Advocate
Ansari : Professor! The mildest term that I could command,
to depict your behaviour at that lunch, is barbaric.
I was simply astounded.... You who used always to respect
the feelings of others.... the moment my chief guest
entered and saluted all of us..... dashed out of the
parlour.... It was an insult .... none would have expected
it from men of your stature .... and....
Prof. Pandu : Apart from this outburst, Mr.Ansari, did
you ponder at all over the possible reasons for my behaviour
that day. I admit that to dash away from a company is
disgusting... yes, an insult. But why did I do it ...
Sir! Why...?
Doctor Damu : I know this much Professor! Only the strongest
of reasons ought to have prompted you to act in that
unusual way....
Prof. Pandu : Let us cater the word that would please
our friend, Mr.Ansari ... my attitude was barbaric...
I do not deny that ... but should we not find out why
one known for his civility, gentility and sobriety,
suddenly becomes savage....
Advocate Ansari : It is for you to explain, Professor!
I know that you are capable of explaining away anything
... an adept I should say....
Prof. Pandu : Sir! That chief guest of yours is a turn-coat...
one without stable views ... unprincipled ... unreliable....
and above all, Sir! he has expressed contemptuous opinion
about our club itself.... I did not want to be in his
company .... for getting the insults he heaped upon
our club itself.
Doctor Damu : But professor! To leave the lunch table....
that is too much, is it not....
Prof. Pandu : No, Sir! No! There are historical precedents
for that. When one finds anybody become insulting, one
has got a moral right to walkout, in protest. When at
a banquet President Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia had said
some rude words about the British attitude in Rhodesia,
the British embassy official walked out in protest.
Our own embassy official, on finding Chou-en-lai pouring
forth vituperation on our leaders, had to walk out in
protest. Many such instances go to show, that walkout
under such circumstances is the most normal, legitimate
and Parliamentary form of protest. Sir! What I did the
other day was not only justifiable but it was a moral
right.
Advocate Ansari : Anything can be justified, Professor,
by subtle arguments .... enticing explanations....
Prof. Pandu : Sir! I did what my conscience dictated
me to do....
Doctor Damu : Leaving that aside, Professor, may I ask
you to state, what did this particular gentleman, do?
Prof. Pandu : That is an intelligent interrogation Doctor!
And I am glad that instead of fretting and foaming,
you are raising up a pertinent question. This man....
I hesitate to term his as a gentleman since made insulting
references about our club... He Sir, termed us as cronies,
who meet every week to wobble nonsense.
Doctor Damu : Did he say so.... about us ....? Cronies...
is an ugly word .... it is clearly an insult....
Prof. Pandu : And I wanted him to realise that we will
not take and munch his insults. I wanted to register
my protest ... hence the walkout.... It was neither
born out of barbarity nor was it meaningless. It was
done with a purpose deliberately... and what is more
he realised it ... the signinficance of my walkout.
Advocate Ansari : Your explanation, Professor? is not
to be treated lightly. But you could have advised me
and prevented the lunch arrangement itself.
Prof. Pandu : Sir! I realise that it is my duty to guide
you when you make a mess of things.... but unfortunately
I was not at all aware of your grandiose plan of a lunch
.... I do not still know what prompted you to arrange
for this lunch....
Advocate Ansari : Professor! He was introduced to me
by some prominent men as an advocate of human rights....
a president or secretary of some International organisation...
Doctor Damu : And you thought that by arranging a lunch,
you will get a pass-port for some of the International
Conferences... a trip to Ottawa or Toronto, Brussells
or Bonu...
Advocate Ansari : No, Doctor, certainly not. It was
not because of any such idea that I arranged that lunch....
through I remember right now, that man did make a mention
about a Seminar to be held at Geneva or some other place
... I do realise Professor, that I was wrong.
Doctor Damu : We should be beware of talks about International
Seminars or Organisations....
Prof. pandu : But, not about genuine attempts Doctor.
We should not ignore internationalism. Can't afford
to ... But the most common attitude towards international
affairs is apathy when the machine works and a sort
of political dyspepsia when it does not.
Advocate Ansari : That is of course true ... one should
study the problems of various countries, their history
and the like...
Prof. Pandu : The object is good, desirable, necessary....
but Mr.Ansari we should realise that International politics
is not the study of many seperate countries, but the
study of the relations between them.
Advocate Ansari : But Professor! One country will respect
another country only when that particular country contributes
something substantial for the common good of the world
as a whole...
Prof. Pandu : I understand what you are hinting at ...
somebody said that a country with the begging bowl in
its hand cannot command the respect of others... true.
But the time has come when affluent nations should realise
that their duty is to share their prosperity with others;
not to dominate over others. The days of building up
domains are gone - gone for ever. This is an age when
only the kingdom of goodwill will be lasting - not any
other form of kingdom.
Advocate Ansari : Emperors and Military Commanders have
no place in the present set up...They had had their
day .... ages ago, not now.
Prof. Pandu : Even at that age, Mr.Advocate, all was
not rosy for these mighty monarchs, If you go through
an admirable book entitled "Power and morality",
written by Sorokin and Lunden you will get a correct
picture about these monarchs.
Doctor Damu : Did not the masses believe in the theory
of the Divine Right of kings - for a long long time
....
Prof. Pandu : They did. The monarchs themselves had
immense confidence in that theory. As a matter of fact
the Stuart Kings, especially Chares I of England went
to the scaffold to maintain his conviction about this
Divine Right.
Advocate Ansari : It is amazing to find people really
believing that kings were the representatives of God....
Prof. Pandu : Not only the representatives of God, but
as God himself... Why there are enough evidence in history
to show that. And this belief was cultivated and maintained
very studiously and I may say, cunningly. In past empires
- the Egyptian, Babylonic, Sumeric, Iranic, Hittite,
early Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Arabic, and others, the
might of the monarchies were based upon the ignorance
of the people who believed that these monarch had super-human
powers. They were deified - and worshipped by narrating
to the people a hundred stories poems and epics. Songs
and hymns, operas and festivals were there in plenty
to strengthen this belief.
Doctor Damu : The accepted term was that the king can
do no wrong. It is stated that Jesus Christ himself
asked the people, to "Pay unto Ceasar what is Ceasar's
and pay unto God what is God's.
Prof. Pandu : The idea of Divine Right of kings was
first pressed into service by these Monarchs. And when
they found bolder spirits questioning the logic of the
idea, these monarchs ruthlessly annihilated all such
thoughts. Brute force was let loose.
Advocate Ansari : True. It was a period when the people
were not aware of their of their inherent rights....!
They were not bold and courageous enough to stand up
and demand their basic rights.
Prof. Pandu : How could they, Sir, when the rulers stirred
up terror in the minds of the people, by their very
Titles, coat of arms and the like? Do you remember the
meaning of some of the titles these monarchs had.....
lion, tiger, eagle, cobra, vulture, wolf, crocodile,
fox, hawk and the like.....
Doctor Damu : We have had our Nara Simhas, Puli Kesis,
Naga Nandas and the like...
Prof. Pandu : The Doctor is right... We too had them
in plenty. Some of the surnames attached to these mighty
men will show clearly, why the people were terribly
afraid of the rulers. Chengiskhan was known through
his sur-name as the Mighty Killer! Attilla was called
the Terror of the World. Examples there are in abundance.
Doctor Damu : But fortunately those days are gone -
never again to return.
Prof. Pandu : I beg to differ from you, Doctor! The
trend has not completely died down. Attempts are being
made from time to time to deify the ruler. Today, reports
we get about China makes one think that there Mao is
being transformed into a God. His books have become
the scriptures for the Chinese - and in all activities
his blessing is sought for.
Advocate Ansari : That is fanatiasin of the worst form...
Prof. Pandu : And that is made possible in this age
of enlightenment and rationalism. In an age when space
is being conquered, this fanaticism is allowed to flourish.
Doctor Damu : But we are more fortunate. Through we
too had this hero-worship, the personality cult, we
never allowed this to become a fanatic theory...
Prof. Pandu : Not only that!.... We have shown to the
world that any attempt by a party to be in perpetual
power will be thwarted. There was a time when it was
thought that the Congress party will not be unseated
at all. But today the people have shown that they are
the real rulers. The Congress party was dethroned in
a large portion of India...
Advocate Ansari : But it is the Congress which still
controls the Central Government. The Government of India
is run by the Congress party.
Prof. Pandu : Yes! And that would make the unlettered
to say, that India is still under the control of the
Congress. But the fact is entirely different. West Bengal
and Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab, Bihar and Orissa,
Tamilnad and Kerala are today not under the Congress
regime...
Doctor Damu : But the Central Government is under the
control of the Congress...
Prof. Pandu : But keen political observers know, that
the claim of the Congress in that respect is hollow,
unjust...
Advocate Ansari : But that is a legal and Constitutional
fact...
Prof. Pandu : Legal, may be.... Constitutional to- ....
I do not deny. But has the Congress the moral right
to say, that India is under that party? No Sir! None
would present that tall claim. And the more realistic
of the Congress party do realise that their position
is weak, unstable, and even illogical. And it is our
duty, as members of a first-rate association, to educate
the people about this. We should also feel the Congress
to become humble and give up its haughtiness...
Advocate Ansari : The front rank Congressmen, I am sure
do realise this truth...
Prof. Pandu : But the 'lessor ones' even today thunder
forth about the might of the Congress... they are saying
that the Non-Congress Governments will be toppled down.
Trial of strength are made from time to time.
Doctor Damu : Which means that the political stability
is being disturbed by the Congress party.
Prof. Pandu : And the Congress is planning to come back
to power, through a Mid-term election.
Doctor Damu : Talking about elections, may I ask, when
are we going to have the bye-election for the South
Madras constituency.
Prof. Pandu : Perhaps in a month or two.
Advocate Ansari : And when an election is arranged,
Professor, what party will get the tremendous benefit
of your service.....
Prof. Pandu : Need I tell you? The haste shown, the
anxiety exhibited by the Congress party bear ample testimony
to their "thirst for power". I will be on
the side of Democracy, certainly.
Advocate Ansari : It seems that there is going to be
a bye-election soon for the Council seat....?
Prof. Pandu : Yes! And Mr.Arivazhagan is contesting....
He is an young man who deserves a seat in the Council.
His knowledge about the educational problems has given
him a right to seek entrance into the Council....
Advocate Ansari : Professor! You are already canvassing
.....
Prof. Pandu : Why not...? It is the duty of a democrat.
I have arranged for a compact body for this purpose
and I am meeting some of the teachers in my zone....
Advocate Ansari : And over a cup of tea, you are going
to canvass for the DMK candidate ....
Doctor Damu : How is it Professor? You have not commanded
us to work along with you.....
Prof. Pandu : That is the highest of compliments and
I am thankful to you for the same. And may I suggest,
that we disperse now, and ...
Doctor Damu : ..... and do some real canvassing while
we take the scroll .....
Prof. Pandu : I am immensely pleased Sir, for this kind
offer. Let us start right now and do our duty, however
small our stature.
(Home Rule - 30-7-1967)