Peace Talks
Somprokta Shroomate, the Principal of Shri Satya Saadhana School, popularly known as Triple S, was summoned by the Dean, Shri Rohalla Gulla two days ago and told to include one play in the Annual Day Function.
Rohalla Gulla, popularly known as RG, was highly critical of the BJP government and had written many articles in a website that few people read, criticising Shri Jayashankar as the foreign secretary. RG believed that he would make a much greater foreign minister. Had he been the Foreign Minister, there was no chance the opportunity to solve the Iran-Israel issue could have gone to Pakistan. RG had imposed a fine of 5000 rupees on students who went and saw Dhurandhar. His view was that the movie vitiated the potential of friendship between the two neighbours. When India launched Operation Sindoor, he wrote in his website that no one read: "Do you kill criminals or do you catch them and sentence them for their crime? It is only someone like Aditya Nath, who has no faith in his police, who orders killings. When you kill a terrorist, you kill a terrorist, but when your Aman Ki Asha prevails, then you eliminate terrorism itself."In the Annual Day Function RG wanted the play on Peace Talks to be included in order to emphasise how peace-loving societies play a pro-active role in solving problems. His aim was also to highlight the ineffectiveness of our own foreign policy.
Somprokta Shroomate immediately set about selecting and preparing the students for the play "Peace Talks". The task was not easy. First, she had to select students who understood the issues involved. Then dresses had to be arranged. The students would usually wear the school uniform, but their roles in the play demanded dresses worn by diplomats. The most grilling task was of procuring the uniform for Pakistan's Field Marshal, Asim Munir. The result was that no script could be prepared and no rehearsals could be done. But Shroomate knew that her students were brilliant and fully aware of the intricacies of the geo-political crisis in the Middle East.
Shroomate knew that Roholla wanted the play to leave an impact on the audience. Roholla's parents had come from Lahore at the time of partition. In his childhood, he had heard his parents say: "Nothing goes wrong in the land of Pakistan. It is the land of Vedas and Upanishads."
As the time for the play approached, Shroomate told the actor-students, "Put yourselves in the shoes of the characters.. Think as they would think. Feel as they would feel. If you follow that basic principle, the dialogues will come automatically."
The play started. The boy who played the role of Pak PM made a speech of welcome. But as he spoke, he tried to bring up feelings of how the Pak PM would feel. Anxiety began to take hold of his mind. He saw images of Pakistanis and Iranians on the streets burning his effigies for welcoming Israel who, according to Pakistan is the root of all evil. He decided to make a correction. He called the person who was serving tea and told him to serve cold tea to the Israeli delegate and add a handful of red chillies. He also told him to spread this news throughout Pakistan and Iran.
As the Israeli delegate took the first sip of the tea, he splashed it on the face of the Pak PM. This resulted in a free-for-all. The delegates pulled each other's collars and hair. It became obvious that warring forces had been brought to the negotiation table without any work of preparation.
The situation became critical. FM Asim Munir stood on a chair, took out his pistol and directed a few shots at the ceiling. The sound of the shots had an effect, and the delegates disengaged from their violent hugs.
The audience had a hearty laugh. Rohalla Gulla seemed furious. He glared at Shroomate, but the lady did not lose her calm. She took the mike and said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, our students have brought out the essence of the solution to Middle East Crisis. Only Field Marshal Asim Munir can solve it by using the Pakistani army. Let us not forget that it was Pakistan's AQ Khan who gave the technology and know-how to Iran for making a nuclear bomb. He who holds the bomb, holds the peace."
Rohalla Gulla stood up and clapped. His great Principal had made the greatest statement ever made: "He who holds the bomb, holds the peace."
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