INTO THE PAST WITH PAIN...208

INTO THE PAST WITH PAIN…208

Dr K Prabhakar Rao

(Gandhi, Nehru and Patel are seen conversing in heavens in Gandhi’s poorly furnished room. They are seen sipping tea. Gandhi insists on drinking goat’s milk. At Gandhi’s insistence Patel holds his head)

Gandhi. Patel. It is long since we visited some historical place in India. After drinking goats milk I feel greatly energetic.

Patel. What is the problem Bapu? We shall go. Iam also itching to see them

Nehru. What is there to see there? All are in rubble. They are poorly maintained.

Gandhi. It is govt fault that they are neglected. Leaders are busy swindling public money. From where money will come for maintaining the old forts. At many places locals dig at old forts in search of treasures. Some shift and steal stones for building their houses. All are to be blames.

Nehru. What govt can do? There is no money in India to feed people properly. How can they maintain thousands of historical places?

Gandhi. Look. They are neither feeding the poor. Recently the PM refused to distribute food grains from the godowns and preferred them to go rotting., Such are our leadewrs. Haa..haa..heee..hee. It is also true that they are spending lot of money to maintain cremation grounds along Yamuna in Delhi where former leaders were cremated..

Patel. Hee..hee You hit the bull.

Nehru. I am sure you are hinting at the cremation grounds of members of my dynasty.

Gandhi. Did I say that? You are imagining everything.

Nehru. I always see some sarcasm in your talk.

Patel. That is your fad and imagination. Why do you associate your dynasty always? You have guilty consciousness. Hee.heee

Gandhi. Patel. Plesae leave him. We were discussing about a visit.

Patel. True. You wanted to go to a place of historical importance.

Gandhi. Shall we go to Raigarh, It was the capital of Chatrapathi Shivaji Maharaj. I am fed up of Delhi and see Humayun tomb, Old fort, Red fort, Jama Maszid, Tughlaqabad, They are stale. They hold no interest to me. Delhi reminds me of Godse and his shooting me at Birla Mandir.

Patel. That would be great. Bapu you must now forget Godse and his shooting. After all it happened decades ago.

Nehru. Pune will be a good place. Let us go.

Patel. Please do not cry after going there. It is Chatrapathi Shivaji maharajas’ place.

( The trio lands up near Raigarh)

Gandhi. Ohfo, How dense is the forest! It is a great place and difficult place too.

Patel. Bapu. Therefore Maharaj Shivaji has made this his capital.

(The trio start walking up the steep slopes to reach the fort. With great difficulty they reach the top of the slopes and reach the fort. They feel amazed at the appearance of fort. Great bastions are imposing. The walls are very high and look menacing)

Gandhi. What a place! We must appreciate Marathas for building this edifice.

Patel. True. It is amazing that they built such massive structures in those days when modern heavy machines and cranes were not available. It was mostly bull work and determination.

Gandhi. True. In present times dams and heavy structures built by our Engineers are collapsing like pack of cards within no time.

Patel. Bapu. There is so much corruption and adulteration every where now. The contractors and engineers work hand in glove and swindle money without stop. Ledaers look other way after having their share and percentage. Some people claim that instead of cement many add ash in great amounts.

Gandhi. True. In rice bags also white polished small pebbles are added. One can find. In all walks of life this problem. . Some say that most of the medicines and tablets are made by white clay and chalk and they add some sugar.

Patel. Hee..hee

Gandhi. Let us go up and see

( They enter the fort and reach the throne of Shivaji maharaj. The Chatrapathi is seated on a throne. Shivaji maharaj has elderly appearance in regal attire with his Bhavani sword next to him. He is imposing. The trio bow to him with respect and offer flowers at his feet. Suddenly Shivaji maharaj is seen smiling at them. The statue comes to life suddenly)

Shivaji. Welcome friends. Who are you. From where you have come? You are old and have taken all the trouble of reaching this difficult place

Gandhi. Namaste Maharaj. I am MK Gandhi , i.e Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi., These guys are Vallabh bhai Patel and Jawaharlal Nehru.

Shivaji. Iam sure they are your fans and followers.

Gandhi. Sir . You may call so. I am also called Mahatma and father of nation of India

Shivaji (Looks amazed) Are you the father of India? How? Are you sure India was not there earlier before you fathered it. Are you joking with me the great Chatrapathi.?

Gandhi. India was there earlier also.

Shivaji. Then what great acts you have done to get the title?

Gandhi. I led freedom struggle and liberated India from the Englishmen

Shivaji. Did you win any wars fought with them?


Patel. Sir there were no military wars. It was peaceful freedom struggle of non cooperation.

Shivaji. Strange indeed! Did they leave India with your movement?

Gandhi. They went away vexed up with our tactics.

Shivaji. I can not believe that they left only by your actions.

Gandhi. Sir, whether you like it or not, it is like that only. There was no blood bath .

Shivaji. OK. How I am bothered? Your title Mahatma appears strange. Buddha had this title. That means every one in India is getting this title now a days.

Patel. Not all. Only a few get it. It is not that easy sir.

Shivaji. It is fine. No explanations please. You guys are having a nice time now while we struggled with our swords. We were persecuted by Aurangzeb, Bijapur sultans and many evil men like Afzal Khan of Bijapur. He was responsible for my father and brothers deaths.

Patel. We know sir. But you succeeded in establishing Hindu kingdom in Maharshtra region.

Shivaji. It was not easy. We had to fight many wars and won. I killed that wretch Afzal Khan.

Patel We know it.

Shivaji. I had to kill him in self defense. That wretch tried to kill me after embracing me with open arms. I was lucky that I was putting armor under my dress. He stabled me with his dagger that was hidden. I had my own plans for my defense. I used Bagh nakhs ( Tiger steel claws) and bichwa ( Small dagger) to rip open his bowels.

Patel I learnt that Afzal khan hit you on head with a sword.

Shivaji. He in fact hit me. But I was putting on a steel cap under my turban. I was saved. I killed his secretary who charged at me while my associate killed syed banda an expert swords man. Rest is history.


Gnadhi. We did no such things in freedom struggle. We sang Ramdhun and bhajans during marches

Shivaji. These are changed times. Aurangzeb was there. Cruel Bijapu sultan was there. If we also sang Ram dhun we would have been hanged.

Patel. True. The English men were more civilized and were not like Aurangzeb.

Shivaji. If Aurangzeb was there, you could have been sent to gallows in no time.

Patel. Aurangzeb was dead long ago.

Shivaji. But similar guy could be there. But by that time Mughals were over powered. They vanished. You were lucky.

Gandhi. If Englishmen were not in power, why we should fight for independence? We would have been happy under Islamic rule. They are after all our brothers. Hindu Muslim Bhai Bhai after all.

Patel. Bapu. You are again at it. You did so much of Hindu Muslim Bhai Bhai and even then failed to prevent creation of Pakistan.

Shivaji. What is this Pakistan?

Patel. It is an Islamic country consisting of Western Punjab provinces, Sindh, Baluchistan and western borders. Our Sindhu river is now in Pakistan

Shivaji. That means India is not true full India as we had. It is truncated.

Patel. True, It is moth eaten.

Shivaji ( angrily ) Iam very un happy with this. You have damaged India for all the time.( He gets up angrily and draws his mighty sword . Looks at sky and sings)

Oh Bhavani my mighty sword
Look these guys have broken this land
I feel greatly upset at their deeds
And I want to teach them a lesson with this hand

Gandhi ( trembles in fear) Oh Mighty Magharaj. Plesae forgive us. We have not done any thing. We never wanted it. It just happened. Mohammed Ali Jinnah aws not co operating with us. He wanted to create Pakistan and said Muslims can not stay in majority Hindu India.

Shivaji. So you have accepted it.

Gandhi. we were helpless.

Patel. Maharaj. Some guys wanted to enjoy power at the earliest and wanted transfer of power.

Shivaji. Therefore you guys have wrecked mother India. We struggled in our times to save Hindus from the butcher Aurangzeb and I succeeded. My son Sambhaji gave up his life for us. He preferred death to dishonor. He became Dharma veer. You guys have simply bartered the nation to gain power.


Patel. Maharaj. Kindly forgive us. We are scared. When Pakistan was formed it has Eastern wing also from Bengal provinces, It was called East Pakistan. Later after 1971 war, it got separated from west Pakistan and now is termed as Bangla desh.

Shivaji. Is it part of moth eaten India now?

Patel. No Maharaj. It is an independent Islamic country.

Shivaji. That means you have now two spears on your side. You guys deserve this now.

Patel. Very correctly said Maharaj.

Shivaji. Shame on you guys. You have damaged India permanently. Still you call yourself Father of Nation. I am very un happy.

Gandhi. Maharaj. Iam not calling myself. Others are calling me.

Shivaji. Then you must politely refuse it. .

Patel. All have some weakness.

Shivaji. This is disgusting. What can be done now. I learnt that you guys had no courage to take Azad Kashmir from Pakistan in 1948 when they occupied it.

Patel Maharaj. We are about to capture it while Nehruji took it to world body. That was the end. Till today it has not been solved.

Shivaji. Who is to be blamed now?

Patel. Surely Nehruji. We call him Panditji

Nehru. Situation at that time demanded it.

Shivaji. You guys have no fore thought and courage. You must strike iron when it is hot.

Patel. Maharaj. We fought three major wars with Pakistan and gained every time. But we did not bargain Kashmir.

Shivaji. What gains you had?

Patel. In 1971 war we captured one lakh Pak prisoners and we again handed them to Pakistan foolishly.

Shivaji. Naturally you were fools.

Patel . Where is the doubt Maharaj.

Shivaji. You appear to be more practical.

Patel. Thanks Maharaj. Iam honored. ( He bows to Shivaji maharaj and Shivaji blesses him)

Gandhi. Maharaj. You feel that we are at fault for breaking the mother land. I told we could not do any thing. Times had changed. It was not your times. At any cost we wanted freedom

Shivaji. It is gods wish I think. But you guys should have shown more wisdom than helplessness. Any how it is all over. I learnt that you also paid dearly with your life in the end.

Patel. He was shot dead by Nathuram Godse from Pune city.

Shivaji. Oh . Poona city ! Strange. It is Maharashtrian city. I spent my Child hood there. I also attacked Shaistakhan in Poona. That clown narrowly escaped death at my hands. He lost his fingers. His son and few wives were also killed in the night attack. It was long ago. It is also not necessarily that every Indian appreciates your work and there ill be always many critics too. Godse was one like them and he could not swallow partition of mother land. So he acted it. No doubt he was hanged by the law prevalent at that time. But I learnt that he had no remorse.
Patel. How do you this Maharaj.

Shivaji. After all Iam dead person and Nathuram is also dead. He happened to meet me in heavens and he told me the details.

Gandhi. Maharaj. All these care very old happenings. Why dig past graves.

Shivaji. Some graves are always open pits.

Gandhiji. Maharaj. Kindly excuse us. We want to see the fort before sunset

Shivaji. Oh sure. I unnecessarily held you up. Please go and see things. There are many interesting things to see here. My Samadhi is there. There are great Ramparts and bastions. Plesae also see the bastions from where criminals and traitors were thrown down to their final journey. Such punishments are not given in free India.

Patel. True . we are lenient now.

Shivaji. It is very clear to me. I know every thing. You have not hanged Afzal Guru and Kasab sentensed to death by courts. If I was there I would got them pushed over Raigarh fort bastions or blown by cannons kept over the bastions. You guys have handed over thugs to Kabul some years ago in exchange for some passengers of an hijacked aircraft. National well being was sacrificed for few lives. How can you guys neglect national honor and interests? You guys are treading a dangerous path all these years, You have already suffered in 1947 and not learnt a lesson.Shame on you guys.

Patel. Maharaj. That is the latest policy. The policy of appeasement is going- on in exchange for national safety and well being and honor too. We also made Nizam 7 the rajpramukh who unleashed a reign of terror through Razakars in Hyderabad in 1948. Razvi trhe criminal was however let off with smaller punishment.

Shivaji. I know every thing. This is very dangerous. You will land in same situation as in 1947.

Gandhi. No one can stop inevitable.

Shivaji. That is true. But no one commits hara-kiri unless he is mad. Mother land is being led to destruction by your rulers. If behaved in similar way with Afzal Khan I would have been killed.

Gandhi. If I was in your place, I would have sang Ramdhun in front of Afzal Khan and he would have much appreciated my action.He would have given me a Jagir too.

Patel ( holds his head) Ohfo , Bapu stop this talk. You are in front of the great Chatrapathi, the great Maratha nationalist. Please behave.

Gandhi. did I say anything wrong?

Patel You know it better.

Shivaji. Let him say.

Gandhi. Maharaj. Please forgive us. Kindly allow us to go.

Shivaji. Ok . Please go. No one can change destiny. If India is to be destroyed in days to come, who can stop it? Let it happen. It is god's will.

( The trio bows to Chatrapathi and hastily walk away while Shivaji again turns into the statue. Gandhi looks back repeatedly occasionally shivering and getting worried.Nehru sticks to Gandhi closely all the time.)

CURTAIN FALLS