After another night and his pathetic attempt to amuse two ghosts, Prashant was unusually cheerful in the morning.
He, Navin and Rajput uncle were having a meal in a local joint.
For he has succeeded in embedding in feudal social narration, his saga is now in the public theatre.
Granted, currently, his role is akin to circus owner, but it's a start.
"Uncle, do you know what this country needs?"
Prashant asked with a philosophical gaze after the meal.
"Another cup of chai (tea)?" Uncle said.
"Yes, brother, the rain has brought the temperature down. One more tea and we are all set."
Navin, an eternally quiet guy, chimed in, too.
"Shut up, you fools.
What the land needs is stability.
Uncle, take a few of the guys with you and survey the surroundings.
When you come across a river crossing, prepare to build a stone bridge and an outpost next to it.
And yes, one more chai would indeed drive away the lethargy."
"Prince, that's just your laziness.
Plus, why outpost?
Are you going to build a road and toll it?
That's adharma (unrighteous), the complete antithesis to raj-dharma (duty of ruler).
The public is already paying taxes, why do you need an additional toll?"
Prashant was feeling ashamed about how things happen in the modern world, but uncle continued.
"Yes, but if you are merely planning to collect service charges to facilitate pilgrims, then it's a divinely sanctioned duty.
Who are we, mere -well-fed, elites- mortals to doubt god's intentions?"
If they had Sir Humphrey and Bernard on the table, then the group would be complete.
Moral vacuums pretending to be administrators, who are a little too adept at milking taxpayers.
"Cough, cough.
No, uncle, you misunderstood.
We are not bringing that level of good governance just now.
What I want to do is integrate river and transportation, and social mobility much closer for the people living nearby."
"What do you mean, Prince?
We always had closer ties with rivers in the land.
Rivers are considered living beings, and river water is holy in many rituals.
Even in this cold weather, I never miss my ritual bathing at dawn.
If you decide to act like an active youth and wake up on time. You can see hundreds of people chanting shlok (verses) and symbolically offering the river water to the sun god at the start of the day in the river."
"Yes, precisely my point. And we are going to make something bigger out of it, uncle. Now humour me and tell me how kings and nobles gained legitimacy 500 years ago?"
"Oh, those were the days.
Glorious.
Dharma was the language of nobility.
We would pretend so hard to look like patrons of the arts, commission the construction of temples, and call for dharmasabha (councils of philosophical debates).
Spread stories of personal involvement in commoners' lives.
Sometimes walk incognito among citizens and try to help them in their daily struggles.
That one time, I carried an old widowed grandmother to the temple on my back.
You don't know the inner happiness I felt, so the moment I returned to the palace, I had a full 1,00,000 lines long epic written about my generosity by my court poets.
Every year, we would wage war against our neighbour. We would decide on the venue of the battlefield months in advance.
Then the preparations would start, large tents, viewing platforms for family members, facilities to treat the injured, and a large dining place where both parties would dine after the daily battle.
This would go on till one side concedes defeat, the winner takes 25% of the treasury and glory. While defeated returns to his domain and prepares for an eventual comeback.
It had everything, shaurya (valour), maryada (restraint) and above all dharma."
Rajput uncle was visibly twenty inches wider after the story. However, this may be due to eating too much a while back.
"You forgot to add entertainment to the list.
Complete IPL, Indian Paurushya League on the inside.
But call it simmolanghan (ritual transgression of borders) on the cover page.
But what happened after the invaders came in since the 1200s?"
Uncle visibly got serious,
"Well, they were strong martial people, I won't deny.
After all, we Rajputs spend our entire lives on nothing but knowledge of martial mastery. We can see skill beneath all the brutality.
But they were a little too focused on killing, looting, and humiliating the defeated. We, too, had many brutal wars before they entered, but our tradition demands that victors should understand that such bloodshed brings remorse, not glory.
The Mahabharata clearly told us that even a just war will have its victors lose many things.
But the Turks and others were like weasels, or better yet, hunters.
They would come in quickly and fight in a way that cares for nothing but the result.
We too won a few times, but we would follow our rules and release prisoners, let them retreat or accept truce agreements.
But they would quickly strike back, disregarding everything.
It took nearly 200 years till we realised, maybe, just maybe, our rules are not needed in this dark world.
Why do you open old wounds, my prince?"
"Forgive me, wise warrior, I do not bring malice.
I don't know the exact timeline right now.
But even if it is the tail end of the 1500's the roar of Rana Sangha still would be echoing across the land.
The Rajputs learned their lessons and adopted the same mounted warfare strategy that the Turks did. Arranged even larger coalitions against the invaders in a bid to drive them off.
Rana Sangha and his allies gathered a large, strong, expeditionary force to Delhi so entire northern India might still go back to the Dharmic age.
But fate is a fickle thing.
Mughals came just as Rajputs were on the rise.
They were better organised, had strong ties with the nomadic world, and winds of luck simply blew their way.
After another defeat, the Rajputs again returned to their homeland.
But the largest strike on their lifestyle was yet to come. The great Mughal emperor Akbar.
He was an exceptionally charismatic ruler and co-opted many Rajputs into his rule. He was extremely tolerant of Indian traditions and was interested in philosophical debates without bringing his faith to the table.
Most of all, India was on the cusp of wealth never seen since Roman times. Money flooded in, and Mughals, now masters of northern India, used it to fund new architectural wonders. Palaces, mausoleums, gardens, entire cities.
The performative dharmic legitimacy was replaced by these grand structures, reminding everyone that yes, now, truly after millennia, the rules of statecraft have changed.
With the wealth, Mughals had even larger and professional armies, a network of alliances, brilliant courtiers and grand palaces."
Prashant got into a trance-like state, and everyone around became silent.
Maybe for them, it's just another storyteller, a wise man teaching the meaning of dharma or a drunk madman rambling.
He continued,
"So after that, it seemed like Rajputs lost the very right to be seen as dharmraj (king under the dharmic framework).
But as times changed, so did the definition of dharma. And so a Maharana was born to the same family as Rana Sangha.
The young king lost his capital, had to live in exile, and ate grass to survive. But he continued the fight, in battle with the mighty Mughal army, and he lost.
But even in defeat, he gained immortality in the memory of the land.
He became a dharmarakshak (protector), a righteous rebel in modern slang.
So from then on, the country saw many such great (Maha-) rebels, from Maharana to Maharaj to Mahatma.
All stood against the system to protect the oppressed commoners.
And in turn, the land gave them glory far surpassing their vanquishers.
Uncle, do you remember the line god Krishna used to signal that even in changing times, dharma will find its new expression?"
"Elder brother, let me do it, I've been sitting here without any input for so long. The line goes like this.
Yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati bharata..."
"Wait, Navin, we all got the gist.
Sanskrit is too tough for us.
Again, Chanakya background music is missing to complete the feel.
Now, enough of a flashback.
Uncle, what I want to say is definition of Dharma is about to change.
I'll propose building dams and canals as the new dharma in this age.
So everyone who wants to achieve legitimacy will also repeat my actions.
By their inherent nature, these water-related infrastructures favour a centralised government.
We will advertise that the goddess commanded to rejuvenate all the ancient rivers in India and that the new dharma-yug (era) is upon us.
But beneath all that, we are quietly preparing for a centralised state."
"Brilliant Prince.
You truly are suited for this politician's role.
Scamming the entire country?
Wah, not even I could imagine such a vile scheme
... Cough cough...
I mean, truly, the goddess communicates with you and has delivered an oracle.
We're merely following her orders."
Prashant was deflated with a half-shame.
Navin was smiling sagely as if watching a few children play in the mud.
Uncle was visibly thrilled to have another chance to pretend to be a hero.
But a sonorous chuckle broke the atmosphere.
"Oh, my brilliant Prince. It's monsoon season.
It's raining everywhere, you can't undertake any massive work for the next 4 months." Chandramukhi stood next to Prashant.
He obediently vacated the central seat and sat next to Navin.
"Thanks, sister, I really needed someone to humble my face on a most public occasion just after delivering a civilisation-wide snapshot of the entire destiny of a country."
"Don't mention it, it's my pleasure. So what are you going to do? Wait till the weather clears?"
"Na, people can't wait.
Besides spending thrice the budget on the same project, building, demolishing, and rebuilding is not a new thing for me.
Instead, according to your suggestion, we'll build a plank bridge for temporary use.
Plus, erect shelters at every kilometre, radiating in circles outside the city to protect people from rain.
I'll discuss with the temple elders to celebrate a once-in-a-century auspicious event that nobody knew.
I'll sponsor everything, provide elephants for festivities and start a new annual pilgrimage tradition from now on."
"A. It was all your idea, don't credit me for the small chance that everything becomes a mess. And you'll push the blame onto me.
B. It's a reasonably good idea. You should have the honour to plan and implement it. Go to the local carpenter guild and negotiate the deal." Chandramukhi caught the loophole and exposed it on the spot.
"Brother, I have few contacts. You can go there tomorrow." Navin offered help.
"Wah, Navin, you have friends in all places.
It comes in handy to be a local." Prashant was not stingy in offering praise when it didn't cost him anything.
"Na, brother.
I'm from Gujarat, came here temporarily to help out with the business of this town's branch.
Anyway, I'll go and make preparations." Navin left with a polite remark.
"A Gujrathi, I wonder from where?
Remember, uncle, those guys have extremely sharp wit and wealth to match.
Next time you see him, call him brother."
Chandramuki interrupted uncharacteristically,
"I know exactly where he's from. It will be a surprise for you."
Prashant didn't pay attention, and the boyz - one adult child and one uncle child walked out for their grand adventure.