INTO THE PAST WITH PAIN...227

INTO THE PAST WITH PAIN… 227

Dr K Prabhakar Rao


(Gandhi, Nehru and patel are seen walking on Parliament street in Delhi. They are dressed in their usual attire and conversing too. They see an old man cycling in front of them. He is looking down and pedaling with much effort. He has tied a heavy gunny bag on the carrier at the rear of the bicycle. He is seen perspiring)

Gandhi. Bhai. You appear to be much tired. Shall we push you up the slope?

Stranger. No Thanks. I shall carry on.

Patel. Please do not hesitate. We really want to help you. He goes behind the bicycle and pushes him up the slope.

Stranger. (Gets down) Tanks Bhai. Iam much obliged.

Patel. (Looks at him closely) I think you appear familiar. Have we met earlier?

Stranger. Many times sir.

(In the meantime Gandhi and Nehru also gather)

Gandhi. Hey. I think I have seen you earlier.

Nehru. Are you not Nanda, Gulzarilal Nanda?

Stranger. Sir. I am Nanda. The same Gulzarilal Nanda. The same guy chewed like a beetle nut and spitted out on Delhi Roads. The exploited Nanda. You recognized me well.

Patel. What is this? Why are struggling like this? Where is your car and driver?

Nanda. They have gone long ago.

Nehru. So sad to see you in this state.

Nanda. I am happy like this sir.

Patel. I know that you were made acting PM after Nehru died suddenly.. You were again made acting PM when Shastriji died suddenly at Tashkent. Why are you in this pathetic state?

Nanda. It is all fate sirs. I was an temporary hero and was never was a real hero. Honesty has no place in this world. Guys ensured that Nehru family ruled India. I was honest throughout my life and this is the result.

Gandhi. Are you feeling bad for being honest?

Nanda. Never sir. To be honest is very difficult and to be dishonest is very easy. I have the satisfaction that I was honest and truthful and Gandhian. I do not care for this suffering. Life is not eternal. To day, we all remember Raja Harschandra for his truthfulness.

Nehru. Are you equal to that Raja?

Nanda. I never said that.

Patel. That is fine.

( In the mean time, a luxury car comes close and honks at them. All stare at the car. From the car a burly looking man over fed clad in all whites gets down. He is Aya Ram. He has golden chain in the neck and around wrist. )

Aya Ram. Hey. You jokers. Why are you wasting time on this road? Why are you blocking traffic? Get out, you clowns?

Patel. Bhai. Look at us. We are very old people and famished. Please try to learn to respect elders. Is this way you address elderly men?

Aya Ram. What the hell you are speaking. Why should I learn any thing. I know everything. Iam born wise man,. You know who I am? I am member of a political party that too from the ruling one. I shall skin you alive. Badmash kainka ( you rascal) Kutta kainaka( you dog. )

Patel. Oh , no. Should we get scared? Hee..hee..haa..aa What a threat! Haa,,haa

Gandhi. look Mr Leader sahib. Kindly do not loose temper. This road belongs to all. We are not blocking the road. This old guy was having problem riding the cycle. We only helped him. In what way it is inconvenient to you. There are plenty of wide roads next to us. No one gets scared by your words. We know how to deal with guys like you.

Aya Ram. My driver is habituated to ride on free roads.

Nehru. Is he an army driver? Does this mean that no one should be there on roads?

Aya Ram. Shut up. Do not argue. You do not know me.

Patel. We are not interested to know either. Sir Please go and do not pick up fight unnecessarily.

Aya Ram. (Looks at Nanda) You.. You are again here.

Nehru. Do you know him?

Aya Ram. I saw him several times on cycle around.

Patel. Do you know who he is?

Aya Ram. People say he was former leader in congress. I thought he was beggar.

Patel. He was a great leader before you started to know walking. Be ashamed of yourself.

Aya Ram. Then he is on cycle.

Patel. How he should be then ?

Aya Ram. Look at me. I am no minister at present. I lost previous election. Now I do only social work. But look at me. Am I suffering in any way? Look at my car. It costs 18 lakh Rupees. Look at my shoes. The pair cists Rs 5000./ . I made sufficient money for next ten generations of mine. It does not make difference even if do not win elections in future.

Gandhi. That’s why country is like this. When you die no one will shed tears for you. You will be forgotten in just few seconds. People like Nanda will remain in golden pages of India history.

Aya Ram. Why are you so harsh? Am I that bad? What happened to the country now? All are fine.

Nanda. Bhai. Iam getting late. I have to go and cook food at home. Kindly allow me to go.

Gandhi. OK Nanda sahib. We are happy to meet you, but very unhappy to see you struggling in old age.

Nanda. That is fine. (Sings)

Doosro kaa dukhda dhoor karne wale
Tere dukh dhoor karenge raam
Kiya ja tu jag mein bhalayi ka kam
Tere dukh dhoor karenge Ram.

( Gandhi, Patel and Nehru clap with dedication and sing in chorus while Aya Ram slips away slowly from the place)

Nanda. Bapu, I shall take leave.

Gandhi. Please take care of yourself. This is a cruel world. Iam very unhappy that your party never bothered for you. They used you, exploited you, rubbed you down and did not recognize your services. In fact you should have been given Bharat Ratna. When all nuts and bolts are awarded Bharat Ratna, why not you? Their ways are funny. ( Sings and does jig)

This nation has rather gone to rabid dogs
In every corner we find many dirtiest hogs
The nations is now like a rotten leaf at dust bin
And is struggling like a fish devoid of its fin

Guys have tons of money and stored in Swiss banks
And those who demand truth are considered as mere cranks
The nations is on a shameful crash course
While those on top have no remorse

Patel (Claps) Bapu. You told truth. You are great

Gandhi. Thanks dear to be with me. Jawaharlal, Are you not happy?

Nehru. My being happy or unhappy has no meaning in fact.

Gandhi. Why are you so cut up?

Nehru. There is nothing. Patel as usual is at the old game.

Gandhi. Take it sportively dear.

Patel. Bapu. Forget him. We can not change some people. We have to leave them.

Gandhi. So be it, Patel. I am much cut up after meeting Nanda.. I also feel the same. Look at him. How famished he is. There is none with him in this old age. Look at todays politicians who are making fortune even if they have become minister once in their life time. Their sons, daughters or wives and even aunts succeed them one after the other. We have many examples right from the MLAs to MP and even PMs. When we brought freedom I never thought India would be like this.

Patel. It was better you died soon.

Gandhi. True. Patel. Is there no way out from this?

Patel Looks so. Evil has lodged itself very strongly in official circles and politicians.

Gandhi. What happens if opposition comes to power?

Patel. Opposition was also in power earlier. But they have not brought black money from Swiss banks. Their time was soon over and now they again became opposition.

Gandhi. I see. I think whoever is in power makes all efforts not to disclose names of the crooks.

Patel True. If I am correct Swiss Banks did not cooperate when opposition was in power.

Gandhi. God bless them. But now the Banks are ready to disclose

Patel. But these guys do not want them to be reveal the names. They caught one fish and making an example . But why not do same to all.

Patel. Bapu. Once the cat is out of bag who can control it? The country would catch fire. Many heads would roll. Entire country could get destabilized. But tragedy is that it is only Baba and Hazare are after corruption and are with hammer and tongs against the rulers. But the real political parties are lying low and watching tamasha. They are not leading from front. Neither they have joined agitation. Only few days ago BJP reacted.

Gandhi. All have some fears about the list of names. All can not be from same party. Surely they will be many from other parties too. That is the worrying factor.

Patel. Bapu. What an assessment you made ! You are great indeed.

Gandhi. That is why I am mahatma.

Nehru. Please know Patel, He has not been given title Mahatma for this.

Patel. Better relax Jawaharlal, you have no case. Take care of your interests. You also ruled this nation for 16 long years. Is it without blemish?

Nehru. I never said the rule was free of all misdeeds. Mistakes do occur. Afterall it was a infant democracy. I led it.

Patel. Not for sixteen years.

Nehru. Personally I am free from this.

Patel. I know that. You were very honest as person. But you wanted to rule always. You did not even resign after 1962 when nation was dishonored, got beating from Chinese being a foreign policy failure.

Nehru, I also feel sad about it. I also died aster it soon.

Patel. We know that But you did not heed to advise. You saw only personal glory in your actions.

Nehru. I never sought any thing personal.

Patel We know that, You were honest, but your policies were bad. You sought glory.

Gandhi. Patel. Plesae leave him. Why discuss past things now. It is a long forgotten story.

Patel. Bapu. It is not forgotten. We suffered humiliation and lost territory to a tune of Lakhs of sq KM .

Nehru. What I should do ?

Patel. Now what you can do. Damage has been done already. It is a history now.

Gandhi, Better we discuss something. Jawaharlal is getting upset much.

Patel. OK Bapu.

(Suddenly some police guys appear there and confront the trio)

Inspector. Hey. Who are you guys? Are you from Babas gang? Better leave this place. Or else you will be in trouble. You know what happened to Baba.

Patel. We belong to no gang. We are simple old guys having evening walk. What happened to Baba is a part of game. He was prepared for it. Ultimate victory will be his.

Inspector. This is no place for walk. This is not a free zone. Better get lost.

Patel. Sir, Can’t you be polite?

Inspector. We are trained like this. How do you expect police to speak? Say all nice things to you. If we are nice who will listen to us?

Patel. Did I say that?

Inspector. We are from Delhi police. You know what happened to Baba at Ramlila Maidan some days ago. Better know it. Disappear from here.

Gandhi. Wisdom lies in going from here. There is no point fighting guys who see no reason.

Inspector. Hey old man, you appear to be wise.

Patel. He was always wise and needs no certification.

Inspector. You appear to be a trouble some. Better you guys move from here.

Gandhi. Is this India we dreamt for?

Patel. Surely not.

Gandhi.. Where is Ram raj?

Patel. There is only Ravana raj here. Who was Ram ?

Inspector. You guys. I am giving 10 minutes to move from here. I am going to a place to do lathi charge. I shall come back and if you are still there I shall take care of you. I shall chew your …b…

Patel. Better do that.

(Inspector goes away)

Gandhi. Look patel. Better we leave from here. There is no point fighting with guys devoid of upper story. They think less and act foolishly. Jesus said, “Oh father forget these, They do not know what they are doing”.

Patel. Fine Bapu. As you say we do. There is no point blaming them either. They are trained like that. In all countries they are like that.

Nehru. Let us go.

(The trio disappears suddenly to the music of Ramdhun)

( CURTAIN FALLS )