Thursday 17 May 2012

The poor girl who loved a Prince

Do you believe that a veteran political leader in Kerala, has  no money to pay his hospital bills? It may sound strange and even incredible in Indian political arena notorious for corruption scandals, kickbacks and bribes . But it did happen, to this former Kerala Legislative Assembly speaker and MP when he was once hospitalized as reported by his friends including a journalist who assisted him to settle the bills. Ardently loved by the common man, he stands alone as a honest politician who refuses to be cowed down by temptations of power, politics or money and remains fighting for just social causes even if it amounts to opposing his own political party.

It occurred to me to search for a story in the printed and visual media just to see that honesty is honoured. While doing so I asked  myself whether I was crazy or if it was some sort of absurdities dictated by the aging I am now undergoing . Well, there are occasions in one’s life in when he fails to convince even the next of his kin. I have to confess that what I have found is the other way around; public servants being harassed by his superiors, policemen or officers being subjected to punishment transfers, employees fired, all on “charges” of being honest in their duties. Politicians accused of corruption and nepotism are sworn in as ministers and shady police officers reinstated after their suspension on valid grounds . A employee of a state owned company in Kerala had committed suicide along with his family members a few months ago due to constant intimidations from his superiors who were facing corruption charges .

I had , therefore, to go back to more than a couple of millenniums to dig out such a story. With sincere apologies to my esteemed readers, here it is:

Around 250 BC , a Prince in ancient China was preparing to be crowned as King. Pursuant to the laws and regulations prevailing there in those days that he had to marry to first. It was a matter of choosing the next Empress rather than his wife. Hence he had to select a girl whom he could trust blindly. Based on the opinion of his advisors, he decided to invite the girls of the area to select the most suitable from them.

When a poor old lady who had been working in the palace as Maid since several years came to know of it, she was sorry as she knew that her daughter had been concealing her love for the prince. She informed her daughter what was going on the in the palace but was surprised to note that her daughter also intended to participate in the contest.

"What are you going to do there among the richest and most beautiful girls" she asked her daughter.

" No mom, I will participate. I know that I will not be chosen but I will be pleased to be close to the Prince at least for a few moments. I know very well what my fate will be"

On the day of the contest , beautiful girls wearing elegant costumes and precious ornaments gathered in the palace. Surrounded by his courtiers , the Prince arrived and announced " I will give each of you a seed, who ever brings me the most beautiful flower after six months will be the next Empress."

The daughter of the old lady also took the seed, returned home and planted it in a flower pot . Though she was not proficient in farming, she took care of the soil with a lot patience and care as she believed that if the plant grew as much as her love for the prince, she did not need to worry about the result. Three months passed but the seed did not germinate. Though she tried various ways and employed different methods after consulting the farmers, her efforts were in vain. The days passed, her hopes dashed and her aspirations dissipated but her for love for the prince remained glowing.

Six months elapsed and nothing grew in her flower pot . Though she knew that she had nothing to present to the Prince she was fully aware of her sincere efforts .She told her mother that she would go to the palace on the date and time set for the selection . She knew that it was her last chance to see her lover and did not want loose it however hard it might be.

On the final selection date , she went to the palace with her flowerpot which had no plant or flower in it. She saw all the other girls carrying beautiful flowers and it was difficult to decide which one was more beautiful than the other. The prince entered and looked at the competing girls with much attention and care. After passing by all of them, she pointed to the daughter of his maid and announced that she would be the next empress. The other girls protested saying that the prince had chosen a girl who did not plant any thing. Then the prince told them " She is the only one who has planted the seed and is thus entitled to be the next empress because the seeds I had given all of you were sterile and can never germinate or grow".

It is while reading such stories that a common man like me feels relieved. When some TV channels exposes corruption though sting operations and the culprits are caught red-handed the common man rejoices . “ What will you gain from being honest ” some one may ask. Let us suppose that your boss asks you to telephone some one and you forgets to do so. He follows up and you tell him the truth of the matter .He may be angry at you and accuse you of being careless or even negligent . If you had instead lied to him saying that person’s telephone was busy, he would be happy and would only ask you to call him again. Here he is in fact appreciating the lie you have told him and reprimanding you for telling the truth. I know two shops in Doha adjacent to each other selling the same merchandise. One of these shop owners lies to his customers and sell counterfeited goods whereas the other one is honest in his dealings and sells only genuine articles . The outcome is that the former has amassed a lot of wealth where as the latter is still trying hard to make both ends meet.

I have seen elders in my village classifying those working in Gulf countries to evaluate who is successful and who is not. They judge people based on the money the person has amassed regardless of the ways and means they employed in this respect whether it is through smuggling or drug or human trafficking or some other illegal channels which has no effect on the reputation the person enjoys in the society. Those classified as “ the most successful” seem to command more respect than the persons who use legitimate methods to earn money but remain less wealthy or even impoverished. They comment about those financially unfortunate ones saying “they are wasting their time  and are in no way better than those who remain jobless”.

Does it mean that are the values such as truthfulness, selflessness, sacrifice, altruism disappearing slowly from the society ? When the world shrank into a small village and people around the globe came closer to one another we should have been more happy but we still feel that something is missing. Are we trampling mercilessly on human values and principles using the iron boot of globalization and liberalization?



By the father





Monday 7 May 2012

When his corpse returns home


“You may forget those you have laughed with , but not those you have wept with” Gibran Khalil Gibran.


The other day a Pakistani colleague of mine, died of cardiac arrest. He had recently returned to Doha after spending his annual vacation with his family in Pakistan. His frozen body kept in the morgue is scheduled to be flown to his home country for burial after a few hours accompanied by his son who is working in Doha. I tried to imagine the feelings of his son in his twenties who is destined to take the refrigerated dead body of his father home and visualize the situation when his beloved mom "meets" with her dead husband.

The scholar who led his funeral prayer held a few hours ago in the court yard of the hospital reminded the participants that what has happened to the person they are praying for is going to happen to all of them whether it be after a few minutes or hours or months or years and asked them to get ready for that well equipped with righteous deeds. Another group of Keralites was seen there preparing for the funeral prayer of a young Keralite Muslim who died of the same cause.

Last year a relative of my son in law living in Doha found her husband lying unconscious in their living room early in the morning. When his friends took him to the hospital he was found dead .They, however, kept the matter confidential for obvious reasons and told his wife that he was just admitted to the Intensive Care Unit. When we visited her house after about twelve hours from the incident a number of people had gathered in her house. None of them had the courage to disclose the matter to her. Their kids were running here and there and playing while visitors were watching them being at a loss what to tell them. She was speaking to them as if no tragedy had occurred . Some of the visitors questioned the logic behind keeping her away the fact of the matter. But they were told that the intension was not to shock her as they wanted her to be aware of it gradually. By the time she was informed of the matter, she had already smelled a rat. It was on the day when his dead body was released from the hospital to be flown home . In lieu of returning home happily with her husband and two toddlers, she had to accompany the dead body of her husband home and even console her mother in law who was still alive.

During the past three decades of my expatriate life in Doha, I had witnessed several such cases in Doha including deaths due to traffic accidents. Death is inevitable but when one breathes his last while he is thousands of miles away from his dear and near ones , it will be more painful . Being a social animal man desires for the presence of his family members even at the time of his death though he knows that the latter can only watch them dying and can do nothing beyond being passive spectators. I remember my beloved mom who used to tell me that she wanted to die when her children were at home and how I used to scold her for speaking about her death. When she passed away in 2000, I was there in the next room though I still feel sorry that I could not be beside her at the time of her sudden death even being at home.

By the father





Thursday 3 May 2012

Matters of the heart

Love me like a flower

With nectar in thy heart

Brightness as its luster

And fragrance that ‘ll never part



Love me like a moon

With ardour in thy sight

Promise me you ‘ll come soon

To shed in my your light



Love me like a child

With glittering glance and smile

With serenity so sweet and mild

Which will guide me many a mile



Love me like song

With mirth as its music

With lyrics lulling and long

Which will make my tears magic



Love me like a rainbow

With emotions blent in thy glow

Come and pacify my sorrow

And silence my soul’s woe



If ever love be true

And if ever it can sooth

Then with ours, we’ll prove

That love is nothing but truth



By the daughter