INTO THE PAST WITH PAIN...263

INTO THE PAST WITH PAIN…263

Dr K Prabhakar Rao

(Gandhi, Patel and Nehru are seen at Hyderabad at a park at Gunfoundry. It is evening and there are plenty of people around. All appear to be emotional. )

Gandhi. Patel. What could be the matter? All appear to be in high spirits.

Patel. I am not sure about any thing. Better I talk to some one.

( Patel goes to a guy and introduces himself)

Patel. Hello friend. May I know your name?

Suresh. Hoi. This is Suresh. Hello sir. What can I do for you? Do you care for a glass of beer?

Patel. No Thanks sir. I just want to know why so much of crowd is here. I find all emotional. I want to know what could be the matter.

Suresh. How come you do not know the news?

Patel. What are the news? Has Dr Man mohan singh resigned? Has the UPA govt at centre fallen? Has the local CM KK Reddy resigned? Has Israel bombed Iran? Has Pakistan bombed Delhi? Has any one looted treasure of Padmanabhaswamy in Kerala? Is Balaji safe at Tirupathi? Are Balajis jewels safe and not stolen away? Are Indian nuclear plants safe? Has the Swiss bank disclosed names of it’s account holders revealing names of ………..?

Suresh. Nothing of that sort happened. Are you interested in cricket? You appear to be aged and I am sure you are not much concerned about cricket.

Patel. No.. No..Not like that. I am equally interested. What happened in Cricket now? Has the ball size been increased? Has the cricket ground size has been reduced to half?

Suresh. Nothing like that happened. Sachin Tendulkar has hit his much awaited 100th international century.

Patel. Oh! That is the news! Now I understand .Thank you Mr Suresh for the information. Please enjoy.

Suresh. That any how I shall do. OK , Bye. ( He gulps beer )

( Patel goes back to Gandhi )

Gandhi. What happened Patel?

Patel. Bapu. Every one is thrilled that Sachin, the master blaster has hit his 100th century .

Gandhi. Great indeed! Sachin is a great player. The lad is the greatest of all times. India is proud of them. He has made India very proud.

( Gandhi in happiness does jig and sings.)

Know Sachin the greatest batsman
He scored many tons at all places
He made India very proud and others jealous
The bowlers he hammered hid their faces

Patel. Ha..haa. Bapu, Well sung. You are great indeed.

Nehru. Patel. Can you do any thing except to clap for whatever Bapu says and utters?

Patel. Why? Am I doing anything bad? Bapu is our icon. He made our careers, But for Bapu, how could you have become the prime minister of India?

Nehru. This is all fate and luck. I had luck and it was written in my fate that I would become PM one day. So, I became. No one is required to be given credit.

Patel. You have forgotten everything. I feel sad.

Gandhi. Patel, Jawaharlal appears to be correct. He is a lucky guy. He became PM. His daughter became a PM. His grand son became a PM. Now his grand son’s son is trying to become PM. Hee..hee.. This is called luck. Is the PM’s seat reserved only for them?I am sure party constitution wants that way.

Patel. True. When luck is there, nuts also occupy top posts. There is no doubt about it. I appears that the party leaders have no option. They are gutless and many are clueless too.. They can not win without Gandhi’s tag. Outside the party they can never win.

Nehru. Do you say that I was a nut and my family members were nuts?

Patel Did I say that? I only gave my general opinion.

Gandhi. Why you guys are fighting on this happy occasion? Whole India is celebrating Sachin’s century. Better behave you guys.

Patel. Sorry Bapu, I am not at fault.

Nehru. Do you say that I was at fault?

Patel. You yourself know what is right.

Gandhi. Now it is enough. Look Patel, Sachin was having lean period. Some people were after his neck.

Patel. True. Unfortunately for the last one year, ill luck followed him. He did not score a century since 30 matches. There will be always some jokers in world to give comments. They are just scrap.

Gandhi. Some times, it happens. The lad served country for more than two decades with greatest commitment and dedication..

Patel. But there are some clowns who keep criticizing about everything. They can not do anything themselves. They think they are great experts. I feel like throwing a bumper at their heads at 150 KM hours speed and break their teeth or hit a six into their faces..

Gandhi. Now Sachin has proved that he still has hammer in his hand.

Patel. Sachin in fact was scoring runs. But he was out many times in nineties and eighties. I think luck was not with him.

Gandhi. True. Now the burden is over. He must hammer every bowler out of screen and reveal the old Sachin. I wish him all luck further.

Patel. Bapu. All people in India celebrated the event more than the world cup victory or victory in Indo Pak war. I learnt that all channels stopped every programme and telecast the event.

Gandhi. Why not? The event is like that. He has set up a record that will possibly remain eternal. In the melee of course, India frittered away the match by 5 runs. But no is one much worried about it. But there are some sadists who criticize that Sachin and other guy played slowly and that the captain also let loose things.

Patel. Nuts will be always there. Why worry about them?

( In the mean time some on lookers arrive. Suresh is among them)

Suresh. Hello sir. We are sorry that we did not care for you. We were all drinking away beer and enjoying while no one cared for you.

Gandhi. It does not matter. We are happy like this too.

Suresh. No sir. It is our fault. You are senior citizens and appear to be intellectuals too.

( In the mean time, a boy arrives with some beer glasses and soft drinks )

Suresh. How about a glass of beer sir?

Gandhi. Thank you very much. W do not take beer. We however do not mind soft drinks and give company to you..

Suresh. So be it. The trio takes soft drink glasses .

Gandhi. Cheers for Sachins century. ( He raises the glass)

Patel. Cheers. Long live Sachin.( He touches Gandhis glass with his glass)

Nehru. Cheers.Long live Sachin and I wish he achieves more and more ( Raises his glass)

Suresh. Thank you very much sir for sharing this great moment with us.

Gandhi. Thanks to you all guys. Please enjoy. OK. It is getting late. We shall go.

Suresh. Thanks you sir. Bye

( The trio walks away )

CURTAIN FALLS