SHIRDI SAI PARTHI SAI
PART - 21
(Continued from the previous issue)
ACT FOUR
SCENE 4
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Elementary school in Puttaparthi. Boys are lined up in front of the school building. The school master is inspecting the line. He is hoping the boys have brought some gifts for him, but no student has. He is irritated and annoyed.
TEACHER: Slate and pencil, slate and pencil, slate and pencil! All of you have brought only a slate and pencil. Do you think you will receive education if you come to school with just a slate and a pencil? How about bringing some vegetables like brinjals, drumsticks, etc., as fees for me? Don’t you fellows want to pass and later enter High School?
BOYS: Yes Sir, we do!
TEACHER: Now listen! If you come to school tomorrow with just slate and pencil and no vegetables, I will beat you. By the way, did I not ask you to report well before the bell rings?
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BOYS: Yes Sir, you told us so.
TEACHER: Then why did you not? You don’t care; you don’t bother; you don’t listen to your teacher! You have no respect for my words!!
BOY: No sir, it’s not that. My mother is very sick, and that’s why I was delayed.
BOY 2: Sir, my house is very far and I am late because I had to walk all that distance.
BOY 3: Actually sir, we have come fifteen minutes earlier!
TEACHER: Are you questioning me? Are you saying, “We are on time and so why are you punishing us?” |
BOY: No sir, I didn’t mean that!
TEACHER: Then what exactly did you mean?
BOY: I am merely saying that we did not come late.
TEACHER: You dwarf, you dare to argue with me? ……[beats the boy] Just because you scream, do you think I will stop beating you?
At this juncture, the Head Master of the school comes there. The class teacher is scared that he might find out about his effort in extracting bribes.
TEACHER: [alarmed, to himself] The Head Master is coming! If I do not start the class immediately, he will take me to task!.…… [to the boys] Go inside the classroom! Hurry!!
SCENE 5
Kondama Raju’s house. Sathya and His grandfather are talking about the story of Lord Krishna.
KODAAMA RAJU: Do you know who is the brother of Krishna ?
SATHYA: I do.
KODAAMA RAJU: Who is the brother?
SATHYA: Balarama!
KODAAMA RAJU: Really!
EASWARAMMA: Sathya, how do you know all this about who Krishna is and who is Balarama?
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SATHYA: When grandpa narrated earlier the story of Krishna , he mentioned that Balarama was the brother of Krishna. Grandpa has forgotten telling me all that but I have not – that’s all!
KODAAMA RAJU: Your grandfather is an old man, is he not? That’s why he forgot all those things. You on the other hand are young and sharp!
SATHYA: Grandfather, you say you are old but you remember very well all the Puranic [spiritual] stories.
KODAAMA RAJU: Sathya, can one forget the stories of the Lord? ……… Do you know what Balarama once did?
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SATHYA: Yes I know. He complained to Mother Yasoda that Krishna ate mud. Yasoda then called Krishna and asked, “Did You eat mud?”
KODAAMA RAJU: And what did Krishna say to that?
SATHYA: Krishna asked: “Mother, am I a kid to eat mud?” Krishna insisted that He did not eat mud but Yasoda did not believe Him.
KODAAMA RAJU: Then what did Yasoda do?
SATHYA: Yasoda slapped Krishna and ordered Him to open His mouth! When Krishna opened, Yasoda saw all the fourteen worlds. She said: “Is this real or an illusion created by the Lord? Are You Krishna, and am I Yasoda, Your mother? How strange!” Later, Yasoda told herself that what she saw was entirely her imagination and promptly forgot it all. In this way, God threw the screen of Maya or illusion and concealed His Divinity. Do you know why?
EASWARAMMA: I don’t know.
KODAAMA RAJU: I too don’t know! |
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SATHYA: Grandfather, you don’t know?! Then listen. If everyone knew right then that Krishna was God, then it would have interfered with His Mission later. Did you not tell Me that Krishna came to punish the wicked and protect the good? If the word got around that Krishna was God, the extermination of the evil ones and the re-establishment of Dharma or Righteousness would have become a more tedious process.
KODAAMA RAJU: Sathya! From today, I am not Your grandfather but You are mine! From now on, You must tell me all the scriptural stories!
END OF ACT 4 SCENE 5
