Being Wise

Being Wise

The Wise King 

       Once there ruled in the distant city of Wirani a king who was both mighty and wise. And he was feared for his might and loved for his wisdom. Now, in the heart of that city was a well, whose water was cool and crystalline, from which all the inhabitants drank, even the king and his courtiers; for there was no other well.

         One night when all were asleep, a witch entered the city, and poured seven drops of strange liquid into the well, and said, "From this hour he who drinks this water shall become mad." Next morning all the inhabitants, save the king and his lord chamberlain, drank from the well and became mad, even as the witch had foretold.

         And during that day the people in the narrow streets and in the market places did naught but whisper to one another, "The king is mad. Our king and his lord chamberlain have lost their reason. Surely we cannot be ruled by a mad king. We must dethrone him."

        That evening the king ordered a golden goblet to be filled from the well. And when it was brought to him he drank deeply, and gave it to his lord chamberlain to drink.

         And there was great rejoicing in that distant city of Wirani, because its king and its lord chamberlain had regained their reason. ... Khalil Gibran

        It was 7.30 pm I was at a big square at Nagpur waiting for green. It was a long wait. Suddenly a bike rider by my side zoomed in top gear, crossed the square and disappeared. Before I realized anything two more followed him in seconds. I waited for almost a minute and changed gears only when it was green. There was no traffic police around probably this prompted those young bikers to jump the signal. Couple of days passed by I was at a square at Nagpur waiting for the green. It was around noon and traffic was not so dense, not many vehicles there, a holiday might be the reason. Two three bikers swiftly jumped the signal. I was tempted to follow them. I tried to but my body did not follow my heart it fortunately followed my mind. Though there was an urge to move my bike stayed in neutral. I was little uncomfortable as I could not muster up enough courage to follow them. There was no police there so I would easily have gone my way. But simply I could not.

        A same city, not my own, I was at a different square and different timing but similar situation. Scarce traffic was tempting the riders to jump the signal. Soon two bikers in front of me moved in spite of red. I desperately wanted to follow but just couldn’t. The one behind me stared honking to push me. My heart was eager but mind was not willing. One more biker behind me honked. I finally made up my mind and moved. It was still red but I didn’t stop. The bikers behind me followed. We crossed the square in the desired direction. I started thinking about what happened. A simple incident, though it took few lines to express it took seconds to happen. A thought came to my mind that twice before that day I did not jump the signal. I resisted the urge but third time I did it. Invited by bikers in front and pushed by bikers behind I did break the jinx.

            A win may be of my heart over my mind. Really … surprising… I broke the rule. Twice I couldn’t but finally I did it. All I needed was a motivation and a sense that I too have followers and yes no police. No traffic as such four five persons were easily breaking the rule. I had little hesitation but I followed them, though in the wrong direction. I was part of the crowd, not alone, I had no fears, I had company rather I was one of them.

      It took time for me to realize it was that dormant small element of the wise king in me that ultimately followed the crowd.   In the brilliant story of Khalil Gibran the mighty king drinks from the well to survive as king for he realizes that if he doesn’t he would lose crown. What an assessment of psychology of leadership who believes only in survival. A small element of wise king resides in all of us. It unknowingly comes to fore in different manifestations. In our own life, necessities are frequently guided by comparisons. Often our needs, our coveted life styles are mere derivatives of comparisons. We rarely decide purely on the basis of what we want, what kind of life style we love?  We just want to follow somebody else to be in vogue. If everybody possesses it then it becomes mandatory for me to have it. Only few can resist the pressure of being different. If only we resist the madness of comparisons and possessions our life would be less stressful. How often we follow society just because everybody around is doing it else we might be labeled mad.  

           In the story the mighty king had only two choices either to drink from the well and be like everybody or allow his crown to be threatened. He wisely chooses madness to survive. When the crowd is emotionally charged up and when individuals lose intellectual identity anybody appealing wisdom is labeled mad. Those who surrender independent thinking to crowd start judging the wisdom of others in the reflection of their own madness, the obvious result is the casualty of wise men. What we see today as character of most of the leaderships that it prefers to follow what crowd wants and not what is good for society. We see leaders who retain power at the cost of their own thinking of what is good for people. Why blame them people want Wise Kings to rule. The fear of losing power itself is understandable. When gaining or retaining power remains the sole objective, becoming one with the madness of crowd turns into wisdom. 

        Societies, communities survive on the elements of similarity. When vested interests are closely linked to rigid rules of unity, the voice of dissent chokes. For members then the choice is to surrender intellectual independence or get label of madness and the Leaders also are left with two choices follow the community or get dethroned. When society is vulnerable to emotional appeals of survival, of safeguarding its interests challenging the rule of law becomes a tool to establish leadership. And then even a hint of possibility of new emerging leadership tempts the established leaders to drink from the well to be part of the crowd. The voice of dissent becomes madness, the refusal to follow crowd disqualifies you for leadership. All along it then is easy to manipulate and command people on their emotional vulnerability. Wise people led by Wise Kings.

         History is replete with individuals and leaders drinking from the well. But the choice of drinking from the well is always personal. When the King drinks from the well he finds equivalent in Gibran’s Wise King but can never become the great King whose legend survives for generations. In our own experience we know in the violent madness of homicide and revenge the man preaching peace and humanity receives bullets.

That happened after our independence... continued in the past and present is no different.
If we seek equivalent in people of Wirani, Wise Kings are sure to rise.
Choice is ours.

But often we wanted Wise Kings and Wise Kings…needed us

And that’s the tragedy…