An ode to a King who lost his kingdom
An ode to a King who loved his people despite being a demon (asur)
An ode to a King who perished because he chose righteousness even in the face of death.
An ode to a King who chose to keep his “word” despite knowing that it would be the end.
In the age-old battle between Good and Evil, I wonder who gets to climb the moral high ground. On the one side there are Devas (suras) who petition the Gods to kill Bali merely because they’re envious of how powerful he was. And on the other side there is Bali who accepted his fate knowing fully well that there was no justice in the “fate” being meted out to him.
Perhaps what we see around the world today is only history repeating itself. Our current “Gods” that rule the country take sides based on your birth pedigree, turning every low born (read asura) righteous leader into another Bali – a martyr that performs the ultimate sacrifice (Bali).
Let this Onam be a tribute to all the Bali’s around us, and maybe when enough blood has been spilt, we’ll finally have justice.
