Thanks Abhay for the generous words of appreciation (for my previous post)!!
...yes Abhay, I agree that cvs will definitely not reduce Akbar's lineage and legacy to a mere unfolding of Mahamanga's curse!!...yes maham has issued a challenge and jodha has accepted it...and history bears witness to jodha and jalals victory over those who wished them ill...the triumph of good over evil...the triumph of truth over falsehood...
...However, it is a possibility that cvs may show that the twins did not die a natural death but were murdered...and maybe maham had a hand in it, that is if cvs retain her for that long...if the twins are shown to die an unnatural death then its definitely not the curse working...nor the hand of God...but the hand of a lesser mortal...agree Abhay that Salim was no naafarman...his differences with Akbar cannot be interpreted as naafarmani...the curse of kids born to great parents is that their lives are often reduced to an unfair comparison...their parents become a paradigm that the kids can at best closely approximate but never really manage to reach or realize it...Salim was no exception...he was simply his own person...not lesser or greater than jalal...
Abhay there are a few things that I would like to share with you and your readers today...hence the lengthy post!!...so apologies in advance for the torture!!
The remainder of my post is divided into two segments and the points of reference for both the segments is the writings of Abul Fazl...so here goes...
SEGMENT 1
Abul Fazl writes that a just and successful king is one who has the ability to acquaint himself with the nature and character of man and dispense with the affairs of the state accordingly. Fazl classifies human nature in the following way...and in order of hierarchy thus:
1. The Sagacious Man - who is prudent and therefore is the fittest candidate for the king to consult in state affairs.
2. The Man of Good Intentions- who is full of good intentions himself but that does not extend to others.
3. The Simple Man- who does not wear the badge of excellence but keeps away from wicked deeds.
4. The Inconsiderate Man- who harms others.
5. The Vicious Man- he who not only harms others but plunges the whole world into grief. According to Fazl the king should treat this category as a leper and confine him away from humanity and mankind.
@bold...If Abul Fazl's classification of human character is to be followed then Mahamanga would definitely fall under the last category!!...and interestingly in the serial JA this is exactly the punishment meted out to maham after her exposure by jalal...if one recalls jalals dialogue in DEK after maham is rendered defenceless by jalal...jalal ordered maham to be locked up in solitary confinement, far away from humanity so that she is not in a position to harm others and thereby increase her burden of sins!!...so maybe the cvs are always not as bad as we make them out to be...they surely seem to have done their homework this time...and lo and behold!!...cv's jalal actually conforms to Fazl's conception of the ideal king of Mediaeval India, who incidentally happened to be the real Akbar!!
SEGMENT 2
Abul Fazl on death of the twins ( often quoted in forum) : "...These two unique pearls of the ocean of holiness returned to the ample domain of the other world after one month. They flung down the coin of their lives for their father. His Majesty felt grieved at the departure of those two early fruits, but trod the pleasant path of acquiescence and resignation, for to the farseeing there is no remedy save submission and resignation against the inevitable Divine decrees...".
...I have read this passage many many times...over and over again...and every time I have read it, I have been left with a distinct and uncomfortable feeling that Fazl is trying to tell the world something more that what is obvious...Abhay look at the sentence in bold...look at the words chosen by Fazl...look at the way the sentence has been constructed... flung down...aggressive use of words by Fazl... Does it not seem to suggest force or violence...that perhaps their death was not natural but brought on by force' and violence'...and then again if you take the sentence in its entirety... They flung down the coin of their lives for their father... For their father?...does it not suggest that the twins sacrificed their lives for their father?...or if I may rephrase that...Akbar paid the price of being an Emperor??...is Fazl trying to imply, through the clever use of words, that the twins death was not natural??... every time I read these lines it almost seems to me that Fazl was trying to tell us something...something that he is not at liberty to explicitly state...that there is more than what meets the eye...that there is much to be read between the lines...for surely Fazl's choice and positioning of words in that sentence in bold was deliberate and not an accident!...the thoughts that I have penned here have haunted me for long...yes I am aware of the fact that there is documented proof stating that the twins died of illness...however that could just be the official version' or the version that survived the ravages of time...as much of history is about versions' and perceptions' ...as history has been repeatedly made' and unmade' by those at the helm of power...and here Abul Fazl's play of words seem to suggest a different history...
...Though such a possibility has plagued me for long...I bring it up at this juncture as the turn that the story has taken in JA seems to suggest that perhaps the cvs too are intrigued by Fazl's rather telling choice of words...(though I feel anything but flattered at being equated with the cvs!!)...however irrespective of which path the cvs decide to tread...these lines by Fazl will continue to haunt me with their questions...
P.S. : Thank you for bearing with such a tedious post...!!
Indian Idol 15
