But as it happens, with one thing and other, the list kept of getting delayed. The methodology was also a problem. What makes a monarch great? Is it due to their deeds in their rule or the effect they have on history, even posthumously? Can you categorise them so due to any one single  act that make them immortal or should you base judgment on their cumulative life and reign? Should they be conquerors, administrators, or reformers?

Having considered these parameters, I resolved to use a mixture of all of them in my list. There are some whose place in posterity has been guaranteed by the suffix “the Great” succeeding generations have conferred on them, while some live on in public memories due to a specific attribute of their character. My list is a combination of all these, but I will explain later.

Here is the bare list, just to draw attention to these magnificent monarchs of the past, whose legend owes itself to a magnificent singular act, a series of such acts in their illustrious lives or the effect they had on the following decades and centuries, in some cases, lasting to our day and age. Further details about each of these will follow subsequently…. I shall endeavour not to delay it as much as is in my power.

So here is a list of 13 of the greatest monarchs of all time. I welcome debate on it.

Cyrus II of Persia, founder of the Achaemenid Empire (r. 559 BC – December 530 BC)

Trajan, Marcus Ulpius Nerva Traianus Augustus, Roman Emperor (r.28 January 98 –9 August 117)

Hārūn ar-Rashīd, the fifth Arab Abbasid Caliph, (r.14 September 786 – 24 March 809)

Alp Arslan,  the third sultan of the Great Seljuq Empire (r. 27 April 1064-15 December 1072)

Vladimir II Monomakh, a Velikiy Kniaz or Grand Prince of Kievan Rus (r.1113-1125)

Suleiman I, the Magnificent or Kānūnī Sultān Suleimān, the tenth and longest-reigning Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, (r. 30 September 1520-5/6 September 1566)

Jalāl ud-Dīn Muhammad Akbar, the third Mughal Emperor, (r. 14 February 1556- 27 October 1605)

Peter the Great, Peter I or Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov, (r. 7 May 1682 – 8 February 1725)

Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790 (r.18 Aug 1765 – 20 February 1790)

Asaf-ud-Daulah, the fourth Nawab Wazir al-Mamalik Khan Bahadur of Awadh, (r. 26 January 1775 to 21 September 1797)

James Brooke, the first White Rajah of Sarawak, (r. 18 August 1842 – 11 June 1868)

Mutsuhito, the Emperor Meiji, the 122nd emperor of Japan (according to the traditional order of succession), (r. 3 February 1867-30 July 1912)

Rezā Shāh, also known as Rezā Shāh Pahlavi or and Rezā Shāh Kabir, the Shah of the Imperial State of Iran (r. 15 December, 1925-16 September, 1941)

However, it was there when I read about the Feast of the Barmecides, and I must confess that even as intelligent I was at that age and time, the exact meaning eluded me.

However, it was years later when I re-read The Arabian Nights (the Burton translation), (which I happened to leave with someone during my absence from Delhi and have to expeditiously retrieve), that the passage in question rang a bell.  Though I had earlier read Naguib Mahfouz’s excellent retelling, the account of the feast does not appear in this version — which is set in a different city,  but it was when I read Hanan al-Shaykh’s splendid rendition of the old tales that the old phrase came back to me, easily separating the long years and piles of memories since those early days.

Our language at one time was replete with such references, an indication of the wide expanse of our reading, but this is not the case any longer among the coming generations – a sad foretelling of the atmosphere of sterile imagination and sparse vocal capability they are growing up with.  It is at this time, I look with pride myself on my “sarmaya-e-alfaaz” or vocabulary,  the gift of indulgent and understanding parents and a host of dedicated teachers, not limited to those of the language.

I just asked five people – all of the same profession but equally divided among backgrounds and gender – if they have understood this term and none even knew it.

Well, here I could just cut a long story short and straightaway explain the reference. But as those who know me will attest, that is never my way, while also do me the justice to remember that I invoked The Arabian Nights, where a story leads to another, and it to another and so on and on….. and that is the method I will too adopt.

So rather than a mere explanation, let me share the meaning of this quaint phrase from the source material itself….. but with a twist. I have translated the passage in question in Urdu, to see how it seems in this most refined language.

I must also say that this will be the first in the initiative to rehabilitate the memory of a most generous man, and the counsellor and companion of a monarch, most magnificent and worthy (save in one respect)…. but all that later.

For now the story…. which begins from the operative point. For those inquisitive enough, I will give the exact details later.

~~~~ Ab bad yeh rahta hai ke main aapko qissa sunaun apne chathe bhai ka, jis ka naam Schacabac tha. Ham sab ki tarah us ne bhi, hamare waalid se, sau chandi ke dinar virasat mein mile the, jo uski samajh se ek bada khazana tha, lekin us ne bad-qismati jald hi se jab luta diya aur jeene ke liye bheekh mangne ki zaroorat padhi. Apni meethi zabaan aur shareef harkaton ki wajah se us ne apni naye karobar mein taraqqi ki, aur khaaskar tawaaju diya bade makaanon ke khidmatgaron se dosti karne main, ke isi tarah unke maalikon tak pahunch paaye.

Ek din voh ek bahut alishaan makaan se guzra, jiska saamne ek khidmatgaron ka hujum tha. Us socha ke makaan ki shakal se to aisa lagta hai ke vahan se achchi kamaai hogi, to voh dakhil huya aur poocha ke uska maalik kaun tha.

“Bhale aadmi, aap kahan se aaye hain?” ek khidmatgar ne kaha. “Aap khud nahi samajh sakte hai ke yeh kisi nahi ho sakti, sivaye ek Barmaki ki?” kyunkar Barmaki khandaan apni darya-dili aur khush-akhlaaqi ke liye mashoor the. Yeh sunte, mere bhai ne khidmatgaron, jo kai the, ke voh use kuch khairaat nawazege. Unhone mana nahi kiya, lekin adab se kaha ke voh andar jaaye aur unke aqa se khud baat kare.

Mere bhai ne unhe shukriya ata kiya aur daakhil huya us imarat mein, jo itni badi thi ke use Barmaki ke kamre tak pahunchne mein achcha waqt lag gaya. Aakkhir kar,  ek kamre jo tasveeron se saja tha, use sofe par baitha ek buzurg mile, jisne uska istaqbal is khush-khalqi se kiya, ke mere bhai ko apni darkhvast pesh karne ki

“Mere Huzoor”, usne kaha, “aap mere mein ek faqeer dekh rahe hai jo aap jaise ameer aur darya-dil insaanon ke sahaare se zindagi basar karta hai.”

To continue/Jaari rahega…

#1 Kam se kam ek hazaar nayi kitabein padhna

#2 Apni zabaan ke ilm ko aur durust karna, us mein itni nafasat aur shaistagi laana ke us maqaam par pahunche jo Sharar aur Sarshar ke ahd mein thi,  agar Suroor ke nahi

#3 Blog par har din ek post karna, aur posts ki maujuda tadaad ko kam se kam dugna karna

#4 Dabistan-e-Lakhnau ki alam-bardaari ko imandari se nibhana

#5 Har hafte mein kam se kam do tarjume karna

#6 Mashiyaat mamlaat ko hikmat aur aql se sambhalna ke company khasaare mein na jaaye

#7 Taaluqaat vo hi nibhayi jaayi jis mein amad-o-raft, ittehad aur aitbaar ho. Tajurbe se seekha hai jis mein mutabadil hone ka amal na ho, uska koi fayda nahi hai

#8 Ek musannif banne ka apna iraada pura karna

#9 Aur machhi aur samundar ki mukhtalif paidawar, khaaskar tuna, khana

#10 Kam se kam do nayi zabanen seekhna

#11 Koshish karni ke sherwani pehnne ka muqaddas mauqa aaye

#12 Safar pe ja ke kuch naye manzar dekhna

#13 Agle saal aisa mushkil aur pechida kaam pehle se hi shuru karna, aur aakhri waqt ke liye na rakhna

Abhi ke liye yeh hi…..

Khair is saal ki kuch khubiyan be thi, ur danishmandi isi mein hai ke in ka bhi shumar kiya jaaye.

Pehle to sab se badi baat thi ke mujhe kitaabein khareedne ka ek naya, umda aur kifayati zariye mil gaya. Aur isi ki jaanib se mujhe kafi aise nayaab kitabein jinki mujhe saalon se talaash thi, aakhir dastyaab huyi. Daryaft abhi jari hai…

Phir is saal mein mujhe fakhr hai ke main ne ilm haasil karne ka koi mauqa nahi chodha. Yeh bhi saheeh hai ke kaafi kuch rah gaaya, lekin abhi zindagi hai. Jaan hai, to jahan hai, ek falsafi ne kaha tha aur main apne apne hisaab se is naimat ka pura faiyda uthaonga.

Doosri ore, hisaab mein kuch ghaate bhi hai…..

Zaati maamalat mein vo hi daur bana raha jo pichle do-ek saalon se hai. Vo hi vada-khilaafi, vo hi khudgarzi, vo hi nazar-andaazi ,vo hi jalsaazi, daghebaazi aur … maaf kijiyega aise alfaaz istemaal karne pad rahe hai lekin main majboor hoon. Khair jaane dijiye, aaj se saalon pehle, Chacha Ghalib ne bhi famaya tha

Hamen unse hai wafa ki umeed
Jo nahi jaante wafa kya hai…..

Darasal, yeh meri hi ghalti hai ke maine in sab ko mauqa diya. Jaise maine aapne 2012 ke iraadon mein likha hai, un sab taaluqaat jis mein dono janib se amad-o-raft nahi hai, unhe jaari rakhna koi daanishmandi nahi hai. Berhaal, dekhiye waqt ki gardish kya manzar pesh karti hai. Meri to yehi darkhvast aur iltija rahegi ke sab aise maamle hikmat-amli aur khush-aklaaqi se sulajh jaaye.

Ek muktsar andaaz mein is sab ko Sahir ka ek qimte asha’ar se zaahir kiya ja sakta hai, jaise maine unwaan mein likha hai. Yeh unhe ne ek mashoor film ke liye tha, lekin jazbaat ka aap qadr kare. Yeh ek ghazal ka sher hai, main aapko suna deta hoon:

Bichadh gaya har saathi dekar
Pal do pal ka saath,
Kisko fursat hai jo thame deewanon ka haath
Ham ko apna saaya tak aksar bezaar mila
Ham to jab……

Khair jaane dijiye…. Haan is mauqe par do na azeem shaksiyat ka naam zaroori lene chahta hoon, jo is rujhan se door rahe aur apni qabiliyat se puri himayat ki, khaaskar us waqt jab main maayus aur baybas tha. Yeh the Ustaad aur mere sabse qareebi aur puraane dost, jinka ism-e-sharif ka aaghaz noon se hai. Aur bhi puraane dost – bhai – the, jinki main shumar aapne moshinon mein karna chahoonga. Aap sab ka teh dil se shukr-guzaar hoon, aur dua karunga ke Khuda aapko har khushi se nawaaze….

Umeed hai, Mushkil-kusha ki naimat se, 2012 behtar hoga. Mere andar kuch khaas tabadle nahi hoga, aur main vo hi shakhs rahunga, jo ek aapke ek qadaam pe das..sau kadam lene ko taiyyar rahunga par ek kadam to len……

2012 aap sab izzat-maab khwatin-o-hazraat ke liye khushgavar beete….. Khuda aapko har bala se mahfuz rakhe aur khushaal rakhe. Abhi ke liye Da Khudaye pa aman

So lets get one with the account. We had got to the point where Gaius Popilius encountered the invading army, which has been repeated for your benefit. Now read on….

“Clad in his purple-bordered toga and preceded by his twelve crimson-clad lictors, all bearing the axes in their bundles of rods, Gaius Popillus Laenas walked east. Now he was not a young man, so as he went he leaned upon a tall staff, his pace as placid as his face. Since only the brave and heroic and noble Romans built decent roads, he was soon walking along through thick dust. But was Gaius Popillus Laenas deterred? No! He just kept on walking, until near the huge hippodrome in which the Alexandrians liked to watch the horse races, he ran into a wall of Syrian soldiers, and had to stop.

“King Antiochus IV of Syria came forward, and went to meet Gaius Popillius Laenas.

“‘Rome has no business in Egypt!’ the King said, frowning awfully and direfully.

“‘Syria has no business in Egypt either,’ said Gaius Popillius Laenas, smiling sweetly and serenely.

“‘Go back to Rome,’ said the King.

“‘Go back to Syria,’ said Gaius Popillius Laenas.

“But neither of them moved a single inch.

“‘You are offending the Senate and People of Rome,’ said Gaius Popillius Laenas after a while of staring into the King’s fierce face. ‘I have been ordered to make you return to Syria.’

“The King laughed and laughed and laughed. ‘And how are you going to make me go home?’ he asked. ‘Where is your army?’

“‘I have no need of an army, King Antiochus IV,’ said Gaius Popillius Laenas. ‘Everything that Rome is, has been, and will be, is standing before you here and now. I am Rome, no less than Rome’s largest army. And in the name of Rome, I say to you a further time, go home!’

“‘No,’ said King Antiochus IV.

“So Gaius Popillius Laenas stepped forward, and moving sedately, he used the end of his staff to trace a circle in the dust all the way around the person of King Antiochus IV, who found himself standing inside Gaius Popillius Laenas’s circle.

“‘Before you step out of this circle, King Antiochus IV, I advise you to think again,’ said Gaius Popillius Laenas. ‘And when you do step out of it – why, be facing east, and go home to Syria.’

“The King said nothing. The King did not stir. Gaius Popillius Laenas said nothing. Gaius Popillius Laenas did not stir. Since Gaius Popillius Laenas was a Roman and did not need to hide his face, his sweet and serene countenance was on full display. But King Antiochus IV hid his face behind a curled and wired wigbeard, and even then could not conceal its thunder. Time went on. And then, still inside the circle, the mighty King of Syria turned on his heel to face east, and stepped out of the circle in an easterly direction, and marched back to Syria with all his soldiers.”

So that is what had happened, as Publius Rutilius Rufus (158 BC –after 78 BC, a Roman statesman, orator and historian of the Rutilius family, as well as great-uncle of Gaius Julius Caesar) recites to his old colleague, Gaius Marius, as Colleen McCullough tells us in “The First Man in Rome”. The account, without the stylistic embellishments, can be found in renowned historian Livy’s Ab Urbe Condita.

To round out the background, I must tell you that Gaius Popillius Laenas twice served as one of the two consuls of the Roman Republic, in 172 and 158 BC.

What he did was not unparalleled in Roman history….. Marius himself, on vacation in Asia Minor while a private citizen, visited a tributary kingdom and found its young king murdered and the country occupied by Mithridates VI of Pontus, a long-standing Roman enemy. All by himself, Marius peremptorily ordered the king to withdraw, and the eastern king, after some ineffectual grumbling, made haste to comply.

Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix, Marius’ associate-turned-bitter foe, also in the area later, assembled a legion of auxiliaries and with it successful in deterring Mithridates and his father-in-law, the King of Armenia, as well as holding his own against a delegation of their Parthian overlords.

However, that was then…. what remains is that a capability of projecting an influence, a moral suasion, without having an overwhelming or even a remotely adequate backing force anywhere near, except just the thought of its presence — though far, far away.

It is this effect that I miss having, given not only the incidents of the last few years,  but even much earlier as I realise on serious contemplation….. but these are the ifs and buts of human affairs……

Is ki kayi wajah hai. Agar ham aaj ki nasl ka ilm ki jaanib rukh ko kuch waqt ke liye nazarandaaz kar den (jab ke aisa karna na hi mumkin hai, aur na hi zameer ke saath insaaf rakhna), to yeh maan sakte hai ke inke diwan aur kalam asaani se  dastyaab nahi hote, ya yeh aise hai ahd ke the ke jab inke ham-umron ne awaami zehn pe qabzaa jamaye rakha.

Aise mein shumar hoti hai, Nawab Mustafa Khan Shefta ki…… Yeh aise ahd ke the jis mein mashoor shayron ki koi kami nahi thi. Aap khud hi dekhiye – Chacha Ghalib, Hakim Momin Khan Momin,  Badshah salamat Bahadur Shah Zafar, unke qabil ustaad Sheikh Mohammad Ibrahim Zauq – aur sab is maqaam ke kisi aur sukhanvar ko apne noor se zahir hi na hone de……

Berhaal, Shefta (1804-69), jo Ghalib ke khaas dost the, ne koshish zaroor ki. Ek diwan se saath, unka ek tazkira bhi hai, jo kafi saraha jaata hai….

Chaliye aapko Nawab sahab ke kalam se ta’aruf karvaya jaaye.

Lutf lijiye, main aapka waqt aur nahi loonga sirf ek hidayat doon ga ke jab aap yeh asha’ar padhe, to zehn mein Shefta ke ahd aur ka pasmanazar apne saamne rakhe….

Ahl-e-zamana dekhte hai aib hi ko bas
Kya faidah jo Shefta arz-e-hunar karen

Chiragh vaqif mohabbat ne kar diya afsos
Ke mujh ko apne paraye sabhi jalaate hai

Mat cherh ke yaar se juda hoon
Ae Marg! Main aap mar raha hoon

Bose kiye qabool to ginti bhi chorh do
Aesa na ho kahin pade jhagra hissab ka

Ek din shaam hamari bhi sehr kar dega
Vahi jo sham ko har roz sehr karta hai

Ae jaan lab pe aa ke theharne se faidah
Rahna huya to rah gaye, chalna huya chale

Ishq mein saari khubiyan hai jamaa
Ek magar jaan ka zarrar kuch hai

Be azr voh kar lete hai vadaah yeh samajh kar
Yeh ahl-e-marwat hai taqaaza na karenge

Fasane apni mohabbat ke sach hai par kuch kuch
Badha bhi dete hai ham zeb dastaan ke liye

Kya kahun ahbab ki ahn dili
Paaon mein faulad ki zanjeer hai

Shefta ke aur kalam aapko jald yahan milenge…..

After that, there were various ways in which the epoch manifested itself to me – the totally unreliable (as far as history is concerned) Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, the keenly perceptive Asterix series of adventures, a totally warped account by Conn Iggulden and so on….. but it was Colleen McCullough’s magnificent sextet (later a septet) that brought the glories (and the not so glorious times) of the last six decades or so of the Roman Republic – the SPQR  firmly to my mind. (SPQR = Senatus PopulusQue Roma)

However, me being me, I read the series totally in a jumbled way. I began with The October Horse, which happened to be the last of the original sextet, and then followed it with The Grass Crown and Fortune’s Favourites…. the second and third of the series. The next was either The First Man in Rome or Caesar’s Women, the first and the fourth of the series. I don’t recall to clearly, all I remember is reading the latter as I was crossing the Salt Range on my epic trip to my ancestral lands….. Caesar (the fifth) was the last to be read….. and the seventh, Antony and Cleopatra came much much later.

Oh dear me, I have rambled on to much… It just remains to say that during a change in work and cities I loaned the set to a individual who was not worth the privilege. But we all make mistakes and the deceit will certainly be punished….

However, the purpose of all this was to bring to you a favourite passage from one of the books – the first of them as it turns out, which can help to explain that why admire them or revile them, you can never ignore the renown of the Romans. Read on and the rest will be made clear later…..

~~~~ “Once upon a time there was a very bad and nasty King of Syria named Antiochus. [...] Even though Syria was a rich kingdom, King Antiochus IV lusted after the neighbouring kingdom of Egypt [...] so King Antiochus IV invaded Egypt, captured Pelusium, marched down the Delta to Memphis, captured that, and began to march up the other side of the Delta toward Alexandria.

“Having ruined the country and the army, the brothers Ptolemy and their sister-wife, Cleopatra II, had no choice but to appeal to Rome for help against King Antiochus IV, Rome being the best and greatest of all nations, and everyone’s hero. To the rescue of Egypt, the Senate and People of Rome (being in better accord in those days than we would believe possible now – or so the storybooks say) sent their noble brave consular Gaius Popillius Laenas. Now any other country would have given its hero a whole army, but the Senate and People of Rome gave Gaius Popillius Laenas only twelve lictors and two clerks. However, because it was a foreign mission, the lictors were allowed to wear the red tunics and put the axes in their bundles of rods, so Gaius Popillius Laenas was not quite unprotected. Off they sailed in a little ship, and came to Alexandria just as King Antiochus IV was marching up the Canopic arm of the Nilus toward the great city wherein cowered the Egyptians.

“Clad in his purple-bordered toga and preceded by his twelve crimson-clad lictors, all bearing the axes in their bundles of rods, Gaius Popillus Laenas walked east. Now he was not a young man, so as he went he leaned upon a tall staff, his pace as placid as his face. Since only the brave and heroic and noble Romans built decent roads, he was soon walking along through thick dust. But was Gaius Popillus Laenas deterred? No! He just kept on walking, until near the huge hippodrome in which the Alexandrians liked to watch the horse races, he ran into a wall of Syrian soldiers, and had to stop.

To be continued….

Berhaal, ab se, Insh’Allah, meri yeh hi koshish hogi ke aindaah aap sab ko shikayat ka mauqa na pesh ho.

Khair ab mudde pe aaye…. Pichle kuch dinon meri zehn mein ek awaaz gunj rahi thi, ek khaaskar buland awaaz jo zindagi ke mukhtalif aur pechida jazbaaton aur kashmakashon ko bemisaal lafzaat mein jodne mein maahir hai…. yeh awaaz hai Janaab Doctor Nawaz Deobandi ki, jin ka ta’aruf aap kai martaba yahan kar chuke honge…..

To lijiye, izzat-maab khwatin-o-hazrat, aapke liye Nawaz sahab ki kuch ghazlen… Mumkin hai, aap mein se kai inko pehle se jaante honge ya tahi dekhi hongi, lekin tab hi shayad jab aap is baar in he padhe, to aapko tab hi itna hi lutf aayega jab aap ne pehle padha ya suna ho.

Aur jinke ke liye yeh Doctor sahab se pehli mulaqaat hai, to in se achcha kya ta’aruf ho sakta hai….. Ek baat aur, isi chahen nasihat maane, chahen mashvara, lekin aap jaise in he padhen, ho sake to apne liye hi inhe tarannum mein padhne ki koshish kare….. Isi mein inka jaado hai! Afsos, main is andaaz mein pesh nahi kar sakta hoon aur aapko khud hi tassavur karna padhega….

Chaliye, pehli ghazal aap ke nazar hai. Choti behr ki ghazal hai, lekin bade mudde cherhti hai…..  Khair, aap khud hi dekhen.

Jo safar ikhtiyar karte hai
Voh hi darya ko paar karte hai

Sach to yeh hai ke khud musafir ka
Raaste intezaar karte hai

Un se bichde to phir huya mahsoos
Voh hamen kitna pyaar karte hai

Ham to apnon se kha gaye dhokha
Aap ko hoshiyar karte hai

Jhoothe vaadeh kiya na kar ham se
Ham tera aitbaar karte hai

Ham to us dil Nawaz dushman ko
Doston mein shumaar karte hai

Ek aur dekhiye…… aakhri sher par tawajju chahunga.

Jashn-e-gham-hayat manane nahi diya
Is muflisi ne zahar bhi khaane nahi diya

Ham ne jo sada lohi mein khaya koi fareb
Phir voh fareb auron ko khaane nahi diya

Aandhi ne roshni ki himayat to ki bahut
Lekin koi chiraagh jalaane nahi diya

Ek adh ghar to jal gaya par shahr bach gaya
Ab ke diye ka saath hawaa ne nahi diya

Raazi tha main bhi aur mera dushman bhi sulah par
Kuch doston ne haath milaane nahi diya

Aur yeh bhi dekhiye….

Maani na aql ki dil-e-nadaan ke saamne
Ek ghar bana liya dar-e-janaan ke saamne

Voh sirf rahzaanon hi pe ilzaam kyon rakhe
Jo lut gaya ho apne nigehbaan ke saamne

To mubtala ho ishq mein to phir pata chale
Khushiyan haqeer hai gham-e-janaan ke saamne

Rehne ko ghar na khaane ko roti na koi dost
Itni bhi mushkilen na ho insaan ke saamne

Faqa kashi mein khush hoon magar itna to de mujhe
Sharmindgi na ho kisi mehmaan ke saamne

Aur aakhir mein, jiska matla hi khudi ka ek naara hai….. aur phir aakhri do sher par aapki khaas tawajju ki iltija karunga.

Yeh baar-e-falak ham ne zameen par nahi rakha
Thak kar kisi kandhe pe kabhi sar nahi rakha

Is ne bhi hawaaon ke abhi rukh nahi badle
Main ne bhi chiraaghon ko bujha kar nahi rakha

Main ne bhi ise khar se tasbeeh nahi di
Is ne bhi mera naam gul-e-tarr nahi rakha

Kyun thokre lagti hai ke jab ham ne kabhi bhi
Raaste mein kisi ke koi patthar nahi rakha

Tareekh se vaaqif hai jo, bete ka inhone
Rakha hai Ali naam, Sikandar nahi rakha

I had just reached last night (or technically early this morning, given it was well after midnight), when I checked my telephone and found a text message, just short of midnight – from one of the significant three, whose wishes had not come.  So now that was complete – one on the next day, one seeming unaware despite contact on that same day, and one just in time on the fourth day following.

In all, it made around 109 wishes on my day – however, these include family and some online groups and applications I am a part of, which leaves around 100 odd. This is despite my friend list – at that point in time – standing at about 346. Even with allowances for some who are mere acquaintances, and some who might not be regular users, and thus removing over half of the total complement, there remained a gap of almost 50 — and this I discovered to my dismay, included several I had thought close enough – old schoolmates, old colleagues and so on.

Another point was the media. It is not my intention to belittle, but out of all, there happened to be just four who called and eight who texted (including family), despite many of those being those who I had myself directly called on their days. A handful used the chat function, a few (less than….. but let it be. The data can be broken down in various ways, but I do not want to get mired in all this.

I thank all (and I have singly and jointly conveyed my appreciation) who wished me – through whatever form they chose, and whenever they did, though, it goes without saying, wishes on the day itself rank the highest and as the interval increases, the ….. but again this is a road down which I deem it wise not to venture. I am sure the ones proffering belated wishes had their own problems and compulsions…. I just wish they look at it from the other viewpoint too.

But the main issue is over those absent from the list and there are many whose absence was most painful, including some who had remembered last year and/or were the recipients themselves this year too.

And the worse was the only person in close proximity on that day itself, who with gall remarkable, chose to remain oblivious. In  light of this action, the response of others at the workplace – who could not have been expected to have a clue, was insignificant. However, even this raises serious concerns and suitable action has already been contemplated. For policy reasons as well as concerns of security, I will not mention it here in black and white, but it entails countervailing action, at the least.

The basic question that rises is what was the reason behind all this – excusable oversight, deliberate discourtesy or a crude signalling of intentions. However, whatever it turns out to be, it is certainly not capable of being ignored.

That brings us to what follows – an identification of the reasons, what measures need be taken and more importantly, what should be the future course of action, including but not limited to, as regards these individuals, who not only seem to shun basic courtesy but cannot be trusted to reciprocate.

It is human nature – of the most debased sort.  Gratitude, which may be expected to fuel a certain respect and observance, merely survives on expectation of favours yet to come, and if the calculation matrix is bereft of it, the state of affairs I have underlined, inevitably follow.

Well, even more important that deciding the course of action to follow in respect of this recalcitrant rabble, it also seems important to review policy, that has led to the debacle. It has been long pointed out by the Control Commission that I have been remiss in power projection, had overextended lines of communication, failed to keep secure high ground and leverage the position, suffer a deterioration of deterrence capability, deal with “salami” tactics as well as committing a host of other strategic mistakes. I acknowledge the validity of the criticism.

Remedial action will be taken on these points on an urgent basis, but what also remains to be done is to exhibit a salutary lesson to the “recalcitrant rabble”.

Mere disdain or a disinclination to contact or insistence on reciprocity with the attendant penalties will not do alone, nor will polite notes of protest or appeals to better sides, since they have demonstrated, beyond reasonable doubt, they have none. No , the only course is …. well, you don’t expect me to spell it out here.

As I had already posted a few days ago, I had anticipated a washout on several accounts but the results were beyond expectations.

A most positive development on the day before was the delivery of an eagerly awaited book – the ultimate part of a three-volume biography of President Theodore Roosevelt. (I had been in a dilemma on which one to get first, and as usual, I consulted the Ustaad, who with impeccable and faultless logic, made the decision for me.)

As planned, I made an early exit from the office on the eve  and was in position at home, ten minutes to midnight with all in readiness.  As the midnight chimes rang, I treated myself to chocolate cake and brandy, while the joyous strains of a rendition of the Radzetsky March, (conducted by Karajan, no less) rang out. It was then a couple of congratulory messages popped in and some were posted on my Facebook page. I meanwhile viewed some of my favourite music (on Youtube, hence the incongruous-seeming verb used, nit-pickers!) and seeing it came to a symbolic 13! Among these was a re-discovered favourite – the Mehtar Band of the bugone Ottoman era!

However, there happened to be a big day ahead and after partying alone as much as possible (and feasible), I settled down with the sixth installment of Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next series (ordered earlier, but kept safely for the occasion).

I woke at a proper time on the morning of the 13th, and after the customary activities, made myself a cup of tea (courtesy the electric kettle gifted by my mother), while attending to calls from my mother, my nephew and sister, and then the rest of the family bar my father) and getting dressed.

In the meantime, there were a couple or so more text messages and a host on FB. However, there were no calls, except one from a long-lost friend, currently in the US.

However, seeing I was getting late, I hastened to leave for the next part of my plan after a couple of necessary purchases on the way. Reaching the assigned place, I made a reservation at the restaurant chosen for the feast and then plunged into the bookshop next door, where I was surprised to find that the sale was still on…. Finding some more desirable acquisitions took time  and needless to say, I was unable to decide in the assigned time (till 1400 hours) and then leaving the selected cache safe, I went in to lunch.

In the middle of the time here, I saw two missed calls – from a relative and my father – and then a text message from the former. Attempts to recall them were partly successful, and I only managed to speak to my father.

After some preliminaries and a spot of further indecision regarding the food, I settled down to a sumptuous repast of various salads, teppanyaki, dim sums and the lovely sushi…. ohhhh… and sashimi accompanied with a glass or two (actually three or four of chilled sangria). Repeated sorties for salad, sushi and so on left me sooo full that I had not much place left for the main course, (which I had already established was nowhere as interesting) but for form’s sake, I managed some. Then it was an array of sinfully tempting desserts of which I found myself compelled to taste several, as a sacred duty.

Settling accounts then, and finding a slight more expense then catered for, I went back to the bookshop to conclude my deals and then, left hot-foot for office, which had already been intimated that I would be somewhat late in showing up.

There were a number of some more messages, and some used chatting to wish me. But there were just two more calls – one from a related relative of one cited above in the early evening, and then by an other old friend later, in the night but no other.

Messages on FB kept on coming in, but there was nothing from key three – from whom I was awaiting greetings in my heart of hearts despite a nagging suspicion that they would not – and was I proved right!

Since nobody at the workplace knew or suspected – or as I think even cared, it was an uneventful time and then back home – which was well after midnight, thus scuppering plans to mark it too. The only eventful thing apart from the night time call, was text messages from a friend I had thought lost, and an associate.

It was the next day that a few more messages came, and finally on the three mentioned above, used the chat to wish me and seek to explain the reason….

To be continued…. inevitably!