They will surely come before the old guy dies.

Patel. There is no police around. Please come over.

Operator. OK.But you have to pay me.

Patel. How bad you are! A person is dying and you are asking for money? Just bad

Operator. Bhayya. Eye Hyderabad hai. Yaha koi kis ka nahee hotha. Jitna jaldi lootle. Phir mouka nahee milega. ( Brother, this is Hyderabad, One may not get chance again. Loot as mucha s possible when one gets opportunity. You may not get chance again)

Patel. Hell to you. Pack off from here.

( He runs back to Gandhi)

Patel. Do not worry Bapu. I shall take you out.

( Patel takes Bapus stick and slowly widens the hole in water. Slowly Gandhi pulls his leg out .All shout hip.. hip..hurry. Down with municipality, GHMC and administration. On lookers go away laughing and cursing Municipality)

Nehru. Bapu . You must be tired.

Gandhi. Not at all. Hee..heee.. I was enjoying the commotion.

Nehru, Were you enjoying?

Gandhi. In fact nothing happened to me. I was only pretending and watching you guys running around.aaa…..haaaa…..haaaa. I just fooled you guys. If I wanted I could have pulled my leg out..

Patel. Bapu. That was just bad.

Gandhi. Relax guys. Enjoy yourselves. Now keep moving. I heard that municipal guys are digging the drainage line at Dilsukhnagar at Road no3 in Vidyut nagar. Let us go there.

( The trio lands at Road no 3 hurriedly . Already the JCB has dug more than 150 feet long trench breaking all pipes of water and sewage. There is great confusion at the site with lot of women and men arguing with the contractor and his staff)

Contractor. Look. You can not stop the work. We have orders to break everything that in front of the shovel.

Resident swami. What happens to our water line?. Who will reconnect? How do we get water?

Contractor. I am not bothered. Can’t you live without water for few days? We have orders to only break; All these have to be reconnected by yourselves at your own cost

Resident Radha. Why we should do that? You broke the lines. You must connect.

Contractor. We have no contract like that. There is no provision like that. In old city we do it free for them.

Resident Roy.. Why this new rule? Are we not also citizens of same city? Why this discrimination?.

( Contractor speaks to some one over phone)

Contractor. Our officer says that we should lay line, build man holes and close everything. It is up to people to make reconnections. At best we make water connections free of cost. You have to bear cost of materials.

Radha. Why should we bear? We will not bear.

(A Ward member of the area who is there intervenes)

Ward member .We have unnecessarily took up this work. What interest we have? You are giving trouble to us. We shall not take up any such works in future

Roy. How can you have different rules in city?

Ward member. Can you work in Kashmir? Things are different.

Roy. Old city is not Kashmir. It is part of Hyderabad. It has merged with India in 1947. It does not have separate status. Kashmir may have separate rules.

Ward member, It has. Heee..heee ( He goes away).

( In the mean time the municipal officials arrive in jeep. One guy is very fat)

Official. What is happening here? ( He looks at Gandhi) You are again here. Why are you after us.

Gandhi. Wherever injustice is being done I am there.

Official. What injustice is going on? Is laying drainage pipes a injustice?

Gandhi. Here You are asking the residents to bear cost of re connections while at old city you have no guts do same thing.

Patel. True. You are scared.

Officail. It is not like that. The provision in contract is like that.

Patel. Make similar provision her also.

Officiual. Not possible. I can not do that

Patel. You are a scared guy. What can be expected from you?

Official. Sorry. We are helpless

Patel. That is why country is like this.

Official. Who are you t tell me?


Gandhi. Any one will say same thing.


( Gandhi looks at residents. )

Gandhi. Gentlemen. Please do not give up. Fight for your rights. You will succeed. But you guys do not have unity. Those guys whose drainage connections are very close to new man holes will escape and hide. It is a fact. How many of you will come forward to fight. I am sure none will come. All will vanish. There is no unity among you.

Patel. Bapu. Hardly any one. There is no unity, There is unity in old city. So they get things done. These guys have no unity. So they suck thumbs. We are wasting our time with these guys Let us do some better things

Nehru. Let us go. Everywhere it is same. These nuts have no unity . so they will get screwed everywhere. Others have great unity. So they succeed and govt plays safe with them. Let us go

Nehru. Bapu. We are leaving them to their fate.

Gandhi. What else we can do? These guys are big nuts. Let them hang themselves. God only will help those who help themselves. Chee…chee.. We have wasted our time.

( CURTAIN FALLS )