E.R. RAMACHANDRAN writes: Now that the election results are out and the dust has somewhat settled, analysts and psephologists who had got it all wrong with their analyses and predictions are standing upside down and scratching their heads to read the real meaning.
It isn’t different in our home either.
After Ajji does her daily puje to the Tulasi katte, it is her usual practice to sit quietly in the open yard while I read the morning newspapers. This is the moment when she usually chews on what she has seen on Udaya TV and read in Praja Vani the night before.
“Ramu, this election just resembles Mahabharata in every respect,” she started.
I was surprised and taken aback by the comparison.
“Ajji, I don’t know how you can compare this to Mahabharata… Although there was lot of shrill verbiage, they didn’t come down to fisticuffs. Even Naveen Chawla and N. Gopalaswami shook hands at the transfer of power in Election Commission. There was no mara-mari.”
“Illa kano Ramu… I think this was a war between Pandavas and Kauravas. Pandavas had only five people and their mother Kunthi. Manmohan Singh, Chidambaram, Rahul Gandhi, Kapil Sibal and Kamal Nath shepherded by Sonia were all what they had. Krishna came on the scene, as always, at the right time.”
Has Ajji lost it, I wondered?
Has she entered the first lanes of Alzheimer‘s?
“Ha, ha! And who were on the side of the Kauravas?” I asked nonethelesss.
“There were hundreds of them I can’t remember them all. There was Advani like Bhishma, Murli Manohar Joshi as Kripacharya and Jaswant Singh as Drona. Jaitely, the upright Karna, was emotional as always. But their Duryodhana—Varun Gandhi—made a series of blunders. Azam Khan was their Dhusyasana making obscene remarks at Draupadi, Jaya Prada. Behenji Mayawati was their lone sister, Dhusyale. Kauravas paid the ultimate price for their ahankara, over-confidence and lack of unity.”
Ajji had mastered all the names in just two months as Lalit Modi probably had in South Africa for IPL-2.
“Ajji, you have got Mahabharatha all mixed up, but ninna story sakatthagide. What will happen in the future?”
“Pandavas will not exactly roll around on a bed of roses. For one thing, they should not have made peace with Dhrutharashtra. His sons and daughters will always be greedy putting their family’s interest before that of the country’s. No doubt, Krishna will protect Dharmaraya from external forces. Arjuna and Kunthi, along with Bhima, Chidambaram, will protect Bharathavarsha from all internal strife. Still, there will be pinpricks from Dhrutharashtra every now and then.”
“Ajji! I think you are making up your own Mahabharatha now! But it is beginning to make some sense. Any predictions?”
“After some time Arjuna will take over from Yudhistira who will take to vanavasa. He will also groom Abhimanyu–Sachin Pilot—his trusted lieutenant, to take up some responsible position.”
“What will happen to Krishna?”
“Ayyo, Krishna will ensure there is no trouble to Manamohana Rajya from our neighbours. But ultimately due to Yadavi kalaha in his home-State he will be ousted. His own people will prove to be his nemesis.”
“What will happen to Dhruthrashtra?”
“When Arjuna takes over, he will have a bigger headache as Dhrutharashtra’s great-great-grand childern, children of each of the present ministers and their wives (and husbands), will demand their pound of flesh, i.e. cabinet posts which will number more than 20. Kauravas would have also strengthened their positions through treaties with lesser known chieftains and ruffians. Without Krishna, external forces would also be emboldened to have a go at Pandavas. India will thus face threats both internal and external.”
Ajji was narrating the story like Alfred Hitchcock; rather like Nostradamus. The suspense was killing me.
“What will happen after that, Ajji? Tell me.”
“I don’t know. Thank god! I won’t be there to witness all that,” concluded Ajji.
Tags: Alfred Hitchcock, Arun Jaitely, Churumuri, Draupadi, IPL-2, Jaswant Singh, Jaya Prada, Kamal Nath, Kapil Sibal, L.K. Advani, Lalit Modi, Manmohan Singh, Mayawati, Murli Manohar Joshi, N. Gopalaswami, Naveen Chawla, Nostradamus, P. Chidambaram, Rahul Gandhi, Sachin Pilot, Sans Serif, Sonia Gandhi, Varun Gandhi, Yudishtira
27 May 2009 at 11:34 am
Weather it will happen that way or not but a superb one both in imagination and flow of the story
27 May 2009 at 11:57 am
Draupadi is also with Kauravas, is a bit disheartening. :-).
27 May 2009 at 3:25 pm
NDTV as Shakuni!
28 May 2009 at 1:24 am
Excellent post. The comparisons are a wonderful work of imagination. But let us hope that Bharatvarsha triumphs.
28 May 2009 at 1:54 am
Ajji seems to have forgotten to mention Shakuni aka mannina maga(Deve Gowda).
28 May 2009 at 3:04 pm
beautiful!
28 May 2009 at 5:56 pm
What a foolish comparison . If anything it was the Congress which was in power that were the Kauravas with their hundreds of chamchas. It was the BJP that had only five people–Advani (Yudhisthir) , Modi (Bhim) Rajnath (Arjun), Jaswant (Nakul), Joshi (Sahdev). Varun is like Karan– cheated by his own family and championed by their enemies.
Navin Chawla was Shakuni Mama who rigged the elections for the Kauravas.
The electorate has proved to be Dhritarashtra — blind.
28 May 2009 at 8:33 pm
Modi is more like the rakshasa who had killed thousands and wanted more. He was rendered into a shikandi by the electorate.
I meant Narendra the RSS cheddi posters hero, not Lalit the cricket honcho.
28 May 2009 at 9:53 pm
hey thanks so much for writing this.. it’d been a long time having listened to something like this! miss my grandpa in these stuff..
back home the winner of the game used to be called pandavas and the loosers the kauravas!!
al of us grandkids were ‘bidirinba gombegalu’ in tata’s mahabharata every summer holidays;-) for some it was more political.., but for me it was something blast from the past!! thanks once again
29 May 2009 at 2:36 am
Very nice ERR. It is not Mahabharata but Maha Bharata -da Kathe (Great Indian Novel) :)
Ironically the author of The Great Indian Novel – Shashi Tharoor himself has been elected to the Lok Sabha this time.
31 May 2009 at 10:33 am
This election was more like Yhird Battle of Panipat.
BJP-Marathas with no allies, sure of victory in the belief of the manpower at their disposal and the new long range french artillery.
and the shock in defeat is as disbeliving as it was at that time.
Finally no victor in this result, as for both it will be last hurray. Congress will now find more more isolated by the its sheer attitude at first, and then the hatred of congress by regional parties, including Communists.