There is no definitive answer to a number of queries which are exploding in my head. I wish I can list them down and answer them one by one. But unfortunately even doing that won’t solve my purpose because each passing day they become more complex. I don’t know how I will emerge out of it. Started thinking and managed to come up with this....
LOSER...
Shodam-e’- waqt, ya waqt-e’-shodam (LOST IN TIME, or TIME LOST)
I don’t know when I wrote this or why I wrote this. It’s like skeletons inside my head. I mean you may laugh at this thought. No issues. These days everyone does the same, even the city laughs at me, in fact it mocks me but what I am saying is also trueI - I can’t sleep at night. And that’s why I’m like this. I’m trying to forget everything by all means. I don’t want to lose a single moment. I have lost enough.
So, if last week I arranged for a tussle between two mad elephants, yesterday it was an orgy night, today I haven’t thought of it but perhaps a dance competition may be an apt thing. I’ve been blessed by the merciful god with two nimble feet and I can outdo anyone when it comes to dancing but that’s history now. These days I don’t dance. In fact nobody dance these days unless they are forced to. This city has lost its pulse. It now acts only when it’s forced and the same stands true for its natives. We all are losers.
You may have heard of losers, there are many examples, right from the holy Quran to the folklores of the infidels. These days I have taken a fancy for astrologers and dervishes. What an irony, a loser like me is resorting to fortune tellers. Inside the Red Fort, I’ve heard that people sometimes pay a coin or more to these idiots and ask their fortune as well. I’ll be honest with you. I know there is nothing left for me. I know everything is lost and the worst is yet to come. But I see those fortune tellers because they give me false hope; they say that I’ll not be counted as a loser. All Losers looking for that elusive hope...
I have lost the Peacock Throne. I have lost the Kohinoor. I have lost faith of my people. Nadir Shah raped this city. I stood there, looked at her clothes being shredded, her lips mauled, thighs spread and being mounted upon. I wept. Yes I wept, bitterly. But I didn’t do anything. I just stood. This was when they coined me loser. Muhammad Shah, the Emperor of Hindustan, the son of the Timurids, the king who was known as “Rangeela” lost everything.
From that day we decided we’ll try to forget this, avenge this shame. We can’t go to Iran, Nadir has a strong army. Can’t wage a war or make Delhi a virgin again. So we decided to celebrate her shame. Make her popular, just like a saucy, sexy belle and we did achieve that. Now historians may say my rule was full of debauchery and illegitimacy but will they realise why I did it? I wanted to sleep. And all of us in this city know that we’re losers. Just that we are not sure whether it was time lost or it should be lost in time.
Shodam-e’- waqt, ya waqt-e’-shodam
This was written by Muhammad Shah, also known as Roshan Akhtar and popularly called ‘Rangeela’. Nadir Shah looted Delhi during his regime. Not only he lost the popular Peacock Throne to him but also the famous Kohinoor Diamond. Rangeela died 9-years after the invasion of Delhi. You can google for more details of his interesting rule.
4 comments:
Wow! A captivating character; I can't wait to google him!
This reminds me of a novel by Singh titled Delhi. I don't remember it very much but the 'virgin' metaphor brought it to my mind.
Good to see you back D; as for Enchantress of Florence, hehe, she might have to wait until summer, and going by the comment you left, it'd be just fine if I postponed my encounter with the enchantress indefinitely...am I right?
loser – n. A person who has fallen off the social ladder, climbed down the social ladder, jumped off the social ladder, or just never bothered to climb the social ladder in the first place. Upon arrival on the ground, losers begin to befriend fellow groundlings and realize how much fun a person can have when gravity isn’t an issue.
It is perfectly acceptable to insult losers, because they have nowhere to fall to and it won’t hurt much. They will end up laughing about it later, anyways. Every now and then, a loser will glance at the top of the social ladder, but it is never long before they realize how pointless and stupid the top of the ladder is.
just though of sharing...
Thx III...but I think you should review it...I want to buy it...coz I wanna see how he treated Akbar...which by all means is the most tricky Mughal King to write about.
Dear Phoebz...
First of all thanks checking this space. I really liked your definition of a loser. But this definition mixes with my definition of being unsuccessful, if we can remove the part of "Never bothered to climb"...
I wish i can access your blog..am sure will be a good read.
Dear D,
I am glad to have found way to this space. It interests me how simply one can put across his/her point of view, ideas, something which ihave been trying hard to learn.
I would be more than happy to have you visit my blog.
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