Page 16 - Tales Apocalyptic and Dystopian

The Mount of Darjeela

not mount an attack against the upstarts; elephants are no match for
self-propelled neutron grenades. The secrets of waging war at the
most devastating level were in the hands of the renegades. So it was,
my children, that a crisis grew to proportions of impressive enormity.
But here we are today, secure in our prosperity. Such is the genius of
India that a way was found to solve the problem and re-unite the
contending parties.”
The guru raked his charges with a challenging glance.
“And what is our greatest strength, eh? Who had kept our society
together through famine, through drought, through the long period
of decimation by invasion and communal violence? Was it the fat
Brahmin, bathing an idol in honey and ghee? The addle-pated prince,
playing with jewels and concubines in the palace garden? The
merchant in the bazaar, counting his katis of hidden grain? The
illiterate warrior, boasting of violent deeds? No, my children, it was
none of them. It was the babu, the small innocuous bureaucrat, who
averted catastrophe and saved the day.”
Fidgeting spontaneously erupted in several quarters of the room.
Sensing it, Bhastrika accelerated his delivery.
“Always a man is looking toward his own interest, you see. And
that can tear apart the fabric of society, unless the self-interest of
enough men is involved with keeping it together. Is that egoism?
When you are older, you will understand that the higher realms of
duty are indistinguishable from those of personal salvation. For now,
you must simply grasp the fact that the true center of power in the
earthly dominion is the civil service, a body of petty officials and
clerks whose vision as individuals is often characterized as narrow
and conservative, and whose morality is held up for ridicule as
corrupt and selfish. This may be true, but they are a powerful
counterweight to the ambitions of men whose radical ideas would
destroy the land they hope to conquer or reform.”
“The renegade scientists were on the verge of breaking away
with their knowledge and power, leaving behind rulers with no
choice but to engage in another struggle to regain that
technology. The kings would not stand for the loss of prestige,
the warriors the loss of face, the merchants the loss of business, the
priests the loss of authority. None of them saw any way to solve the
problem but to fight to the finish, all or nothing. They had no mental

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