question_answer 3)

How would you describe the behaviour of the Maharaja’s minions towards him? Do you find them sincere towards him or are they driven by fear when they obey him? Do we find a similarity in today’s political order?    

Answer:

Since the Maharaja's existence revolved around killing hundred tigers, his minions, driven by fear, obeyed him. Even the astrologer was afraid of predicting his death till the Maharaja told him to 'speak without fear'. Determined to fulfil his mission he threatened to confiscate the wealth and property of a person who dared to even fling a stone at the tiger. When the killing or seventy tigers brought with it an unforeseen hurdle of the tiger population becoming extinct, the Maharaja brandished his gun and insulted the dewan and ordered him to find the 'right girl from a state which possessed a large number of tigers. After the tiger farms had run dry even in his father-in-law's kingdom, he became sad. On getting the news of a tiger in a village he announced a three-year exemption from all taxes for that village and set out on the hunt at once. When the tiger was not found, many officers lost their Jobs and the land tax was doubled. The dewan knew that if the Maharaja did not find the tiger soon, the results could be catastrophic. So he got a tiger from the People's Park. But the Maharaja missed his target with the hundredth one. The people killed it lest they lose their jobs.   The minions were not sincere but feared him. They did not offer genuine advice. In today's political order, too, might is right or it is the 'Survival of the Fittest'. We have examples of autocratic rulers and dynastic monopolies throughout the world. The people of India know well how to oust tainted candidates; what stops them from doing so is their own self-interest. In many countries we see that the role of money, crime, electoral manipulation and muscle power greatly influences political decisions! Sycophants prevent those in power from seeing the truth.