“Put him in the same cell
as that Baba’s Chela,” said the Inspector of Police when Michael was brought to
the Royal Incarceration. “The Chela should
know how to deal with witches and their lovers.”
Michael had been accused
of practising witchcraft because some charge was needed for relegating him or
anyone to the Royal Incarceration according to one of the many Orders
promulgated by the new King.
“Baba wanted to own the
Taj Mahal,” said the Chela having introduced himself to Michael. “Baba Sena tried to carry out the wish.” His devotion had landed him in the Royal
Incarceration.
“Why does Baba want so
much land?” wondered Michael. He had
seen enormous tracts of land encompassed by tall walls with the Baba’s
signboards declaring proprietorship in many places during his extensive
journeys over the last few months.
Chela looked at Michael as
if the latter were an imbecile. “He
wants the whole country,” explained Chela.
“Ownership is the only real power and power is the only real key to
Paradise founded solidly on morality.”
Women, wealth and
vanity. People usually conquered lands
for these. Michael learnt a new lesson
now. Morality can be a reason for
conquests too.
“But Taj Mahal is a
national heritage. How can that become a
private property?”
Once again Chela’s look
made Michael feel like an imbecile. “Privatisation
and Liberalisation. Haven’t you heard of
such things? Haven’t we sold our forests
to the private ownerships? Haven’t we
sold the skies to private airline operators?
Why, even the oil in the wells deep down there (he pointed at the
ground) has been made private property.
The rivers will soon become private property. The air you breathe will also be privatised
eventually. Why can’t the Taj Mahal be
privatised then?”
“Then what’s your crime?”
asked Michael.
“Nothing. Who said I committed any crime? It’s a matter of time. If you eat slowly, you can eat the whole
country. That’s what the King told Baba.”
Chela imparted great
lessons to Michael. But Michael was incapable
of learning them. Hence the Superintendent
of the Royal Incarceration was ordered to conduct an IQ Test. The result of the test was doctored so that
Michael became a certified imbecile unfit to take up any profession that
requires some intelligence at least. He
was given the permit to work on the streets bringing swatchhta to them.
Earlier Michael episodes:
Got me thinking, who knows one day Taj Mahal is indeed privatized?
ReplyDeleteBut great story, your thinking is so perfect.
These things are actually happening though in slightly different ways. Some of the dialogues in the second episode of the series are actually spoken by some of our leaders, for example.
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