JAIBHAWANI

                                                                  J AI BHAWANI 

                                                                Dr K Prabhakar Rao

Rajadhiraj Chatrapathi Shivaji Maharaj is seated on a throne in heavens in a royal palace. Many of his brave stalwarts are seated close to him. Tanaji Malsure of Sinhgarh fame, Baji Prabhu deshpande of Purandhar fame,, Baji Prabhu of Pawankhind fame ,Ram shastri the illustrious judge, Moropant, Santagi Ghorpade, Kanhoji Angre, Dhanaji jadhav, Gomaji Naik, Chimaji appa and somemore warriors are among them.

Shivaji.. Dear friends . Many years have passed since we left our motherland. How is our Swarajya?

Tanaji.. Maharaj. Where is Swaraj now? It was over long ago.

Shivaji. Is it? How it happened?

Baji Prabhu. Maharaj. Swarajya got into great trouble after Sambhaji raje. Your grandson Sahu ji was captured by mughals and he grew up with them in palace. He was released after Aurangzebs death by Bahadur shah I to sow seeds of conflict among Marathas. Your son Raja Ram maharaj also passed away early. There was a conflict for the throne and Sahu Maharaj had to cross swords with MaaTarabaiji wife of Maharaj raja ram

Shivaji. How sad?

Tanaji. At last Sahuji won and became Chatrapathi. He however allowed his step brother to rule at Kolhapur as an independent king.

Shivaji. Oh No. That means there were two powercenters.

Tanaji. Sahu Maharaj was literally a ceremonial king at Satara while his Peshwa wielded maximum power.Although Kolhapur was aseparate state, Satarawas the opower centre. Slowly, entire power went to Peshwa while subsequent Chatrapathis were mere ceremonial kings with title Chatrapathi. Peshwa rule started with hereditary claims.

 Shivaji.. How this could happen? 

Baji prabhu. It happened Maharaj. The Peshwas no doubt spread the Maratha kingdom across north India to a great extent and Mughal emperor became a nominal one slowly. Peshwa BajiRao I was very great person and he never lost a battle. He was very young in his twenties when he was appointed a Peshwa by Sahuji Maharaj. But he died early not before accomplishing great things..

Shivaji. So sad. It is all fate? What can be said about it!

Ramshastri. Maharaj...as time passed Peshwas became very powerful and violence also increased in the matter of succession for Peshwaship. Narayan Rao peshwa a youth was murdered by the hench men of Raghunath Rao his own uncle and his body was thrown down Shaniwarwada palace in Poona city.Raghunath rao was a Peshwa for a small period.

Shivaji. This Shaniwar wada fort was not built during my time.

Santaji Ghorpade.. True. It was Peshwas capital palace. As time progressed ,certain clans of Marathas established their kingdoms such as Sindhias at Gwalior, Holkar at Indore, bhonsles at Nagpur and Gaikwads at Baroda. But they were loyal to Chatrapathi and Peshwaji andt ook part in Maratha wars against enemies.

Shivaji. That was good. I am happy. That means Swaraj was still there in some form.

Baji Prabhu Deshpande.. Maharaj, Unfortunately Marathas lost a great battle at panipat against Ahmed shah Abdali Durrani of Afghanistan and it was a great set back. Mughal power was very low at that time. Muslims were worried that at Delhi Pad padshahi would be established and they conspired to call a jihad against Marathas. Sikhs and Rajputs were not a party to the war and were apprehensive of Maratha rise.

Shivaji. This is the weakest point with Indians. They have no unity. Even in my time Hidu Rajputs fought against me as Aurangzeb commanders. Victories and defeats are also decided by God. Some time we have to loose. But one should not loose heart. But struggle to rise up. 

Tanaji. Very true Maharaj. The English men in India became stronger day by day and Marathas had to fight three wars with them. After these wars great Maratha empire became very weak and four provincial Maratha kingdoms survived. The Peshwa soon became a nominal post and Chatrapathi too was a figure head.

Shivaji. I see. Just bad.

Moropant Maharaj ,as time passed the English men got control over India and dictated terms to the local kings. They introduced rule that if the king died without a male heir the kingdom would be taken over by their company. Thus Bhonsles of Nagpur lost their kingdom. Jhansi also was about to be taken over after death of Gangadhar rao. These erratic rules resulted in the great war of independence by Indian princes and soldiers in 1857. All princes did not join the struggle. Sikhs, Nizam of Hyderabad, South Indian rulers, Rajputs stayed loyal to the English men and betrayed the cause. Nana sahib the self proclaimed Peshwa, Rani laxmibai of Jhansi, Kunwar singh in Bihar,Avanti bai of Rangarh, Tantya tope the Commander in chief of Peshwa were the main personalities apart t from Mughal nominal emperor Bahadur sha II of Delhi. , Maharaja of schindhia of Gwalior sided with the Englishmen. Finally the war was lost and it resulted in taking over of administration of India by English queen Victoria. After the war, there was no Peshwa. However three Maratha kingdoms at, Baroda, Gwalior and Indore remained. They were large kingdoms There vassals to The English men..

Shivaji. It was a good thing. At least some rule of law will be there. But I am unhappy about the selfish princes who joined the Englishmen during the war. If all had revolted, The Englishmen would have been slaughtered. Bad luck indeed.

Chimaji appa.Maharaj by this time, modern times dawned and Indians resorted to peaceful struggle for Independence. They tried non co operation movement. There were many individual revolutionaries who opted for armed struggle and many of them were captured and put to death after they committed some assassinations of English officers and conspiracies.. Then the world witnessed World war I 1916 to 1919 and later World War II between Germany and allies from 1939 to 19 45.. Subhas chadra Bose a great leader and revolutionary parted ways with peaceful movement and escaped to Germany. He joined hands with Hitler, ruler of Germany and later went To Japan and raised Indian national army to fight the Englishmen. He established Free Indian state in Singapore and made his Hq. He issued free India currency. His army took part in the invasion of India along with Japanese army on eastern front through Manipur through Burma.. He conquered some areas in Manipur and raised Indian flag.

Shivaji. That was really great and worthy. I like it. My blessings to the great hero. He must be the real hero of Indian freedom movement.

Ramsastri.True, Sadly his army surrendered when Japan surrendered when atom bombs were dropped over Japan by US army. Subhas bose reportedly died in a flying machine crash in 1945.People believe he was alive for many years and are not accepting his accidental death.

Shivaji. This happens about heroes and great patriots. The world has witnessed great change. Modern arms came up. Science radically changed the wars. We fought wars with cavalry, Infantry, elephants, cannons, swords, daggers, lances, Bows and arrows and matchlocks. Now flying machines, armoured steel vehicles with guns and ships are there. The old match locks are replaced by modern weapons and automatic machine guns. Swords became extinct. What a change indeed.

Ramsastri. After these wars ,England became weak and was unable to maintain colonies. More over, the army of Subhas chadra bose made great impact on them. At last England granted freedom to Indiaon 15 Aug 1947 and Mohandas Karam chand Gandhi the leader of Congress party who led the non violent resistance became the hero. He was made father of nation. But India was partitioned and for Muslims Pakistan was created.

Shivaji. Shame indeed. Did all Muslims go to Pakistan?

Ramsastri. No Maharaj. Option was given to them by MK Gandhi to either stay back or go. Millions of Muslims who favoured Pakistan remained in India. The dream of Hindu rashtra was not realised. India opted for democracy and to be a republic.

Shivaji. That was not correct. The option should not have been given. When 93 % of them voted for Pakistanis creation, where was the necessity to keep them here?

Ramsastri. That was a folly surely. But colossal damage has already been done

.
Shivaji. Was whole thing peaceful? 

Ramsastri. No Maharaj, During partition of the country, there were communal riots and millions died.

Shivaji. So sad indeed. I am very unhappy. So India is now truncated one and moth eaten. I am much upset over it.

Tanaji. Maharaj. Immediately after gaining freedom Pakistan attacked India to occupy Kashmir. India fought back bravely and was about to gain control of entire Kashmir, when the Prime minister Nehru referred the matter to world body of nations. Till now the matter is not settled. India fought three major wars with Pakistan till date. They are staunch enemies. Pakistan exports terrorists to India to create confusion, communal riots loss of life and bomb blasts etc.

Shivaji ( Gets angry and gets up from his seat and draws his sword Bhavani). He raises the sword to heavens and he shouts Jai Bhavani. His associates too stand up and draw their swords and shout Jai bhavani..)

Shivaji looking at sky roars
Oh Bhavani my mighty sword
Look ! these clowns have broken this land
I feel greatly upset at their deeds

And I want to teach them a lesson with this hand
Let this sword Bhavani speak what I mean
I shall cut the guys like bunch of carrot and bean
Their brains are full of ideas unclean

And I shall cut their bowels and pull out spleen

This sword has cut many heads in past
And Afzal khans head was severed with this mighty blade
I shall soon cut such guys into a bloody pulp

And their souls will soon disappear over Kondhana and fade
Look Oh devil and know what I am
World has seen me already and my deeds
The cheats in India can not escape me
I shall pick them as rats in field pick up the weeds.

Ramsastri.. Cool down maharaj.. No one can change destiny. What is to happen will happen. Modern times are different from our times. Values have changed. People have become selfish and leaders are corrupt and rogues. The clumsy leaders want family rules every where. There are no ethics and sanity in Indian political field. There are no kings like our times except at few Muslim nations. Most of the places , republics are there. At some places dictatorships are there. Some countries have communist rule. Better let them get hanged. Why boil our blood.

Shivaji. You are also correct in some aspects. Things change with times. But I can not digest division of the country. Any how, past is past. As you sow so you reap.I hope atleast they would maintain the integrity of India. Let them not divide it futher. Let us leave. We shall meet again at some other time.

The warriors Shout..Bol Rajadhiraj Chatrapathi Shivaji maharaj ki Jai... 

 All shout including Chatrapathi maharaj Shivaji... Jai Bhwani mata ki jai

CURTAIN FALLS