CHENNAI: Have you ever thought what it would be like to have Chanakya, the renowned strategist of fourth century, reincarnate? The author of Arthashastra who helped Chandragupta Maurya rise up as the king of Maurya dynasty, is now back as our everyday politician in Timeri N Murari’s new book Chanakya Returns.
“He could be anyone, any politician you relate him to,” the author says, speaking at the launch of the book at Odyssey, Adyar. Soon, the names of Narendra Modi, Sonia Gandhi, Amit Shah and Jayalalithaa are suggested from the audience. He graciously nods to them, and repeats, “Yes, anyone!”
According to Timeri, though Chanakya is from an era of 2,000 years ago, whatever he said then is still relevant. In the book, the present day Chanakya remembers bits and pieces from his past. And to bring out a physical resemblance, the Chanakya in the book has a partly burnt face, given the Chanakya of the past is said to have been ugly. Timeri says that initially, while working on the book, Chanakya was nowhere in the scene. “But as I read my first few drafts, I realised that a character similar to Chanakya was shaping up. So I went back and read what is left of the Arthashastra today,” he recalls.
In the book, Chanakya says that people are the same today as they were 20 centuries ago. Probably, the princes and courtyards of the yore have been replaced by the rich businessmen and their bungalows. What about the stringent rules of the past, we ask. “It is said that Chanakya advised Chandragupta to cut a hand of those who were corrupt. Of course, all this cannot be done now. Most of our politicians and bureaucrats would walk one-armed then,” says Timeri with a laugh. In the book, the present day Chanakya is more like a goodwill supporter to the president’s daughter. One, who knows that the president is corrupt and does not want his daughter to follow the same path. He advises the daughter to become an able ruler and replace her dad, explains Timeri.
While there is no question that politics makes for a major part of the book, for Timeri, it was a story of a family, a dysfunctional family with politics in the background. “Just like any other family, say from a corporate world, it is a story about love and the relationship among them,” he says. However, what inspired him to write the book was the ‘dreadful situation in politics’ today. “There are so many dynasties. Every politician’s family is in politics. It’s more like a family business. Every politician’s daughter or son is in politics. It’s sort of like taking over a company,” he says with a sigh.
Known for his work Taj: A story of Mughal India and The Taliban Cricket Club, Timeri confesses to having a penchant for Indian history. “In Taj I wrote about the British period between 1900 and 1980. History has always been a favourite part of my life. It’s the stuff I like to write about,” he says. And while we await his next release, he leaves it a mystery as to whether it will be a sequel to Chanakya Returns.