Into the past with pain.. 340 Part I

                        INTO THE PAST WITH PAIN.. 340   PART I
                                     Dr K Prabhakar Rao

(Gandhi , Nehru and patel are seen on Siliguri area and people are curiously looking at them)
Gandhi. Patel , How far is the China border from here?
Patel. I am not sure, Jawaharlal do you have some ided? You were PM for decades
Nehru. I am also not sure. But I know that it is far by road. As crow flies it is not that far
Patel. We are not crows. So we can not fly
Nehru. Pate. It is only a phrase. It means by flight in a straight line
Patel Thanks for clarification.
Nehru. Hope you are not pulling my leg
Patel. Why I should do that? What I will gain.
Gandhi. Please ask some local guy
Patel goes to a shop near by and asks a guy standing at the shop. His name is Kancha
Patel. Bhai. How far is the china border from here?
Kancha. Why do you want that information? You do not appear to bea local. What you will do there?
Patel. We want to vist that place
Kancha. By road it is far. You will not get transport to the remote area. More over civilians are not allowed to go the border posts.
Patel I see
Kancha What you see
Patel. Nothing Nothing.
(Kancha looks doubtful . Once Patel leaves the place He rings up the police station over cell phone)
SI. This is PS Siliguri main square. Who is on line
Kancha. Sir, My name is Kancha, i belong to this placeI work in a shop. Just now a person asked me how far is the china border from here. I did not tell him details. I have a doubt about him
SI. Eee..eee He must be a spy. I am coming there with force. Please keep a watch on him
Kancha. Yes sir. He is standing on the street with two more guys. They do not belong to this place.
SI. Ok Ok.. Fine. Thank you.
( After few minutes a Police jeep along witha small trck arrives with armed police at the traffic square as per Kanchas direction. Si and constables get down)
SI. ( sees Kancha coming to him).. Are you kancha?
Kancha . yes sir. Those are the guys. ( He points his finger at the trio standing at a tea stall )
(SI goes to the tea stall along with three police men holding rifles)
SI. Hey. Who are you guys here. You appear to be from some other place
Gandhi. Yes. We do not belong to this place
SI Why you have come here? What work you have?
Patel. Look SI sahib. We are in free India. No permission is required to visit places within the country. We are citizens of India
SI. That is OK. But we have some duties. We keep watch on strangers. This is a sensitive area
Patel. I agree. We came to visit border area
SI. What for? What work you have there?
Nehru. It is a matter of interest.
SI. I am afraid you will be not allowed. Kindly prove your identity. Otherwise you may have to come to the station for questioning
Patel. SI sahib, I am patel, They are Gandhi and Nehru. Hope you recognise us.
SI. I do not recognize you. The people you mentioned died long ago. My father was also not born then. Kindly sow some proof about you. To which place you belong
Gandhi. We do not belong to any one place. We keep moving from place to place
SI. Dont you have Adhar car, ration card, Driving license, electricity bill . Teephone bill or bank pass book, Voters card or PAN card?
Patel. Come on SI sahib.Who will move with all these documents. We do not have any of these documents
SI . why. Adhar car is a must now a days.PAN card is also a must
Gandhi SI sahib we died long ago. How can we have them
SI. No jokes. If you are dead how you are talking and walking?
Gandhi. Most truly this out of your comprehension. We are in fact souls and we do not have bodies. We stay in heavens
SI. Shut up nonsense talk
Gandhi, SI sahib. Please behave yourself. Is this the way you talk to elders. Has the police school taught this to you?
SI. You guys will not listen. Move to the station. I shall show you there
Patel, Relax Mr SI sahib. Do not loose balance.. Please take us to PS.
(SI orders the constables to catch the three and put them in the truck. The constables try to hold the hands of the trio. But they do not feel any thing.The constables punce on the trio. But fall in a heap)
Constables. Eee...eee . our hands are broken a..aaa. My leg is broken. I am dying
SI. What is this? The constables are unable to catch three old men. Strange. I have to act
Look guys. If you do not behave I have to use force and I am sure you will not like it.
Patel. Please use your force. I told you about us.
SI. OK. I shall see you.
(SI orders the entire force to surround the trio with aimed rifles and they surround the trio as per orders)
SI. Now constables. Now close in around them. Catch them
(The large number of constables slowly get close to the trio as a ring and all of a sudden pounce on them. They all fall in a heap one over the other with rifles banging into each other.. The trio is seen outside the heap and seen laughing. None of the fallen constables is able to get up)
SI. Strange. Strange. These are really anti nationals with some special powers.I must tackle them myself.
( He draws his service pistol and cocks it and aims at the trio )
SI. You guys surrender immediately. or else I shall fire
Patel. Mr SI , I told about us earlier. Better go away
SI. You shall not listen like this. ( He fires at Patel)
Patel... haa..haa.haa..heee...heee SI you can not do any thing to us
(SI fires continuously and empties the magazine of his hand gun.Nothing happens to the trio. They keep laughing .The bullets hit three buffaloes and six goats at a distance and they fall dead)
Gandhi. Enough of it. Poor anmals have died.
Patel. Nothing can be done. The govt will compensate their loss after some enquiry. Let us go
( The trio vanishes from the place and lands up on a road away from Siliguri.
                                               
                                              CURTAIN FALLS

Contd in Part II