<img style="float: left;" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2023/aug/Rahul-op_e.jpg" alt="Rahul Da Cunha" width="200" height="69" />Namaste.&nbsp;
I&rsquo;m the Maharaja,&nbsp;
Turbaned and moustachioed,&nbsp;
I was royalty in the &rsquo;60s and &rsquo;70s,&nbsp;
I ruled the land, the seas, the air.&nbsp;
I was the air, I was India.
I was a king, I was a raja&nbsp;
I was Akbar, I was Tipu Sutan,&nbsp;
I was Prithviraj Chauhan,&nbsp;
I was royalty,
I served the people,&nbsp;
I travelled the world&hellip; I was a globetrotter,&nbsp;
I was India. I am India.
I am the various aspects of India&mdash;
complex yet simple,
traditional yet contemporary,&nbsp;
orthodox yet unorthodox,&nbsp;
I am India. I am Bharat.&nbsp;
I am the Mahabaratha, I am Ramayana,&nbsp;
I am Aryabhatta, I am Alia Bhatt.&nbsp;
I am Vallabhai. I am VP. I am Vajpayee. &nbsp;
I am the Tricolour, I am a riot of colours.
I am dynasty, I am diaspora,
I am NRI, I am new India,
I am the Chakra, I am a charkha.
Old is gold&hellip; or is it?
I went on a sabbatical, an exile of sorts,
for many years,&nbsp;
A king without a throne,
A king without a palace,
A king with no purpose,
I was replaced,
I was removed,
I was resurrected,
I was reincarnated,
I was re-thought.
I now stand at the crossroads of change, of new challenges,
I can be anything you want me to be,
But I won&rsquo;t be redundant.
I will not be present continuous,
I will not be a past participle,
I am not a full stop, a semi colon, a comma,
I was a prologue,
I will never be an epilogue.
That&rsquo;s no way to treat a king.
I will not be sidelined,
I will not be ornamental,
I will not be metaphorical.
I am a feeling, I am an emotion.
But my future is uncertain&mdash;&nbsp;
I am ready to serve,
but where do I stand in today&rsquo;s India?&nbsp;
I am an emotion, I am a feeling.
They&rsquo;re gonna change my garb
They say they&rsquo;re forward looking,&nbsp;
In the world of memes&hellip; and millennials
What chance do I have?&nbsp;
In a world of limitless possibilities, have I reached a limit?&nbsp;
How progressive is progressive?
Where do I stand in the revolving door of reform?&nbsp;
I am to be revamped&hellip;
New clothes? &nbsp;
A new turban?&nbsp;
A crown? A golden crown?&nbsp;
They&rsquo;re changing my look?&nbsp;
Can you revamp royalty?
Can you modernise a Maharaja?
I was a feeling&hellip; I was an emotion&hellip;
Can I be replaced by a golden window?
More importantly, who will open it?
I am AI.
Not Artificial Intelligence!
I am Air India.
Rahul daCunha is an adman, theatre director/playwright, photographer and traveller. Reach him at rahul.dacunha@mid-day.com
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Many more namastes

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