Mad theories on history-part I

One of my driving passions remains history,especially Indian history.When I say 'Indian',I refer to that wondrous land of a thousand contradictions and as many binders.Not the red variety-those fiery folks bearing warpaint and gaily feathered headgear.Btw, those fascinate me too, especially after "The last of the Mohicans"-both the movie and the book.

Digressions apart,I sometimes feel like doing an amateur psychologist act on Indian history.Let me retrace some situations which I have analysed beyond their skin deepness.An alternative occupation as a consulting psychologist seems attractive sometimes, especially if the patients are going to be as madly endearing as Robert De Niro in Analyse this/that.

A deep breath( Swami Ramdev has made it very hep nowadays,though you look rather like an panting idiot), and here goes!!

1.Most of us would be familiar with the story where King Nanda pulls the tuft of Chanakya, and Chanakya walks off in a huff swearing eternal vengeance.We would normally interpret this underlying issue as self respect, but I suspect a strain of aesthetics somewhere.The king was supposed to be a poora pleasure seeker, and he must have found the Chanakya look unnervingly unlike the flowing locks that kings used to sport then.Again,Chanakya must have maintained the shikha as a duty more than pleasure(After all, he was aesthetically sensible enough to use Visha Kanyas in politics), and would have mentally thanked the king making him more pleasing in appearance.But then, why the training of Chandragupta and the subsequent overthrow?Well, Chanakya could not reveal his satisfaction at his improved appearance and had to undergo the entire exercise as a grand gesture!Like the length of Cleopatra's nose, the state of his hair had changed the course of history!!

2.Muhammad bin Tughlaq-God, how I love this guy!!A potent combination of genius and madness, extreme cruelty with bouts of benevolence.He was apparently skilled in logic,philosophy,mathematics,astronomy and physical sciences,medicine and to top it all, he was a calligraphist! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_bin_Tughluq.I can imagine little Muhammad Tughlaq wanting to go kite flying while papa Ghiyasuddin sternly urging him to get back to study with his Maulvi."Son,how can you imagine writing hukamnamas in this horrid writing?And how on earth will you keep track of your troops and empire if you are unable to calculate 4 badams are to be distributed among 5 kids?"I guess this would be enough to drive anybody mad, and the poor kid succumbed.Of course,he started his career in insanity with an act considered common in the middle ages-the murder of his father.Ostensibly for the throne,it was more of vengeance for the loss of precious play hours.And his tryst with madness continued,but I guess posterity has taken revenge enough on him in the play of Girish Karnad-Tughlaq!Let me quote Mark Twain here-a classic is a book people praise but don't read.

That brings me to the end of this first edition of mad historical theories.I hope to continue this series with many more capers.

Disclaimer:This piece was written in a moment of temporary insanity :)

As for the lovely play, my due apologies to Shri Karnad.I have both read his play and praised it.