INTO THE PAST WITH PAIN...222

INTO THE PAST WITH PAIN…222

Dr K Prabhakar Rao

(It is Golconda Fort in Hyderabad. Every where one finds heaps of rubble, broken mansions, buildings, stables and over grown bushes. Great cannons on bastions and here and there stare into distance at unknown enemy. Gandhi, Nehru and patel are seen at the fort inner gate)

Gandhi. Patel, I have been itching to see this place since long. To day we had some time to see this place.

Patel. Bapu. It is good to see. I do not know what will happen to morrow.

Gandhi. What can happen here? This is there since many years.

Patel. Bapu, I know that. But the way locals are stealing away the fort property daily, I am sure one day there will not be a fort here. All stones are being taken away by the locals, miscreants who trespassed into the fort lands and trying to build houses.

Gandhi. How this happens. What govt is doing?

Patel. Govt is there. This fort is with archeological dept of India. They do not have many guards to take care of this vast area. Army also is occupying a gate near Arty center.

Gandhi. What govt can do? Where is the time for them? They are busy with politicking and guarding their chairs and power. In fact no governing goes on.

Patel. Wells said, Bapu. You are great.

Nehru. That was good Patel. You already started your sycophant game.

Patel. What I have done?

Nehru. What else you will do? Whatever Bapu says, like a clown you dance clapping.

Patel. Look Jawaharlal. Behave yourself. Bapu is great. His words are great. His knowledge is also great. He has great intelligence. You can not underestimate him.

Gandhi. Come on guys. Have we come here to fight? Let us go into the fort.

(The trio purchases tickets at the counter and enter the inner gate)

Patel. Bapu. This is the important entrance. If some claps here the sound can be heard on top of the fort and it is called Bala hissar,

Gandhi. That is great indeed. This fort looks very large. But it is badly maintained.

Patel. Most of the fort is damaged as it was neglected for centuries.

Gandhi.. Iam not very sure of its history. Probably Jawaharlal can throw some light. He is an historian. He wrote a book too . It was discovery of India.

Patel. True Bapu. He is considered as a reputed historian too. He has many qualities. This is one among them.

Nehru. Bapu. This fort belonged to Kutubshahi dynasty that ruled here.

Gandhi. Where the dynasty has gone? Are they settled in USA now.

Nehru. No.No.. the fort was over powered by Emperor Aurangzeb in 1687 and the last ruler Tanasha was captured and sent to Daulatabad and he died there later .

Gandhi. Ohfo. How bad it was? I know Aurangzeb did not like other Muslim rulers. He was aSunni and these guys were Shia. Only he wanted to be the ruler. He considered himself to be a puritan.

Patel. From then onwards, the fort was neglected. Later Nizams too neglected it.

Gandhi. This has to happen one day. Otherwise how the local guys will get their house building materials for their houses around Golconda all these years.

Patel. Ha..haa..haa. It is a joke .

(The trio keeps walking and suddenly they come across an old Muslim man sitting on a large stone. He appears weak but has aristocratic look. He is reciting some poetry from a old book. Gandhi and Patel go to him.)

Gandhi. Hello Bhai, Salam walekum.

Stranger. Walekum salam. I am Mohammed kuli

Patel. That is great name.

Gandhi. Are you related to the royal family?

Stranger. What do you mean? I am Mohammed Kuli Kutubsha, the former ruler of Golconda.

Patel. Sir. Please be happy. When we say we are Gandhi and patel, people laugh at us.

Stranger. How dare you talk like that? I was the sovereign ruler of Golconda. I was the 4 th ruler and son of great Ibrahim Kutubshah who built the Purana pul in Hyderabad over Musi river.

Patel. Where is the river now? It is a dirty stream full of night soil.

Kuli. It was Great River full of water when I was the king..

Gandhi. The guys built reservoirs over it in last century. So there is no water. Now people can wade through. But no one ventures. It is so dirty. Hyderabad is known by Charminar and dirtiest Musi river. If we consider the worlds rivers, Musi will get international award no 1 for being the shittiest river.

Kuli. Please do not talk like that. I feel pained. I used to cross it over horse to meet my girl friend,

Patel. You mean Bhagmati.

Kuli. Yes sir. Later I named her Hyder Mahal after I married her. I also built this city of Hyderabad around Charminar.

Gandhi. I saw Charminar. It is great. But the area is very congested and filthy too.

Patel. Bapu. Less talk better it is about old city. It is the most congested, trouble some and dying city. Nothing can be developed.

Gandhi. Sir, I learnt that Old city of Hyderabad has one organization called Quli Kutubshah urban development authority ( QUDA). People call it QUDA fondly.

Patel. Haa..Haa..Haa. Bapu. In Hindi KOODA means all dirt, Kachra, filth, shit and non sense items put together.

Gandhi. hee..hee.. What a coincidence indeed. Poor city planners must have never thought that it will be like that.

Patel. It has turned to be a KUDA indeed. Talk less. There are no funds with them. It is a dead organization like this Golconda fort.

Kuli.( weeps) What happened to my golden city of Hyderabad? It was Bhagya Nagar ( City of luck).

Patel. Please do not cry sir. These things will happen. All emperors have vanished
into dark pages of history. Only few are remembered once in a while. You are one among them. People know that you were a poet too. Once in a while people go to your grave at Kutubshahi tombs and conduct a function on your birth day. I do not think now they are doing. Who has time? People are busy in politics of filth and city is neglected.

Kuli. I have not seen city after my death.

Patel. You can not recognize it. It is den of miscreants and unlawful elements too. Recently a MLA of a political party from old city was stabbed right in old city in his constituency. Luckily he did not die. The guys is still in hospital. Things are bad there.

Kuli. I feel ashamed to hear these. How is Charminar, my Charminar? Are there still four Minars to it?

Patel Yes sir. Luckily there are four ( Char) Minars. Receltly some plaster pieces came off and fell down and luckily no one was hurt. Govt is trying to repair them.

Kuli. Will they be able to do?

Gandhi. I doubt that can do a good work. Some chow… chow work will be done. Much money will be eaten away. It is sorry state of affairs in city.

Kuli. Iam sure one day it may loose one Minar.

Patel. Then it will be a theen ( three) Minar. I am hundred percent sure our guys can not build the fallen Minar. They may try., but it can not be like original. People will be scared to go there. It will be then called lamed Charminar.

Kuli. ( cries) aaa.., aaa.. ee..eee ( sings)

Oh My Charminar, the lovely one
Are your days numbered soon
I feel bad to hear all this today
Oh my city has become den of goons

Gandhi. sir, Please do not cry.

Nehru. (In slow tone) Bapu. Do you think he is real Kuli Kutubshah?

Gandhi. We have to believe him. We are also asking people to believe that we are real Gandhi, Nehru and patel.

Nehru. This argument is also true.

Kuli. Sir, Do you doubt that I am not Kuli?

Gandhi. Please do not mind sir. He is a master of doubts.

Kuli. Dear sir , what happened to my Purana Pul? Is it there?

Gnadhi. Yeah. Once we went there. It is still there.

Patel. They built another bridge next to it. They spoiled the entire show. The city planners are bunch of nuts. They have no aesthetic sense and a sense of beauty. They made some cockeyed bridge. It is already showing cracks.

Gandhi. your old bridge has been occupied by all types of vendors. One can not even walk there. It is a chaos. No one can set them right. Police does not venture to go there and bring some order thee. It is free for all . Haa..haaa…

Kuli. ( Cries loudly) Oh my Hyderabad.. Oh My Hyderabad.. What happened to you? Are you dying? Are you being killed?

Patel. Maa Badaulat .Please console your self sir.

Kuli. Iam very happy. You are addressing me as king should be. But I am helpless. I can not give you any reward.

Patel. Please do not mind sir. Your word is more than enough.

Kuli. You appear to be a very polite and honest person. What were you?

Patel. I was deputy PM of India of , this nation after 1947.

Gandhi. Deputy PM means Naib Mir Jumla in your times.

Kuli. That was great. I am happy to know that. By the by what are you ( looking at Gandhi)

Gandhi. I was no one.

Patel. Sir. He was a great leader. He is Mohandas Karam chand Gandhi, He is from Gujarat state. He has been conferred the title of father of nation meaning Qaid E Azam in Urdu language.

Kuli. Oh. That is very great sir.

Gandhi. Sir. Please do not glorify us. We are happy like this. We are simple guys.

Kuli. How about the third guy ( looks at Nehru).

Patel . He was the first Mir Jumla of India after 1947.

Kuli. Am happy to meet people like you. But I feel sad to know about Hyderabad city.

Patel. Huzure ala.. Maa Badaulat. You also must know that in Mecca Masjid that was completed after your death, had some trouble too. Few years ago, some miscreants put bombs there and Few died . Later there was trouble and some died in Police firing.

Kuli. What is this police?

Patel. They take care of law and order.

Kuli. Oh, that means they were soldiers of kotwal.

Patel. True. Things are bad in Hyderabad. Iam sure thins are going out of control. Most of the international thugs are hiding in the old city. Police has great difficulty in catching them. They merge with locals. Pakistanis and Bangladeshis look like us only and some locals protect them . Some time ago men of Harkat ul Jihadi Islam ( HUJI) from Bangladesh were caught in old city.

Kuli. Why this Jihadi word. Sir?

Patel. Sir, Now some sections in India are waging Jihad against India.

Kuli. That is bad. Why they should do it? Are they mad persons?

Patel. Looks so.

Kuli. During my time no such nonsense was there. All were happy.

Gandhi. Your times were different. Now things are different.

Kuli. I feel pained to hear these things.

Gandhi. Better Relax sir. You can not do any thing.

Kuli. My soul haunts over Golconda most of the time. I feel upset seeing these ruins. Look at Red fort at Delhi. That was fort was as old as Golconda. But it is still standing majestically there. See my fort. People of Hyderabad have eaten away the fort.

Patel. This is Hyderabad sir. If we are not careful even we will be eaten. Even your graves at Kutubshahi tombs are not safe. They are already crumbling. People are waiting to grab stones and building materials from these places.

Kuli, Oh , true I must run to my place and see that my grave is still there.

Patel. Please go sir, or you may be late.


( Kuli vanishes)

Gandhi. Patel, It is getting dark now. Look Watch man is coming here.

( In the mean time watch man arrives)

Watch man. Sir. It is already dark. Where were you sir? We were searching for you. Things are not safe here. There are many snakes too. Ghosts are also there.

Gandhi. What ghosts will do? Only human beings are dangerous. Will ghosts take away these stones? Poor souls they cry here.

Watch man. Sir. Are you not scared of Ghosts?

Patel. We are not scared because we our selves are ghosts.

Gandhi. Come on . We are not joking Bhai. We are real Ghosts. Please touch us.

Watch man . Sir. You re joking with me, haa..haaaa

Gandhi,. No. No we are ghosts in real

Patel. Please look at me.

( Patel displays his skeleton in fading light)

Watch man. Oh..no.. This is ghost, Oh..no.. Please save me.. run from here

(Watchman runs away in panic)

( The trio walks away laughing haa..haa..hee..heee..hoo..hoo)

CURTAIN FALLS