Image source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ruins_is_the_new_beautiful.jpg
The vast expanse of a once-dominant kingdom lay in ruins. Broken visages and burnt palaces remain as the only monuments of a brilliant civilization. King Vikram was however far away in the overgrown jungles. He was not alone. He was not with a human. On his shoulders, the vampire hung upside down. He needed to bring the vampire to the seer to rebuild his empire. The radiant light of the full moon tried to squeeze through the canopy of the forest, illuminating the gravel path possibly treaded by travelers past. Oh, what a story those travelers could tell. The glory of Ujjain and King Vikram had spread far and wide. People came from all over the world by land and sea to witness the miracle of wealth and prosperity, health, and happiness. But all good things must come to an end and so it did.
It takes ages to build up humanity and it takes just a few years to tear it all down.
The vampire laughed. “Oh, King Vikram. You were noble and yet could not stop the decay of your domain, the decadence hidden from your eyes, maybe because you were perched far too high in your tower. And now you want to rebuild. Are you worthy?”
“I am fully aware of my follies Vampire. I was blind but no more.”
The vampire laughed again. “Let me be the judge of that King. How about we spend the time in stories while you bear your burden?.”
“Do I have a choice?”
“We always have a choice, King. Did you not have a choice in coming here in the first place?”
King Vikram remained silent.
“The disease came from the sea, there was not much I could do and then the storms, the fire, and the floods….
The vampire laughed interrupting the king. “You and your subjects were sick long before the wrath of nature King Vikram. You were too blind to see the decay, you were deaf to the din of the daily cries for help, your voice of reason too weak to rise against those who were against reason”.
“What is your story, vampire. Get on with it” said a weary Vikram.
The world moves in the direction of the collective choices humans make O King. You were the chosen one a hundred years ago and your choices in these hundred years have brought you here in front of me, a creature living between the land of the living and the dead. So let me tell you the story of your choices. With that, the vampire began.
The expanse of the oceans was filled with large ships laden with riches. Riches destined for Ujjain, the land of King Vikram. A land where anything was possible. The land and its riches grew, begetting more land through marriage and conquests. The traders brought in the treasures, learners flocked the universities, artists created exquisite works of music and dance and the fertile land and its rivers produced food in abundance. Philosophers peered into the stars and postulated the sacred. Everyone was equal and no one more important than another.
The King wanted to make this even better for his people. His social spies brought stories of idle people living off the diligent. His military spies informed him of the barbarians from a far off land who had no culture. He had to do something. He summoned his minister.
“How can we make the lives of our people better? Can we double our trade and add to our wealth? Don’t my people deserve more? Wouldn’t more wealth build a natural defense allowing us to build more weapons? Shouldn’t everyone be working hard?.”
“All actions have consequences, King. We have to tread carefully. The citizens are happy, why change?” said the Minister.
“The King must prepare for tomorrow. I know everything is great right now. But we have had issues with flooding and we have lost some crops. Our traders complain that they work hard to fill our coffers and don’t reap the rewards equally. The farmers are idle and live off the traders through our equal share law. We have kept our citizens all equal but I think we should let the traders keep more of their money.”
“O, King. We have had a peaceful and prosperous decade and no one goes hungry. Is it the farmer's fault that the rains failed?”
“It is not their fault but it also is not fair to compensate them the same as the traders when the work is not the same. The traders work harder than the farmers now”
“O King the man who pulls up the rock to build your palace or the warrior who wears his shields and spears works several hours more than you. So should you receive less than your laborers? “
The King looked annoyed. “I am the King and I am not subject to those comparisons.”
There was a moment of awkward silence.
“What do you propose, O King”, the minister asked wearily.
“I am going to decree that we will allocate twice as much to the traders.”
“Who is going to take less?
“The farmers of course and I am going to reward farmers who do well more than others”
And so it went. The King made the decree and soon enough trade increased. Many farmers wanted to become traders. The coffers overflowed. Farmers found a way to do more with less. New inventions followed, trees were cut, rivers diverted and lakes covered to produce more and more food. More children were born and more cities built. And so it went.
The King wanted to survey his vast lands and see how his citizens were doing. He called his social spies to his new tower. The social spies brought back news of citizens in mental agony, a sense of doing one better than the neighbor had pervaded the land. Some had taken to the forest and resigned from civilization, some had to work hard on their fields to climb the ladder. Many went hungry and the farms were increasingly owned by the rich and leased to less productive farmers. Traders aligned with the rich farmers and had controlled prices. The spies conveyed a sense of unease.
And so the King summoned his minister again.
“I am disturbed that my subjects have no leisure and they are going mad. Everyone is running at full speed. We need to do something minister”
“O King I warned you that change can have unintended consequences”
“I can be in front of change or behind it minister. It comes whether we like it or not. I must dispense justice and I cannot wait and do nothing. Let us address this situation proactively now”
“What gives peace to people O King? This rat race you created has to be contained. In the distant land of snow-capped mountains, citizens spend time chanting and singing in front of a large stone. Maybe we need chanting places for people to destress?”
“What a great idea minister!”
With that, he called his general and duly dispatched him to the snow mountains to learn more about the chanters and their religion.
In due time, the King decreed that people could congregate in temples and sing and dance and pray to the large stone.
Time passed and a sense of normalcy seemed to have set in. More cities and more people filled his vast lands. His ever expanding court was filled with people singing in praise of new Gods. What started with a block of stone was now stone carvings in the shape of various wonderful humans. Some sung in praise of the Blue God and some the Red God. Some were still skeptical of all this and called themselves Nogods. New philosophies cropped up, intellectuals debated the morals of man and the path to another world. The mosaic of men and women formed and shaped by new religions and philosophies coexisted forming a composite fabric of patchwork cloth, enriched by ever increasing wealth. Everyone seemed happy with their own doing. Art and architecture flourished with new temples appearing everywhere. Tall towers paid homage to the high priests of each God. Songs and scriptures flooded the country filling its citizens with a new state of euphoria. Even the King aligned with the Gods but was careful not to pick his favorites.
He expanded his empire with new conquests. He crossed the seas and mountains. He vanquished his enemies with his new weapons and brought back people from the new lands. The new people looked different and worshipped other Gods. They were put to work in the fields or in houses of the rich.
His coffers were now ten times what it was three decades ago. The vast kingdom was now filled with people and purpose. He no longer could rely on social spies and had layers of messengers who brought him good news. His palaces grew bigger and his advisors grew smaller. All was well, the King thought, surveying his land from atop his tower, the ground barely visible from his lofty heights.
One day his minister approached him. “O King, it is time we summoned our social spies to know what is happening around the country”
The King having forgotten about the social spies perked up.
“Why minister? Our messengers convey happiness all around. And the social spies have been informing the messengers. Is there something wrong?”
“O, King. You have gone so far away from your subjects. Layers and layers of people may filter news to your liking. We should get direct information from the social spies, it has been a while now”
The King summoned his social spies from all over the country to a special palace built for this purpose deep in the jungles.
One by one the spies assembled. The King was careful to keep the gathering to a few of his trusted ministers.
“O, King. My salutations. I am here from the Southland. I don't have good news, your highness. The Red people and Blue people are killing each other. We have lost thousands and thousands in a civil war”
“Wait - what Red people and Blue people?” asked the King.
The spy was taken aback at the question. “Why, it is the people who worship the Red God and the people who worship the Blue God”
“Why would they kill each other?”
“O King, the Red people think the ways of the Blue people are causing moral decay. The Blue people think that the Red people are stuck in the past and not adapting to change.”
“But what does this have to do with Gods”
“Nothing O King. But it is their identity”
“Identity? They are citizens of this country.”
“O, King. They are Red first or Blue first. They worship their Gods over you the King and that is the truth”
The King was stunned. A project he had started to bring mental peace has now decayed into dissension and death. He was not sure what hurt him more, his subjects dismantling his superiority in favor of Gods or the fact the very project to initiate peace has caused so much destruction. All this while he had been kept in the dark.
“I am disappointed in the South. What is my commander of the South doing to address all this? “
“He is aligned with the Red people and has let the violence happen.”
“I am disgusted. I will summon him and have his head.”
Let us move on to the North.
The northern social spy stood up and addressed the court.
“O, King. We have Red, Blue, Green, and Yellow people now.”
“Where did the Yellow and Green people come from?”
“They were brought from the countries you conquered, O King.”
“Why are you calling them Yellow and Green people, they are now our people?”
“The northern commander felt that the Yellow people looked different and some of the rich traders and priests did not want to co-mingle with them. They did not want their daughters to marry into the Yellow people. Priests don’t want the Yellow people in temples. So they all lobbied to label them and keep them separate”
The King stood up in rage. “What is going on?”
“O, King. The Yellow people live outside the city boundaries and are not allowed into the Red and Blue temples or allowed to trade. They can work in the fields and houses. But they have no freedom. They serve their Red and Blue masters. But overall the North is doing great and we have brought in twice as much to the coffers as last year. “
The King felt somewhat relieved. Maybe the Yellow people were not really his subjects. Should he intervene?
“What do you think minister?” he asked unaware of the line between his inner thoughts and outer voice.
“What do I think about what O King?”
“I was thinking we should probably keep the Yellow people separate. The coffers seem to be growing and people are happy in the North it appears. Why change anything?”
The minister wanted to point out the contradiction of change and the King’s earlier dictate on being in front of change.
He decided against it.
“As you wish O King”
The inaction of those who have a voice can be far more dangerous than the action of those who have a vice.
“Is there any violence?” the King asked.
“There is some tension between the Red/Blue and Green people. Looks like the Green people, who brought their own Gods from their land, are trying to convert the Red/Blue people to Green and there is some violence because the Green people smashed the Red people's Gods and built a stone over their temple. The Red people are angry. We issued a tolerance mandate and gave the Green people a minority status and also gave them special posts. Red and Blue are a majority and the commander feels they will be fine as long as the money flows in”
“I feel bad for the Yellow people with no freedom. They are humans too. But the North is doing very well and there is no major violence and killing, unlike the South. I am not worried about the Green people - they are a minority and they have been given special rights so they won’t fight. So I will let it remain as it is. Congratulate the commander.”
The King listened to several spies from various regions narrate tales of their territories. As the sun started going down, the weary King announced he had heard enough and retired to his chambers.
The gentle crescent light of the half-moon bathed the stone verandah of the makeshift palace as the King lay in his bed disturbed by what he had heard. He was surrounded by his faithful ministers.
He looked at the fading moon and said: “Is decay inevitable?”
His ministers looked at each other puzzled.
“The moon. It decays and grows back. Is our land destined for such a change? Is that the law of nature?”
“O, King. Change has happened. Only time will tell if this is good or bad.”
“How did my good intentions lead to a bloodbath between the Red and Blue people? How did my subjects end up dividing themselves? Did I not provide them all they needed? Did I not do my duty ?”
“O, King. You threw a pebble in the stillness of peace. The pebble will cause ripples.”
“I suppose that if I did not throw the pebble, someone else could have. After all, the pebble was there?” said the King comforting himself on the inevitability of it all.
Soon the King and his ministers returned home. The challenge has been met at least for now. The South was a problem. The commander was summoned and executed. The King decided that the South should be fixed with an iron hand. He picked a general who could make strong decisions and assigned him the South. His job done, he retired back into his white palace. Years passed and his messengers came back with stories of glory. The coffers filled even more.
And yet the King was disturbed. He summoned his minister.
“Is it time to convene our social spies again?”
“It may be too late, O King. You have not spoken about this in ages.”
“I was busy,” said the embarrassed King and “Why is it that you did not come to me to talk about it on your own?”
The minister bowed his head. “I have been talking to them”
“That is your job for sure. But you never gave me an update?”
“I wanted to handle it and not unduly worry your majesty”
“In any case, we ride to the jungle in a week. Ask the spies to assemble”
“O, King. The spies are not the same”
“What do you mean?”
“O, King. The spies are dismantled. In your absence, someone had to throw in the pebble? The changes you initiated were causing a disaster and I had to intervene”
The King was furious.
“What did you do?”
The minister sat down and sighed.
“O, King! You were right. Equality is not a virtue. Our coffers exploded when you made the change. Yes, there was unhappiness but we created the Gods and all was good until there was war. So we needed change. We needed authority from a new commander. And you dispatched an autocrat”
“What did you do now minister?”
“Dividing people has helped expand our empire and our wealth O King. I divided people by their occupation and separated them into classes. With specialization, our wealth is growing at a pace never seen before”
The King was curious and concerned at the same time.
“What is the price we paid for this division minister”
The minister bowed. “We have millions of hungry and homeless. People are divided by Red Blue, Green, Yellow, and Orange. But the priests are producing science and discoveries never seen before, the merchants are innovating with new toys and trinkets and the people now have a hope to become happy climbing the ladder we created. Isn’t that progress? Even the poor and hungry citizens have hope to move up in life to become like the rich O, King, and hope drives wealth. O, King you have a choice of equality, or wealth and progress. You cannot have both“
The King sat down heavily. He had a choice to make. Never before in his kingdom have people felt hunger. Never before had his Kingdom seen so much wealth.
The Vampire stopped the story abruptly.
“O, King. What was your choice?”
“We make choices based on what we know at a point in time.”
“Did you know everything that was needed to know before making your choice O King?”
King Vikram hesitated. The vampire felt heavier.
“My intent was to provide the best I could for as many as I could. The wealth was pouring in and why arrest it with change? After all, anyone could become wealthy? Division and war are in human nature but we moved in the right direction.“
The vampire laughed.
“You wouldn’t be here carrying me if you had made the right choices O King.”
Suddenly the King felt his shoulders light. The Vampire was hovering in the air off from his shoulders.
“You think change was inevitable and you had no part in it?” asked the vampire.
“I made my decisions given the circumstances.”
“And yet you are here driven to desperation. Why do humans need leaders O King? To create wealth? A King exists to provide justice for his subjects. All his subjects. Change is inevitable O King. But change must unite not divide. Division ends in decay, in decadence….”
“What do you know about humans you wretched creature”, shouted the king. Do you know how lonely it is to lead humans? I ruled vast lands and there was peace but I knew uncivilized humans from other lands waited to pounce. Hence I made a change - wealth is powerful, it has incentives to drive humans to do things never done before. Yes I divided my own people, for it is in division that progress happens. We humans need a purpose and that purpose is what I gave them through God, a renewed purpose with wealth to move up life’s ladder with hope. Is there collateral damage? Yes. But what is the alternative? To live and love in stasis and let barbarians attack us and lose all that we built in peace? You hover in your cocooned space safely ensconced in an undead unliving world. Our lives require choices. I made them and I will live with them.”
The moon had disappeared beneath the clouds. The air was still. The silence of the nighttime jungle was broken by the now vanishing vampire.
“You came to me to rebuild and relearn. You speak to justify your actions. Find me again O, King for I was not looking for an answer. You carry a heavy burden, a lonely burden. You don’t need one more on your shoulders. Come to me when you are free. ”
The vampire was gone, back to its perch. King Vikram started his long trudge back to reclaim the vampire one more time.