By Devendra Gautam
Let yours truly take you to a distant past before bringing you back to a turbulent present.
After the defeat of Lanka under the rule of its king, Ravan, prince Laxman asks Ram, his elder brother and the heir to the throne of Ayodhya: How about staying on in a vanquished Lanka and ruling it?
Laxman’s proposal was also in line with Vibhiishan, the younger brother of Ravana, who, together with an army of monkeys and Sugriv, the bear king, had played an important role in the defeat of his brother — and the defeat of Lanka — by aligning with the enemies and revealing that Ravana’s navel contained Amrit (ambrosia), making him immortal, so it was futile to target his 10 heads and other body parts.
But Ram knew all too well that staying on in the kingdom wouldn’t be safe, given the presence of treasonous characters like Vivishan, who can get their own kin killed and cause the defeat of their motherland by revealing state secrets and aligning with the enemies for the sake of power.
So, Ram replies to his dear brother, who stayed throughout a 14-year exile with him and his consort Sita, and played a part in the defeat of Lanka: O Laxman! My heart does not yearn for this Lanka made of gold. Mother and motherland are high above heaven.
Apparently, Ram knew all too well that it won’t be safe to stay on in a country infested with characters like Vibhiishan.
From the times of the Ram-Ravan war, let’s time-travel straight to a classroom of the 80s’. Our grade 5 curriculum consisted of Moral Education, apart from Sanskrit, English, Maths, Science, Vocational Education and Nepali. The schoolbook on Moral Education has a fascinating story, which goes like this.
There once was a huge, lush green tree that sheltered a large number of birds. But no tree is immortal and this tree was no exception.
In the course of time, it started wilting. The leafy branches that offered the inhabitants some protection from enemies like hunters and birds of prey were gone.
One after the other, birds left the tree, but a parrot stayed on, grateful as ever to the birthplace that had offered the tiny being protection, nourishment and a beautiful world of family and friends.
This little bird piqued Indra’s curiosity. In the guise of a lesser mortal, the king of heaven appeared near the tree and wanted to know why the parrot was not leaving a tree that was way past its prime and dying.
With eyes full of tears and a heavy heart, the little bird sang to Indra the glory of the tree where the creature was born and brought up. The bird recalled a happy and fulfilling life spent on its branches that offered nourishment and protection from hunters, birds of prey, the sun, the wind and the rain. Rather than leaving, I would want to die here, the bird chirped.
Impressed, Indra returned to his true avatar, gave the tree a new life and sang the glory of the parrot and his undying love of and dedication to his birthplace. Soon enough, birds returned to the tree, making it a happy place once again.
Back to the present. Yours truly recently had a conversation with one of his cousin brothers, who had returned to Nepal from abroad for a brief period. He shared with me that he will return home someday, maybe in five years, pointing out: The natives of my adopted home will always take me as an alien even if I take the citizenship of that country.
The brother shared with me his plans to bring back to life an ancestral land that lies fallow.
After my brief conversation with my brother, I have grown a bit more optimistic about the future of this heaven on Earth that’s wilting because of corruption, political instability, anarchy, nepotism, favoritism, and a culture of impunity.
Unlike in storybooks, Indra or some other divine characters won’t descend on Earth to give Nepal a new life. The cream of the cream and the children of toil will have to shed blood, sweat, toil and tears to revive this country.
Fellow Nepalis based in Nepal and abroad! Are we waiting for some Shuvamuhurta (auspicious time) to reclaim this country from the corrupt lot and reclaim our destiny? If we do not wake up and act, that time may never come.
So, let’s wake up before it’s too late, before Nepal slips out of our hands, forcing generations and generations of Nepalis to roam around continents for centuries in a quest for their ancestral land.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect People’s Review’s editorial stance.
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