When Gulliver chose
Dilliput from the list tourist destinations offered by the online operator, he was
prompted by fervent Lilliputian nostalgia.
He could never forget those miniature creatures with so much national
pride and cultural fervour. He had read
that Dilliput is inhabited by people with similar pride and fervour though they
are far from being diminutive like the Lilliputians.
The King of Dilliput was
on yet another foreign voyage when Gulliver visited. But the Prime Minister was happy to receive
Gulliver. He explained to Gulliver the
achievements of the King within a year of his coronation. He boasted about the tremendous achievements
of the King in turning around the plummeting economy of the country, Make in Dilliput programme which has
given employment to millions of citizens, land acquisitions to take development
to the villages, creating bank accounts for every Dilliputian with subsidised insurance
against accidents as well as death, cleanliness drives, academic reforms, improving
relations with neighbouring countries, rediscovering Dilliput’s past history
and its glorious culture, and so on.
Gulliver walked through
the streets of Dilliput in search of proofs for what was claimed by the Prime
Minister. He saw poverty and misery on
the faces of people who begged or performed antics or sold knick-knacks at
traffic signals, people sleeping on pavements or under flyovers, garbage
spilling out of dumping places bearing slogans about Swatchchta, policemen closing
one eye and shutting the other at the sight of crimes, women crying out for
help from fleeing vehicles, children slogging in sweatshops, ragpickers,
overcrowded hospitals...
But what the Prime
Minister said was also true. There were
signs of luxury and opulence in spite of all that murkiness. The Big-Endians and Small-Endians coexist in
Dilliput. That’s Dilliput’s real
greatness, thought Gulliver.
Unlike Lilliput, Dilliput
does give a lot of freedom to walk, realised Gulliver. He remembered the Lilliputian controversy
about which end of the egg should be broken for cooking it when he heard about
the restrictions on certain food items in Dilliput. There were six rebellions in Lilliput on
account of that one law which stipulated that all Lilliputians should break the
small end of the egg since the Emperor’s finger was cut while breaking an egg
at its big end. Many books were written
by erudite pundits of Lilliput about the new law. But the books written by the Big-Endians were
banned in Lilliput. 11,000 thousand
people became martyrs for the cause of the liberty to break the egg at the end
of their choice. The neighbouring
country of Blefuscu aided and abetted the revolutionaries.
Walking through the wide
roads and narrow lanes of Dilliput, Gulliver became increasingly and acutely
conscious of his own smallness though physically he stood a few inches taller
than most Dilliputians. Even the little
children made Gulliver feel strangely diminutive. There’s an aura of mystery
about this country, he decided. Maybe
the King himself will be able to dispel the mystery. The King was the greatest orator of the
country, he was told.
But the King was too busy
visiting the world. He had already
visited 18 countries within a year of his coronation breaking the records of
the best travellers in human history. Telling
the world that people of Dilliput felt proud to be called Dilliputians after he
became the King whereas before his coronation people wondered what sins they
had committed in their previous birth to be punished with a life in a country
called Dilliput.
“I’ll return,” decided Gulliver. “When the King has finished convincing the
whole world about the newfound greatness of Dilliput under his regime.”
What a take Sir.....I could not stop smiling at the satire and how I wish that this is read by the Prime Minister as a speech, since he is the 'greatest orator in the country'. I am so awed by the way you connect everything in your writings....literary allusions, politics, humor, satire....Just great....
ReplyDeleteI am fulfilled, Sunaina. :)
DeleteEnjoyed it. Apt points :)
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear that :)
DeleteI think one year is too little to solve problems in a country our size and one with deep rooted problems. I am no fan of the Congress or the BJP but I think there is hope with this government. The big mistake they will make is to be intolerant of other religions and views. Having said that, I enjoyed reading this - great satire:)
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed the satire. Satire, like the cartoon, is meant to provoke thoughts in a playful way rather than attack anyone. I had high hopes in our present PM. You are welcome to read what I wrote exactly a year before this:
Deletehttp://matheikal.blogspot.in/2014/05/all-best-mr-modi.html
Perhaps, high hopes lead to deep disappointments.