- No redemption await those who worship their own lies
Mohammad bin Salman, 32, is hell-bent to modernise Saudi Arabia. And to achieve this Herculean task, he is in process of taming Arabia’s ultraconservative clergy, sidelining and arresting ‘possible’ threats
In our Republic, things ain’t better or, for that matter, different either. The king is imperilled. The queen is sick. The two princes are cowards and mum. And the princess, well, she has reduced herself to a damsel in distress behaving like a cornered lioness
Those who ride the tide of time, prosper and ascend. Those who fail to tame it, wither away. And then, as is the case with most things, there is a third category. They are the gentlemen and grand ladies who believe that they have what it takes to turn the tide of time around.
They, dearest sirs and ma’ams, are the special snowflakes. They come in all sizes and colours. There is no bar of religion, ethnicity, or geography. However, they all share a set of traits; belief in their own infallibility and inevitability of their existence for the greater good of their countries.
Out of hundreds of special snowflakes who are present across the world, I’ve picked the five who are the most representative of their lot.
Prince on a crusade
Meet Mohammad bin Salman aka MBS who has risen enough to become the de facto Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. The young prince was a non-entity a few years back. However, within a mere two years of his father, Salman bin Abdul Aziz becoming the king, it didn’t take long for Prince Muhammad bin Salman to become the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia.
Mohammad bin Salman, 32, is hell-bent to modernise Saudi Arabia. And to achieve this Herculean task, he is in process of taming Arabia’s ultraconservative clergy, sidelining and arresting ‘possible’ threats, planning to construct a 500 billion dollar city with its own laws and regulations, and ensuring that his bid to drag his country from its throat to moderation and progress meets success.
Also, last week MBS, in his bid to rid the country of corruption, has arrested dozens of princes, ministers and businessmen. They’ll be tried, prosecuted and held to account. Well, reminds one of Shakespearean tragedies. All the plot twists and rhetoric is there. The meteoric rise to power, the purge of opponents, the promises of a better future, the larger than life persona.
It is too early to tell whether MBS is an Othello, a Macbeth or Richard III.
The reign of Gujarat kaa lalla
Narendra Modi aka Gujarat kaa lalla –– as referred to by Arundhati Royal in her latest novel The Ministry of Utmost Happiness — has a repute of a doer. For his acolytes, he will do (and still is doing) everything and anything to usher India ahead. To his detractors, he is doing (and did) zilch but grave deeds. One man’s messiah is another man’s monster, no other idiom could encompass Shri Modi and how he is worshipped and loathed by many.
Finally, a lunatic runs the asylum
You know what happens when an egomaniac turned glorified buffoon gets to run the show called ‘leadership of the free world’? Disaster of cosmic proportions, this is what takes place. The world at large relishes in the senseless tomfoolery while wise gents and dames seethe. Fate, dearest sirs and ma’ams, has chosen the Honourable President of the United States of America Mr Donald Trump to single handedly catalyse America’s slow but certain perdition. And soon, it’ll be just another power that bit the dust.
The ascent of a tsar
A 65 years old Russian President Vladimir Putin, who looks 45 years old, talks with a passion and aggression of a 25-year-old and is physically virile like a 15-year-old has recently been termed as a tsar by The Economist. It is under the watchful gaze of President Putin that the 100 years of Russian Revolution came, were celebrated with passion, and went away. Putin is no Lenin, everybody knows. He may be a Stalin sans ideology, many fear.
Her majesty — the cornered lioness
In our Republic, things ain’t better or, for that matter, different either. The king is imperilled. The queen is sick. The two princes are cowards and mum. And the princess, well, she has reduced herself to a damsel in distress behaving like a cornered lioness. The sword of Damocles hangs over her family. And she wills to do anything and everything to escape a horrid, bleak future.
The princess desperately awaits a simple deus ex machina to turn around her romantic tale. A Knight in Shining Armour (since the one in khaki uniform didn’t live up to expectations) saving her from monstrous, surly, gown-wearing, gavel-holding villains? Her saviour has to protect her from things evil and creatures bad. And then she and all her royal family may live happily ever after. Will she have her happy ever after or not, only Lord Time will tell.
The visionary prince, the self-made lalla, the dim-witted dotard, the hard talking modern day tsar, and the cornered lioness project an image of invincibility. However, what they keep on forgetting is that the lies, whether told to the world or one’s own self, always seek and hunt their creator.