Sarthak Pandit

Drama

3  

Sarthak Pandit

Drama

PariWar

PariWar

8 mins
262


Kashiram Narayan Ji, an old man, living in Prayagraj is wary of his diseases. Blood Pressure, Diabetes, and various fractures were alright but now, he was afflicted with Corona- the fearful illness!

The boy, Babloo, who is hired as a nurse at the age of seven, still continues to serve him. All alone, Kashiram Ji, is very angry with his kids- two boys and one girl. After leaving the house nine years back, both the boys have never entered the house together and even a night has not been spent in the house. The daughter has left for America, two years back, to complete her two-year course in fashion technology. However, things didn’t fall in places as conceived, no job was offered whatsoever. She retired to a waitress in an expensive restaurant. The eldest son, Mahipal, lives in a rented room in Varanasi and works in the money trading and lending business. The younger son, Shishupal, owns a flat, benevolently gifted by his boss as a result of excessive sugar-coated words and flattery, in Delhi. Kashiram Ji called both his boys, port lockdown, and requested to be with him for days to his reconciliation and rehabilitation. The boys are told by Babloo that both the sons are invited by their father. The boys don’t quite mix well together with one another. The younger Shishupal was in love with this girl, Manju and they wanted to marry one another. However, due to a misunderstanding, Mahipal agreed to marry Manju when he had to agree for her little sister, Anju. Also, Manju, the elder was thought to be more appropriate with the elder Mahipal. Later Anju was engaged with Shishupal and a fussy mess was spilled. Finally, unwanted ties of matrimony were done and relations were squandered between both the brothers.

Despair struck, Kashiram Ji calls her lovely daughter, Guddan, from America and weeps his heart out about the negligence of her brothers and their cold-hearted behavior. She is now informed about his Covid-19 situation and extremely tense. She arranges for a flight and arrives in Prayagraj. She sees her father and is stunned to find him gossiping with the locals on their porch in full swing. She manages to dismiss the party going on and drags her father within. A pandemic and recent recovery from such a fatal disease and here he was tossing all the regulations and preventions in thin air. She advises him to follow all preventive measures all day. She has seen how Americans had been afflicted and here, people were discussing the negligence of Corona in people while themselves gathering without masks!


Guddan, calls her brothers and warn them to return to Prayagraj soon for Kashiram Ji was not to be manhandled alone by Guddan and Babloo. She urgently wants both of them, at least pay a flying visit. The brothers, vaguely, agree. They, in their respective homes, think of leaving in the morning and return back the next day. Guddan was hopeless of their arrival, she plans to call them again. At night, she goes to the nearby store to get herself a box of cigarettes. Kashiram Ji has slept and Babloo has retired to his room. She knows smoker women in her locality won’t be accepted, she tiptoes scarf-clad faced to the store. A box is purchased and the local goon boys tease and shame her for having cigarettes.

“Listen, boys, if cigarettes are bad, throw it on the road and protect yourself; Don’t teach me!”

“Smoker woman- be ashamed of yourself rather than advocating.....”

“Shut Up, Laal! Don’t interrupt people’s wishes! Please, madam, have your stuff!”

A man from a little distance admonishes Laal. The man asks Guddan to feel free to do what she feels while warning her that locals don’t accept these behaviors from girls, yet. Guddan lifts off her scarf and both of them are taken aback.

“Guddan!”

“Munna, you?”

They hug one another. Old refreshing memories. They were schoolmates and close friends. Munna had taken their relationship a level up but Guddan moved to Mumbai and then to America. Munna could never confess his love to her; only thanked her as a friend who motivated him when in reality he wanted to earn big to impress Guddan. Now, he was a doctor in the same hospital to which Kashiram Ji was admitted and he took his care during his stay. She thanked him for this and moves forward to hug him again.

“Social distancing, please!” Munna takes a step back and both analyzing the situation, give a hearty laugh. She lights one cigarette when Munna denies and they continue to chat lively till it exhausts. She, in the end, requests Munna to attend his father once and check his stats thereby. Munna agrees and they both leave for their homes. Back at their houses, Munna feels really odd to have Guddan back in his life which will disturb his dynamics with her as a friend meanwhile Guddan feels blissful to have a close friend around to understand her in critical situations and support her father.

The next morning arrives and Kashiram Ji is surprised to find his two sons standing with their full family at his feet. Happiness is extreme, he orders Babloo to bring them welcoming sweets and greetings. Babloo fetches welcoming eatables and places their little luggage in their respective rooms. Guddan is woken up by Babloo and even she can’t believe that her at loggerheads brother were present. She rushes to the room only to find them quarreling over trivial issues like kids of the seventies. The four grandsons- one eldest of Mahipal, twins of Shishupal, and then the youngest of Mahipal, get well along and scoot over to the courtyard to play. Guddan and Kashiram Ji try hard to soften them yet, all efforts in vain. Misinterpretations of past and minor issues are given importance because of it being dug deeper. The blame game goes strong. Kashiram Ji, to settle the scores, act of a major excruciating pain emerging from his chest. Guddan is worried and immediately calls Munna for help. Mahipal, Shishupal, and both the daughter-in-law appear shocked in unison. Soon, Munna arrives while the family consoles Kashiram Ji. Munna checks every status and in a split second, Kashiram Ji, whispers to have conjured a fake heart attack and requests to play along with his false act. Kashiram Ji then requests everyone to leave the room as he wishes to relay some personal problems with the doctor. Perplexed Munna, agrees. Then the old man tells how loved he felt when his sons came close, worried, and tensed. He desires and believes that this little act will save the sour relation among them. Munna seeks nothing wrong in it. He agrees to assist him in his secret maneuver.


Munna exits the room and informs them of a heart attack that hit their father. He suggests the men to stay for some days around him and please his desires and not to give any shocking or disheartening news which races the chances of another attack.

Taken aback and stuck, reluctantly they agree to stay. Varanasi is close by, so Mahipal and family drive back and fetch more clothes and return the next day. Delhi isn’t close enough, Shishupal and family shop necessities from the local market. Had they known such would befell, they would have packed more needs. Anju suggest Shishupal to borrow few items from his fellow elder brother, but Shishupal sternly rejects to plead. Manju suggests Mahipal to share clothes and all with his fellow younger brother and yet again, Mahipal sternly rejects to offer without requests. Manju and Anju are sisters close and share many chunks of information. This is shared too. Meanwhile Guddan is acquainted with this and she shops a few more items and gift them to Shishupal. Shishupal is extremely happy with this gesture and taunts Mahipal while praising Guddan’s fraternity and understanding of problems amongst family members. Mahipal clearly sees how it was pointing at him, dripping of sarcasm. Mahipal, next day, bring a box of sweets and distribute them to everyone but one person, Shishupal. He states he follows his duties of an elder brother but not Shishupal until the younger brother carries out his respect for him. He disregards the usage of any sarcasm rather than decides to be an outspoken man.

One day, while the tug of war with similar tactics and politics was happening, Gangaram Tripathi enters the house. He is the master of a local drama company who also works in property dealings and his stable filled with good quality breeds of cows and buffaloes. He produces legal papers and disclose that Kashiram Ji was selling all his paternal, ancestral and self-bought property in the rural area up for an auction for a widower house all to be managed by Gangaram Ji.

This sets unrest in the brothers. The sons feel to have been cheated when his father was donating land in the name of widowers and not offering it to their sons! Kashiram Ji says that he was never asked by the boys to acquire the land and hence he dropped it in Gangaram's custody. Family Quarrelling doesn't rest. Brothers thinking of uniting and acquiring the property back from Gangaram when the latter is no naive and neither a simpleton. The race begins forth.


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