INTO THE PAST WITH PAIN

                               INTO THE PAST WITH PAIN

                                         Dr K Prabhakar Rao

{Gandhi Patel and Nehru are seen at a park in Delhi. They are seated on dilapidated cement benches.A phalliwallah( seller of fried ground nuts) approaches them.}

Phalliwallah… phalli phalli.. garam ( hot) garam phalli…Take phalli. enjoy phalli

Gandhi. Hey phalli waale..plesase come here.

( Phalliwala goes near Gandhi)

Patel.Hello brother. How do you sell?.

Phalliwala. Sir, Each phalli costs one rupee.

Patel. Is it for a packet?

Phalliwala.. No sir .It is for each phalli.

Gandhi, eee,,,eee,,, aaa….( He faints with a loud thud from the bench)

Phalliwala. Oh What happened sir? Does he suffer from fits?

Patel.No No.He is a healthy one although he looks sick and bony

Nehru. He got a shock after you told him the rate.

Phalliwala.. Sorry sir. What can I do!

Patel. What you can do?

(People gather around and patel sprays some water brought by a person on Gandhis face. He does not move.)

Patel. What happened to him, strange indeed.

Nehru, Bapu must be acting.

Patel. Come on bhai. How can you say about him like this

Nehru. Cant we get a doctor quickly here? Is there any doctor from the crowd?

A person comes forward.

Doctor. I am Dr Jadoogar. I recently completed my internship after MBBS degree
Patel. Can you examine him?

Doctor. I shall try.

( The doctor takes his steth and tries to examine Gandhi)

Doctor. I do not find any sign of life. There is no heart beat.

Patel. Is it? How can it be?

(Patel examines the steth and finds a big hole in rubber pipe )

Patel. Hey doctor. See this. Why do you keep such gadget? Where did you study?How did you get seat.?

Doctor. You are insulting me

Patel. Relax.These are the basic things for a doctor.

( The doctor gets annoyed and goes away )

(Patel pours two buckets of water over Gandhi. A man from the crowd reacts. His name is Chalu ram)

Chalu ram. Hey.. You will kill him like this. He will freeze.

(Suddenly Gandhi moves. He slowly opens eyes and feebly asks)

Gandhi. Where I am? What happened to me? Where is Phalliwala?

Patel.Oh God. He is saved.

(Gandhi gets up and sits on the bench, Some one brings a cup of got tea and Gandhi sips )
Gandhi. Nice tea.Call Phalliwala here.

(Phalliwala goes near Gandhi.)

Gandhi’ Look bhai why phallis are being sold at such high rate

Phalliwala. What to do sir. I used to have small kirana shop for the last twenty years. When Rs 500 and 1000 notes were banned recently by Modi sahib my business went for a six. I incurred great loss and I closed the shop. Then my wife fell sick. The doctors at the hospital were not willing to treat her as I had no cash. She suffered very greatly and then died. We have been ruined by this crazy order of the govt. I have been reduced to this stage from a shop owner to street vendor.

Gandhi. I learnt about it. Very sad and bad. Please give me six ground nuts only. I do not have cash.

( Vendor hands out the nuts and goes away after taking money. The crowd also melts)

Patel. What a ridiculous life is there in India. Poor foolish Indians never dreamt that the PM Modiji would sink them deep after bringing him to opower.

In the distance a song is heard.

Toot gaye sab sapne mere
Ye do naina sawan bhado
Barse sanj sawere
Ye ye.... toot gayi sab sapne mere KL. Saigal from Parwana.. 1946

(Bapu wipes tears with a Khadi hanky.)

Patel. Bapu, Relax. Such things happen when absolute power is given to rulers leading to dictatorship. At present There is no dissent that is effective. Opposition parties are helpless. Govt does whatever it wants. Only thing is that people have to wait till next elections.

Nehru.There is no proper person in opposition. Congress party is shattered with the defeat.

Gandhi.True . We are also helpless. This is a lesson for Indians . They have learnt it in hard way Let us go. It is already late

The trio walks off

CURTAIN FALLS