I prefer cricket, Ba

Ba silently hands him the latest issue of the Heavenly Bugle, the multi-edition celestial newspaper that vouchsafes to bring you all the news from the universe that fits the print. The old man pored over the page which carried news of the temple outrage. Every now and then a sigh broke through his frail frame as he whispered ‘Hey Ram’ to no one in particular.

Kasturba: Now you don’t allow all this to raise your blood pressure levels again, Bapu. Let them sort out the mess they have created down there.

Gandhiji (a rare anger clouding his face): Them? Who’s them? A more unworthy bunch I have not had the misfortune of observing. Look what they have done to this nation, look what they have done to my Gujarat. They have brought it back to the brink of a second partition.

Kasturba: Now, now, Bapu, calm down. We’re retired, now. Let’s remember that.

Gandhiji: Was it for this that we struggled so hard, Ba? A second partition? Now look, young boys with guns roam free gunning down the innocent — women, children, for revenge. Are they doing it for their self-respect, for Islam? They think they have a cause in felling down people? Truly, Ba, evil is good misplaced. An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.

(Ba could only shake her head in agreement, as her husband went on.)

Gandhiji: And look at that man who takes out a ‘gaurav yatra’ over the bodies of dead people? What has he to be so proud of? For presiding over mass extermination? He says he is doing it for Hindu pride. I say he is doing it to destroy Hindu pride. I reject any religious doctrine that does not appeal to reason and is in conflict with morality.

Kasturba: It’s your birthday next week. Maybe, they will try and understand what you stood for, Bapu.

Gandhiji(snorting in total dismissal): When was the last time you heard one of them speak about the virtues of non-violence? Non-violence requires a double faith, faith in God and faith in man. These people who see themselves as India’s leaders don’t have faith in either—they have faith only in their security guards and wicked destinies.

Kasturba: Why have you become so cynical, Bapu? You used to believe that God resides in everyone…

Gandhiji (cutting in) Used to. Not now. Not after having observed all that I have observed. I also used to say a nation’s culture resides in the heart and soul of its people. But they, I fear, have succeeded in destroying the heart of the people. They have corrupted it with their corruption, destroyed it with their cynicism, killed it with their violence.

Kasturba: There you go again, working yourself up. Who knows, maybe they realise to what a dead-end their ways have led them to. Maybe they remember what you achieved through your principles and love.

Gandhiji: What have I achieved? A country riven by hate and fear? I have become a picture on the wall for dust to settle on, a statue in stone for the pigeons to perch upon, a book lying unread in some library. A pious quote pronounced on special occasions…like my birthday next week. They have succeeded where Godse had not.

Kasturba: Maybe we should turn on the TV to see what’s happening in Gujarat.

Gandhiji: Spare me, Ba. I’d much rather watch the cricket being played in Sri Lanka. Our boys have reached the Finals, you know!