If wishes were horses and the Mayans were right

Let us, for a moment, ride with the tide and suspend belief. Let us pretend that the Mayans were right and that the world is going to end on December 21, 2012, just as they had prophesised. Ominously, their ancient calendar ends on that date.

Since we are being adventurous, let’s go a step further and mix the Mayan with the Hindu mythology, where the current age of Kalyug brings in evil, moral degradation and corruption in society. Strictly speaking, Kalyug should last close to half a million years; of which we have done just about 4,000 years. In that case we have a long way to go. However, for the sake of bonding with the Mayans, let us fudge figures massively and agree that for us too December 21, 2012, represents the end of the world. This prospect might bring grief to the corrupt but what a huge relief the end of Kalyug would be for the suffering masses. The scriptures hold out hope that a new cycle of civilization will begin then, and that the Satyug will follow!

As the conquest of evil calls for celebration, let’s count the number of reasons for that joy. You might say that since all would perish on December 21, the celebrations would have to be held posthumously at an address unknown. So what, the venue doesn’t matter as long as we are celebrating. And there would be enough to shout in joy about.

For one, we would no more have to worry about a problem called Pakistan. There wouldn’t be any more 26/11s to be wary of. And we need not be afraid any longer that they might sneak into Kargil or Siachen the moment we doze off; as we habitually do. Nor would we have to scan carefully a Rs500 currency note for genuineness every time someone hands us one.

We will also be free of the wails of Anna and his merry band of diverse accompanists who go off periodically on a tangent of their individual choosing. They would no longer have the amazing double ability of simultaneously rousing us and immediately deflating all hopes. Nor would we have to stand in the open in the scorching heat of Delhi as Anna holds his annual midsummer fast.

And we will also be free from the dilemma of political choice. Every few years the citizens of India are faced with same cast of political characters. Sometimes, a few may drop off due to death or some infirmity, but by and large it is the same set of politicians. Even so the problem was not so acute till recently; the contest was largely between the two major parties. But with the regional parties becoming a factor of importance on the national scene, the voter now has a multiple-choice format. The electoral list sometimes contains more names than he can count. How many
of them are worthy of his consideration is another matter.
But above all we, the large majority of Indians, wouldn’t have to make do with Rs30 or thereabouts a day for our daily bread. They say that up above there is no poverty line.

All of this is good news in a negative-negative sense; that we will be rid of our bothers definitively and once for all. And it hardly matters if we become dead news in the process! The important thing is that we would have achieved the ultimate bliss.
What, however, will be the shape of the world on December 22, 2012? Well, the Mayans thought that there was no need to start all over again. But the Hindu mythology takes a more optimistic view. It presents a clean new slate; the beginning of Satyug.

On a practical note let us try to imagine what it might mean for us Indians. First, and hopefully surely, Pakistan would be a part of some distant continent; the further away from us the better. Second, someone like Indira Gandhi would be our leader. She did have some aberrations like the period of Emergency, but hopefully it will be a much chastened Indira this second time; an Indira who doesn’t confuse India with herself. What India needs is a strong leader who projects and protects national interests. On this clean new global slate, the US should no longer have the exclusive right to write and establish the ground rules of international behaviour. Coming back to our own concerns, this Satyug should also usher in a stock market that only rises, and a consumer price index that keeps sliding down.

But all this is too good to be true; perhaps beyond the capacity of Gods as well. That’s why some new interpretations claim that the Mayans simply ran out of the stone to write on; and that there is no relief yet for the world. Therefore, December 22 might just bring us more of the same.

A former Ambassador, the writer is an artist and a novelist
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