“The Emperor is naked!” screamed the little child gleefully. That said it all!
Almost two hundred years ago, in April 1837, the noted Danish author Hans Christian Andersen had his short story “The Emperor's New Clothes” published in “The Little Mermaid”, as the third and final instalment of Andersen's “Fairy Tales Told for Children.” In essence, the story is about an arrogant Emperor who is finally exposed. The tale has made waves: translated into over one hundred languages, dramatised, and inspiring poems and songs; above all, it has become a powerful figure of speech.
The story is simple and direct. Andersen revelled in that style. The Emperor is self-centred and thinks no end of himself. He has a terrible obsession with fancy clothes. He ignores the burning issues destroying his empire and refuses to listen to the cries of his people.
One day, two crooks visit his palace. They pose as weavers and offer to make magnificent clothes for him. These clothes, they say, are invisible to those who are either incompetent, stupid, or ignorant of important matters. The gullible Emperor hires them. They set up looms and pretend to work. A succession of officials and courtiers (the Emperor’s “chamchas”), beginning with his wise, competent, all-knowing minister and ending with the Emperor himself, visit to check their progress. Each sees that the looms are empty but pretends otherwise, to avoid being regarded as a fool.
Finally, the all-important day arrives when the “weavers” loudly proclaim that the Emperor’s suit is complete. He strips off his royal finery, and while stark naked, the “weavers” mime dressing him. They applaud when they have “dressed” him, and the Emperor is delighted. He sets off with all pomp and pageantry in a procession before the whole city.
The people cheer endlessly. Even those who realise the reality uncomfortably go along with the pretence, not wanting to appear inept or stupid. Suddenly, from out of the blue, a little child screams in a shrill voice: “The Emperor is naked!” The people are startled. Some pretend they have not heard the child; some accept they have been fooled. The Emperor, too, hears the child. He is naturally rankled, but delusional and self-obsessed as he is, he does not care about the truth spoken from the lips of an innocent child. He continues unperturbed with the procession.
The story has several variations. Andersen himself adapted it from an ancient folk tale. Significantly, there is also an Indian version. The story appears in the “Līlāvatīsāra” by Jinaratna (1283), a summary of the now-lost anthology of fables “Nirvāṇalīlāvatī” by Jineśvara (1052). The dishonest merchant Dhana from Hastināpura swindles the king of Śrāvastī by offering to weave a supernatural garment that cannot be seen or touched by anyone of illegitimate birth. When the king supposedly wears the garment, his whole court pretends to admire it. The king is paraded through the city to show it off. When the common folk ask if he has become a naked ascetic, he realises the deception. By then, however, the swindler has fled, and the king becomes a laughingstock.
Whatever the variation or adaptation, the fable is an apt parable for our times. There are important lessons to be learned today. The dramatis personae have much to teach us: what not to be and what to be.
The Emperor
He holds sway on his throne with crown and sceptre. Power has gone to his head. He lives in the false belief that no one can touch him. He equates himself with God. He has decided that he has absolute power, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. The Emperor is arrogant, corrupt, and self-obsessed. He looks down on others and imprisons or kills those who dare question him. He is not accountable to anyone. He does not care and refuses to listen to the cries of his people. He is busy travelling the world, wearing fancy costumes, and of course, taking selfies. He has reached a pathetically low mental state – he is unable to realise that he is naked.
The Courtiers
These are the chamchas, the ones who sing praises of the Emperor and “hee and haw” before him. They are his crony capitalist friends, who know that if they remain on his right side, they can do as they please: loot the nation, plunder natural resources, buy huge tracts of land at a pittance, and amass wealth at the expense of the poor. They pay for full-page advertisements to celebrate the Emperor, convinced that flattery will pay rich dividends. They are sycophants, users of sycophancy – insincere flattery given to gain advantage from a superior.
The Weavers
They are the deceivers, the manipulators, the crooked ones who play decisive roles in today’s society. They know the tricks of the trade: how to take huge loans from banks and never repay them, how to beat the system by creating shell companies before demonetisation, how to rake in money through electoral bonds. Hence the phrase “to spin a yarn.” In Gujarat, in the context of kite-flying, one uses the term “lapate.” They master the art of telling a lie a thousand times until people start believing it is the truth. This is Goebbelsian – the art of lying and manipulation perfected by Hitler’s propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels.
The Proletariat
These are the ordinary people, the hoi polloi, on the streets. They are taken from schools, farms, slums, and villages, ferried by public transport, and given cold packed lunches. Never mind if they lose their daily wage. They are given flags to wave and told to shout “Long live the Emperor!” as he passes. They are given rose petals to shower on his chariot. Several still believe his false promise of “achhe din”. They live in hope of receiving money in their bank accounts which the Emperor has supposedly stashed abroad. Many are gripped with fear: they know the Emperor is naked, but if they speak out, they risk being jailed or even killed.
The Child
The child represents all those who stand up and cry out for justice and truth – those who have the conscience to speak truth to power, even at great personal cost. The child manifests four qualities essential for all today: Transparency, Humility, Integrity, Simplicity (THIS). The very opposite of what the Emperor manifests. Moreover, the Emperor lacks the humility to listen to the spontaneous words of truth from a child. The Emperor is naked.
It is significant that in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (18:3). He says this to his disciples after they asked who was the greatest in the kingdom, emphasising humility, dependence on God, and a trusting, childlike faith as prerequisites for entering God’s kingdom.
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, the architect of our Constitution, gave a long but passionate speech to the Constituent Assembly on 25 November 1949, the eve of the Constitution’s adoption. His words set the vision and spirit of what the new Constitution should mean for the people of India. Ambedkar said:
“If we wish to maintain democracy not merely in form, but also in fact, what must we do? The first thing in my judgement we must do is to hold fast to constitutional methods of achieving our social and economic objectives…. Where constitutional methods are open, there can be no justification for (…) unconstitutional methods. These methods are nothing but the Grammar of Anarchy and the sooner they are abandoned, the better for us. The second thing we must do is to observe the caution which John Stuart Mill has given to all who are interested in the maintenance of democracy, namely, not to lay their liberties at the feet of even a great man, or to trust him with power which enable him to subvert their institutions. In politics, Bhakti or hero-worship is a sure road to degradation and to eventual dictatorship. The third thing we must do is not to be content with mere political democracy. We must make our political democracy a social democracy as well. Political democracy cannot last unless there lies at the base of it, social democracy.”
Dr. Ambedkar challenges us today to say fearlessly, in one voice – like the little child in Hans Andersen’s story – “The Emperor is naked!”
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*Human rights, reconciliation, and peace activist/writer, has received several international and national awards
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