Write the story of Melon city in 100 words
Answers
The tale of melon city
By:-vikram seth
Theme
In the tale of melon city vikram seth lampoons the idiosyncratic and idiotic governance that is thrust on people sometimes. The bureaucracy and the professionals keep passing the buck in the poem. No one is ready to own up their folly. Seth also satirizes the lackadaisical attitude of the common people in choosing their rulers although the kind of the ruler they have directly affects the quality of their lives. The poem shows that law is not only blind it can also spell disaster if it is thoughtlessly implemented.
“The king’s sense of justice is absurd”
The king has been described as just and placid. He is neither of the two. He may appear to be just to his foolish and sycophantic courtiers and ministers but not to a man of rational thought. In fact the king’s idea of justice is quite ludicrous it is not based on logic, reason and evidence. It is an outcome of his stupidity and whimsical fancies. He cannot decide as to who is guilty in the case of low arch. When his subjects grow restless for justice he hastily orders that someone or the other must be hanged to pacify the crowd. The hangings he thinks would signal that justice at last has been done.
Then the way the suitable culprit is searched for is most ridiculous. Poor king, he pays a heavy price for being a nincompoop and is hanged for a crime he never committed. What is funny is that he himself sign the royal decree of his execution. Can there be anything more stupid more absurd than this?
‘This is a disgrace”
One day when the arch was ready the king happened to ride down that thoroughfare and his crown was knocked off due to the law arch that had been constructed. He is beside himself with rage and terms the fall of his crown as a disgrace and orders the chief of builder’s to be executed.
“King as just and placid”
The king has been described as just because he was fanatic about dispensing justice. He somehow wanted to decide the case of arch by hanging any suitable person. He usually remained calm or placid, until something as serious as the fall of his crown took place the description of the king as just and placid is rather ironical.
“Long live the king! The king is dead”
It is an age old tradition of monarchy not to leave the throne of the king vacant even in the event of his death. Thus, whenever a king died, a new king was ordained before the funeral of the dead king. The subject in such a situation would say, ‘the king (old) is dead, long live the king (new)”.
“king’s men were described as practical-irony”
The king’s men were practical in the sense that they immediately got down to select a new king after the previous king was hanged by a royal decree. Unfortunately they were not wise and farsighted enough to see their foolishness in hanging their own king for no fault of his.
“King wanted to postponed consideration of finer points like guilt”
The case of the arch was taking too long to be decided. Meanwhile the king’s subjects grew restless and demanded justice. The king decided to postpone the finer points like who was really guilty in the arch case and ordered someone to be hanged to quell public outrage.
“Making an idiot choose a king”
By making an idiot choose the king. Vikram seth only wishes to highlight how the thoughtless and foolish people go about choosing irresponsible governments and then adopt a lackadaisical attitude to the powers that be as long as they are allowed to live.