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Wednesday December 31, 1969

"The Lion King" and Indian History

By Arun Gupta

It is many years since The Lion King was screened in theaters. I had seen that

movie countless times, thanks to the insistence and cry of my child. Sometimes that is the

only way I can do my work in home. "Put the Lion King video in the TV and do the

office work in home" was my mantra for almost 3 years. I can sing those songs without

even thinking and I know which dialog a character is going to speak next. ( I am not proud

of that)

For no apparent reason, I started watching the movie for the nth time with interest and

thoughtfulness (My child, when cranky, insists that I should watch the movie together)

Out of boredom, I started calling "Scar" as Jai Chand and hyenas as

  terrorists.

Then, somehow, the whole movie then falls in place. The story of Lion King becomes the

apocryphal history of India. Indian kings who ruled India with justice and fair play.

Hindu wisdom telling Simba that every living creature has a place of its own and everyone

is connected in the cycle of life. "Of course we eat the antelopes, But when we die,

we become the grass and the antelopes eat the grass.. You see Simba, everyone is connected

in the cycle of life".

When the Indian kings fought against the invaders in the ancient India, the main reason

why Indian kings were defeated was that the Indian Kings were following a code of war. As

specified in the Mahabharata, the sun falls in the west, the entire war stops. The wounded

are cared for and the died were given the last rites and prepare for the war on next day.

But the invaders did not have such rules. They just were on war and even had a saying that

everything is fair in love and war. The bottom line is that the Indian kings and the

invaders had a different set of rules (if the invaders had a set of rules).

Of course the loss of the Indian sovereignty is due to the "Scar"s in our own

land. There were too many Jai Singhs to count in a hand.

Then, of course, the Pride lands fall under the rule of hyenas who care least for the

wisdom of the ages and the philosophy behind the Indian civilization. These hyenas were

constantly attacking the civilization with the help of the scars and the other Jai Singhs.

We had been ruled by the hyenas for the last 1000 years. The land became a desert, and the

damages everywhere. The plunder and the destruction is blamed on the wisdom of the

civilization itself by these hyenas.

Women were forced to immolate themselves for the fear of loss of dignity at the hands

of hyenas. Then the hyenas tell the whole world that the self-immolation is an abominable

practice of the pride land civilization.

Once the Pride lands is taken over by "Scar"s using cunning and back

stabbing, the young simba is driven out of pridelands with guilt in his mind, that he is

responsible for the killing of the father of the nation.

Simba is living in faraway lands living off worms ignoring his responsibility to Pride

Lands and its civilization. With the help of the Nala, his childhood sweetheart he is

reminded of his responsibility. The retainer of the wisdom of Hinduism and the teacher (

you can call that monkey as Hanuman or RSS. It does not matter), he is reminded of the

work and propelled into action.

Simba takes over the kingdom and establishes the rule of law and brings back the wisdom

of the ages.

Still the shadow lands beyond the Pride Lands teaming with the hyenas ready to pounce

upon the civilization that holds every creature (including hyenas) in respect and accords

a place for them in the great cycle of life. Every now and then, we do get "news from

the underground sir, the hyenas on the pride lands" These terrorists are to be

stopped with vigilance and strength.