Give me the good ol’ days anytime. Look at the epics- kingdom X went to war against kingdom Y on a matter of a kidnapped princess or wife and won it using a ‘wooden horse’ which was not among the list of approved weapons of those days. Yet, poets of those days did not hesitate to write two epic poems on the war and its sequel where a disillusioned Greek goes around the world fighting dragons and upholding chivalry. We do not know if the author of these epic poems, Homer, ever got his due royalty because it was much before the Copyright Law came into force. For the same reason, the Greek poet lost out on royalties on the English versions of movie scripts. Actors and directors like Kirk Douglas made money on the deal, Helen was immortalised on the poetry front but no copyright and no ‘drachmas’.
Great War poetry mushroomed on all fronts. Shakespeare was lucky. He could pick and choose from dozens of English kings, queens, princes and could cast his net far and wide for an Antony Macbeth, a Cleopatra who sailed in large silver barges adorned with exquisite silks and muslins from the East and the West. Antony and Cleopatra benefited from their habit of picking up pearls cast before the swine. Transport was easy and cheap, hundreds of galley slaves were available at wholesale rates and it was against the law to form trade unions or organise strikes.
India’s was a scene tailor-made for making money and fame. It all started quite early from the days of the epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata. All sorts of strategy were used to immortalize great wars. At the beginning of the 18 day Kurukshetra War, it was likely that a special war channel was installed at the king’s palace for the live telecast of the war. Leading ‘rishis’ were accredited as war correspondents and transported to Kurukshetra and were helped in their task as ‘experts’ by veteran cavalry and foot soldiers. Coverage of aerial warfare was conducted by specially trained airmen in ‘pushpak viman’ piloting. War experts hailed the progress in our airpower after the BJP government came to power.
The new political situation saw the emergence of a few new young commanders, who asserted their strength with new division, commands which were sharpened by Mahavir Narendra Modi from Gujarat desh whose 2002 exploits are talked about with awe and respect. The Patel fighting units were highly trained and motivated.
Led by deadly commando leaders like Maha shaktiman Pravin Togadia and veteran Bajrang Dal stalwarts to shame with their speed, valour, and lightening strike rate, Gujarat has become such a fast breeding ground for famous freedom warriors that yesterday’s freedom fighters were reduced to today’s cardboard heroes. Every day a new hero launches a new battle. If yesterday Gujarati youth fought for the abolition of reservation in their Nav Nirman struggle, today their 1.5 crore Patel community is fighting for a chunk of reservation cake for the Patels. The violence has started and may spread in the days to come. The Nav Nirman violence went on for more than six months.
The Patels regard themselves as the crack Panzer divisions of the German army in 23 year old Hardik Patel received his degree with a lot of difficulty. Gujarat has a born-fiery orator who has now switched to Hindi to capture the national audience. He has made no attempts to do the same with English for which the British Prime Minister Sir David Cameron sent him a special thank you message (returned unopened by Hardik’s secretary). Like all great political orators, Hardik too has a different approach to his audiences like the Kurmis, Gujjars, Jats and of course the Patels, “I believe in straight talk and not in pleasing people. It is nice to be welcomed with flowers but if you ask me that is the beginning of defeat. Forget the flowers, bring out the swords. That is the language that works.” He promised protection to Gujarati women from their attackers whoever they were, including policemen.
One does not expect any literary flourishes from Hardik and there was no explanation from him on the issue of why affluent landowners, businessmen and professionals, who were the majority in the Patel community, should now demand the lion’s share in reservation .Lakhs of Patels are now happily settled in various parts of the US and the rest of the western world besides monopolising trade and the tourism industry, without reservation. How can they call themselves as BC’s or OBC’s? Most Brahmins, particularly in the South, are famous for their intellect but victims of our skewed reservation policy quietly left India and made a name in scholarly pursuits, including winning Nobel Prizes. The Patels of Gujarat are more versatile, did not put all their eggs into the High IQ basket and are not all that keen in winning Nobel or the Pulitzer prizes.
Hardik Patel may change the scenario and bring about a situation like the American Civil war between north and south India. Like a true Patel warrior, he may shun all efforts to learn or speak English the American way. But that would not worry the Americans who would rather not think of Americans dropping dreams of buying MGM and Warner Brothers and instead having them screen ‘Hawan mein udi gayon che’, a Gujarati version of ‘Gone with the Wind’.
