Mongol mongrel

I have for some while believed I must be a descendant of Genghis Khan. My masi sees the hint of Naga in my eyes. And surgeries aside, I have strong limbs. But tis not the physical that binds me to that tradition. It’s the simplicity of laws that he came up with, at least as far as I could gather from the film Mongol. Views on how things ought to be run for which you’d be willing to kill and for which far more importantly, you’d be willing to give up your life. The point is not to be morbid. Or to be under attack for having conceived of the possibility of killing. I'm not sure I have the gumption to be violent. But my greatgrand-dada was a local Benarasi roman rings wrestler. And my dada blew up the famous Kakori train in protest against the British. I have no gandhian remorse for being free of ahimsa at an ideological level for starters.

What disturbed me for a moment was Genghis Khan’s rule that people must obey their Khan. There's that element of totaliarianism that we can never seem to get away from. But then I wondered how he was different from Jesus who told people to give the government what was theirs. And today we have a strong tradition of taxation. Give the Khan what is his and he will provide for you. So many aspects of our lives run by feudal lords still. So at this point, I am somewhat persuaded that this principle was 'democratic' (certainly the democracy that we currently practice) and a precursor to the magna carta that has been given carte blanche as the first instance of institutionalized democracy. Besides he went to war just to bring back his stolen wife who had strong legs and strong everything else. So I am glad to be his descendant.