HH, the Old Fox

In early November, I submitted a request to the office of the Dalai Lama, seeking an audience with him in order to obtain his blessings. After enquiries about why I needed his blessings at this precise juncture, my request was rejected. His Holiness had seen through my ploy. I was hoping to discuss with him both spiritual and temporal matters, especially the latter. And hopefully get a story. In the past, HH has been kind enough to grant me a darshan and our conversations have been nothing but political. (Inci-dentally, as a card-carrying agnostic, I was guilty of blasphemy: after one meeting, overcome by the aura of goodness surrounding him, I touched his feet.) Thus, it is sufficiently clear that besides being a Living God, HH is also a wily old fox who for 50 years has skilfully led the Tibetan freedom movement.

The pretence that he is merely a spiritual figure is humbug. If anything, he is incontrovertibly political and recognised as such. The Nobel Committee, when it gave him the peace prize, acknowledged the fact. The Chinese who loathe the “fraud” have reserved their worst moniker for him: splittist. We must not, then, be surprised if Beijing does not take our stand concerning an “honoured guest” going quietly about his spiritual duties too seriously. His presence in India is an extreme provocation for them.

Foreign countries (Holland, Denmark, Sweden, etc) which constantly advise us to play the Tibet card more forcefully have nothing to lose. India hosts not only the Dalai Lama but also 90,000 Tibetan refugees, many of them itching to launch a guerrilla war—possibly from Tawang. We have some domestic critics too who offer the same advice, which they believe will make China more accommodating on the border issue. Both sets of advice are dangerous and should be ignored. China is an insecure and paranoid world power obsessed with its national boundaries. We need to tread carefully.

In my conversations with His Holiness, I have found him acutely conscious of, and thankful for, the delicate balancing act that India is performing. That balancing act is not helped when the first public statement he makes in Tawang is highly political. If the MEA gave the Dalai Lama a one-way ticket to Hollywood, where he seems to be very popular, India’s border dispute with China would be solved in 48 hours. Which does not mean that I wish the Dalai Lama a speedy exit out of the country. India’s fault-finders, however, should appreciate the Great Game we are playing. And applaud us for our dexterity.

Arjun Shastra, Anyone?

For 2,000 years or more, Krishna’s received a very good press; and poor Arjun has been seen as a bit of a wimp. Krishna’s message to Arjun on the field of battle is to stop being squeamish and perform his dharma—which in this case means slaughtering his kith and kin. From here we derive this doctrine of selfless action which requires each Hindu to do his duty without worrying about its outcome. The Gita tells us that Krishna’s compelling and cogent arguments brought the reluctant warrior around. Triumph of reason over emotion, in a sense.

Now, for the first time, the tide is shifting. Krishna’s counsel of selfless action is being perceived as calculating and cruel, while Arjun’s reservations humane and noteworthy. Indeed, more and more philosophers and scholars are posing the question: Are consequences of actions irrelevant? Is dharma an end in itself? Amartya Sen told me in an interview: “Arjun’s position has much to commend it. I am not saying he should not have fought the war, but his doubts were not dismissible, in the way Krishna dismissed them.... The Mahabharata ends with success but also grief and desolation with women weeping for their lost men and funeral pyres burning in unison.”

Belated historical rehabilitation?

Auden for Me, Please

An opinion poll in Britain last month revealed that the crusty T.S. Eliot was the favourite poet of the English. Even Eliot aficionados were surprised at the choice. Many believe that W.H. Auden was more deserving of the honour. I fall in the Auden camp, whose life and memorable face (it was described as a “Christmas cake left out in the rain”) has entranced his fans as much as his verse.

Here is one of my Auden favourites: “Thou shalt not be on friendly terms with guys in advertising firms; nor speak to such that read the Bible for its prose; nor, above all, make love to those who wash too much.”

Editor’s No Stolen Good

Last week, Editor’s photo with bio-data was published in the Hindustan Times. A lady from Gurgaon saw it and rang to say that her dog (Editor’s doppelganger) had been stolen. I commiserated with her, but she was distraught. She said I had written that Editor was found in a ditch in Gurgaon—and her dog had been pinched from Gurgaon. I told her the resemblance was a coincidence. Moreover, her dog had been stolen “recently” while Editor was eight years old.

I may be a pseudo-secularist but I am not a dog thief!