The Last King of Nepal   Gyanendra walked through the gates. Women decked in golden necklaces and ringlets around their noses bowed their heads at him, touching the tips of their right hand to their heads in greeting. They smiled, welcoming him. In synchrony, their left hands pulled their colorful sarees to the side as their right hands extended out, greeting him towards the heavenly gardens.   Gyanendra Shah, blinked, smiled and stepped forward. His gait was slow, trying to take everything around him in. There were trees filled with lush hanging fruit. The smell of honey suckle flowers permeated the air around. Bees playfully buzzed around. A small group of musicians were playing the tabla, harmonica and vina in a corner. A dancing girl with tiny waist but heavy red top jiggled her neck a top her body as she spun around in a shear yellow dress, in sync to the music.   Gyanendra blinked. “Where am I?”   “Sire, you have died, and have come to heaven,” One of the apsaras, Sushila said.   Gyanendra looked troubled. “Died? I died….what?”   Sushila, smiled. She was used to these reactions from the new comers to heaven. It was always, naturally, a bit of a shock. But then, that was Sushila and her other associate apsara’s job to make the transition from human life to heavenly life as smooth as possible. Gyanendra was the latest candidate for their welcoming committee to address.   Sushila bowed her head, as she postrated in namaste, as she smiled and spoke, “Sire, as you have read in the Bhagavad-gita, for the soul there is no birth or death at anytime. It simply moves from bodies to bodies based on their karma. You, sir, have simply assumed a heavenly body because your body made of matter stopped functioning.”   “But I don’t understand,” Gyanendra bewildered, shook his head. “I was just fine. I was staying with my wife, Komal at the Nagarjun Palace….Paras and Hemani were supposed to visit from Singapore…I was preparing for…” Gyanendra’s voice trailed off trying to get a grip on where he was just a few days ago, and where he found himself today.   Sushila nodded her head understandably. “You had a heart attack that night. It was in your sleep. You went peacefully.”   Gyanendra’s face darkened with gravity. His jowls became more pronounced as he looked down, slowly accepting the reality of his situation.   “I understand what you are going through, Sire. Most people who leave their circumstance on earth go through what you’re going through. Now it is time for you to enjoy the benefits that you performed in your human life. I understand it will take you a little time to adjust in your new situation in the heavens. But rest be assured that we will do all at our disposal to make your stay in the heavens as pleasant as possible. For now let us show you your temporary quarters as we make a permanent arrangement for you,” Sushila said.   The next few days, the apsaras got him a mini-palace and flowing light pastel colored clothes, as is the fashion in the heavens. They wanted to make sure that he acclimatize himself as quickly as possible in the heavens. Sushila also knew that the previous Shah kings who were also in the heavens wanted to have a meeting with Gyanendra. They were insistent that they wanted to talk to Gyanendra immediately, but Sushila had held her ground. “Gyanendra needs some time for getting used to the fact that he is dead and now in heaven, like all of you did when you first arrived. And he is going to get that space.”   Of course the Shah king’s weren’t thrilled with her answer. They, who were used to getting their way from their subjects, back when they were in Nepal, now, had to follow the guidelines of the apsaras in the heavens. It really cramped the Shah kings’ style. But, grumblingly, they were learning to follow how things worked up here in the heavens.   Finally, when Sushila felt that Gyanendra had accepted his new situation and felt that he was well adjusted enough to life up here in the heavens, she arranged for him to meet the Shah Kings. She arranged the meeting in the open air, in the Rose Garden. The garden was surrounded by lush green thickets, blossoming with roses. Yellow, red, black, purple and even some navy dark blue roses showed their curvy petals as they bloomed, hanging lazily off their thorny branches. Sushila had arranged for serbet to be served in golden goblets from a silver pitcher with bronze adornments. The pitcher was studded with green and blue stones. It was all arranged on top of a black granite table. Benches were arranged in a circle around this large table. Up above, the sky was blue with lazy clouds drifting about and birds gazing down at the party unfolding underneath them.   Gyanendra Shah walked into the garden, accompanied with Sushila. The Shah Kings stood up to greet the latest member of their family who had arrived in the heavens. Tribubhan, Mahendra and Birendra who knew Gyanendra most intimately, got up to open their arms in greeting him. After all the niceties and pleasantries with everyone, they all sat down. Gyanendra could feel the mood suddenly turning for the serious.   Prithivi Narayan Shah, as the oldest of them, generally spoke first in these meetings. But the rest of the Shah kings could see that he was in somewhat of a bad mood.  “You know, it wasn’t easy, conquering all those kingdom’s and consolidating them. Most of the rest of you Shah king’s, my decendants, had it easy, because I busted my tail, consolidating all those lands.” “Yeah, yeah, I’m sure you heard about all those tales about Gorakhnath’s blessing and all that. But just because of that, do you not think that I didn’t have to work hard? Do you think that I didn’t have to conquer my fears? Do you not think that I didn’t have to muster all the cunning, diplomacy and strategies in order for me to achieve what I did? And all the rest of you Shah Kings, it almost seemed like the rest of you just lounged around and had life easy because I had done all the hard work for you.”   The Shah Kings shifted uncomfortably in their seats. Each looked at the other’s faces, trying to find the words to say. None came.   Mahendra, being one of the bolder of the kings, seeing the silence, said, “Well, you definitely did consolidate Nepal into what it began. And it is true that we even lost some of the initial consolidation between what you and Bahadur Shah had achieved. That was unfortunate. We shouldn’t have lost that land to India. “For what it’s worth, I did try to position Nepal in a stronger light internationally. I did try to raise Nepal’s status. I had to do a lot of what you did, in terms of consolidating power also. You did it by conquering kingdoms. I did it, to some degree, by tightening my grip on civil society. It wasn’t easy. But we don’t live in times like yours, grand father. “The world has become a lot more civil. Western societies are spreading democracy everywhere. People have access to media. Being a poor country, our people are more susceptible to the big dreams that Westerners paint for them about what Nepal should be and what it could be. “I, for my part, did all I could to protect the poor and illiterate from letting their imaginations get the better of them. I tried to keep as tight grip on the media and other things in Nepal as I could. I know I was hated by the democratic political parties for it. But, in the end, I think the Nepali people look back on me and see me as a strong, if shrewd king, who did what he needed to in order to maintain stability and civility in society.”   Prithivi Narayan nodded to Mahendra. He said, “Well, I’m not necessarily pointing fingers. But, whatever the case may be, the situations where we lost power should never have happened. First, while being king’s some of the Shah King’s lived as puppets in our own palaces. This was disgraceful.”   Hearing these words, the Shah king’s that had remained as puppets during Rana rule, cringed and looked down at their feet. This was why they tried to avoid these meetings all together. These meetings were so uncomfortable. It wasn’t like they had fun being kings during a time when the Rana Ministers had power. Did Prithvi Narayan think that they enjoyed being Kings during times like that? Why couldn’t he understand what they went through during their rule? It was rough, damnit. It was very suffocating and humiliating being crowned a king with no power over your own subjects.     Tribubhan eased in. “Well, as a desperate and only gesture that I saw, as you all well know, that was why I took refuge at the Indian Embassy, along with Mahendra and Birendra, during the Rana rule.” Tribubhan nodded his head to his son and grandson. Both Mahendra and Birendra tipped their heads back to Tribubhan. Tribubhan continued, “You all know the rest of the story of how the Rana Ministers finally managed to relinquish their positions and we reinstated the power back to the people in the 1950’s.”   The rest of the king’s nodded their head. “But we lost everything now. Everything,” Prithvi Narayan said.   All eyes locked in on Gyanendra, and then glanced away to different corners of the garden. Gyanendra, his mouth suddenly dry, wiped his brow and brought his trembling sherbet goblet to his lips, sipping it. He self-consciously cleared his throat. “Yes…,” he stuttered. “Yes I understand how you all must feel….” He sighed. “I…I in some ways anticipated that you would want to meet and talk to me once I arrived here. I come here with a heavy heart. This has been a great source of stress for me even when I was living at the Nagarjun Palace with my wife, Komal,” he said slowly. “I am not proud that we have lost our dynastic rule.” Gyanendra paused, his face. His face sagged under the pressure of the stares darkened. He knew that the other kings must feel like he had squandered the family inheritance.   Birendra, generally one of the quietest of the kings, couldn’t resist. “When I was king, you were one of the most vociferous that I didn’t exercise enough power as king of Nepal, Gyanendra. You and Dhirendra even went as far as to call me a weak king. Now do you see why? Or do you still see me as a weak king? What did your arrogance and your strong handed exercise of power buy you?” Birendra sighed saying these words, the strain in being this verbal clearly marking his face. His famous black moustache under his glasses drooping in disapproval, glaring at his younger brother.   “Well,” said Mahendra, coming to the rescue of his second son. “Well, I guess I kind of understand where Gyanendra was coming from. He was used to my style of governance.” Gyanendra looked up at Mahendra with hope in his eyes. “Yes, that is true…” he said hesitantly. “Yes,” sighed Mahendra. “Yes, that was a different era. A different time. The further back you go in the history of Nepal, the kings could get away with things that the modern kings could not.” Mahendra laughed. “What to speak of king’s, even Nepali fathers could talk to their sons in a certain way and chastise them back then, that Nepali fathers don’t dare talk to their sons in that way today.” All the Shah kings chuckled. Even Gyanendra, managed to sigh and laugh, shaking his head, thinking of all the troubles he had to go through with his only son, Paras. He could never get that boy to follow his authority.   Birendra said, “Times have changed. And for us to have remained in power over the long run, we had to change accordingly. Who knows if how long that could have been? We could have ruled with all the shrewdness and guile that we could muster, but, we are still a poor country. We are dependant on so many nations. All that would need to happen was for us to feel an economic squeeze, and most Nepalese, in their desperation for self-survival, would start to rebellious. Isn’t that precisely what happened in the 1990’s, when the first revolution for democracy happened under my rule?”   Most of the Shah king’s who generally underestimated Birendra’s oratory powers or his wisdom, were surprised at his burst of eloquence. Birendra, suddenly feeling sheepish at the gazes of admiration upon him, looked down, a gentle smile on his face.   “Look, I’m sorry,” Gyanendra whispered. He looked around, blinking soft tears in his eyes. The kings looked at Gyanendra. Most of them knew the pride he had in his heart. His pride bordered on arrogance. They knew how much it must hurt him to say those words. They knew how much he must have been hurt to let the reigns of Nepal slip, under his rule. How embarrassed he must feel being there in front of all them, being judged for losing what all of them valued so much. Each of the kings had gone through his challenges and had made his mistakes. But no one had lost the kingdom. Gyanendra did. And now it was all over. Gyanendra would be the last king from Nepal to sit in this circle in heaven. The circle had closed for ever.   Prithvi Narayan stood up and walked behind where Gyanendra sat. He put his hands on Gyanendra’s shoulders. He gently massaged them. Prithvi Narayan looked around at all the kings assembled there today. They all looked at him. “It’s ok, Gyanendra. It is ok. We all saw what happened. Perhaps it was inevitable. Yes, I will admit it. It is sad that what much blood, sweat and tears had been spent over, has been lost…by our family losing the kingship. “But it is not all ominous. There is definitely a positive side to it as well. After all, how many people, coming to the heavens, can boast, that they were, in their earthly life, a king, right? We all, in this group were kings. So let us thank Lord Pashupatinath for the opportunity that we got to serve the people of Nepal as kings. Let us hope that we did the best that we could when were in power. And let us, today, pray for a better Nepal today. Perhaps the Nepali people will be able to provide themselves a better future than we could, despite our best efforts as kings. For all of us in heaven, all we can do from here on, is to watch and pray to Lord Pashupatinath. Yesterday, we were judged. Today, we will see how well they will do also, now that they have the power.”   All the kings, stood up and clapped at Prithvi Narayan’s words. Gyanendra remained seated, but looked up at them expectantly. Perhaps he wouldn’t be ostracized during his whole stay in the heavens like how he thought he would be. The other kings came to give him a hug, welcoming him in to their circle. Sushila and the other apsaras walked in with a banquet on their trays and proceeded to serve out lunch. The music started to play and one of the apsaras in a tight tunic bowed and started to dance. Last edited: 04-Apr-11 04:08 PM