The Sad Tale of UkiRani and Ruso
Mahendra
Gonsalkorale. 17th February 2025
Act 1
Setting: Living
room in UkiRani’s house in Europe. UkiRani is seated on a sofa knitting.
Enter Ruso, looking very agitated: he bows to UkiRani and addresses her.
Ruso: Hello, my lovely UkiRani. I have come to see you on a matter of the greatest
importance. This is not just a simple neighbourly call.
UkiRani: Why, Hello, Ruso! And what is this all about? Pray be seated.
Ruso sits down
as requested. Looks uncomfortable and avoids the gaze of UkiRani.
Ruso: This
is a rather delicate matter and I crave your indulgence and patient
understanding.
UkiRani: You got me all of a flutter now, Ruso; pray, what is it?
Ruso: Rumour
has it that you are getting very close to my enemy Nato and are considering
allowing him to protect you. Nato, as you well know, is not the sort of person I
would like a kind and beautiful soul like you to keep company with.
UkiRani: Oh!
Come on Ruso! Nato is not really my friend but who can refuse a kind offer like
his to protect me!
Ruso: But Nato is devious, and I hate to say this as I don’t want to upset a kind soul and indeed a close neighbour like you with whom I have had such a long association, but…
UkiRani: Yes
Ruso, but…what?
Ruso: It is
fair that you should be warned. Let me say again, as I have said many times, that I love you and would never do anything to harm you, but even such strong love as mine has limits. I hope you understand.
UkiRani gets up
and looks directly at Ruso with a stern but sympathetic expression.
UkiRani: My
dearest Ruso, as much as I care for you, I would not like you to tell me who I
should like or dislike. I am an independent soul perfectly capable of managing
my own affairs. I hope you understand that.
Ruso looks tormented as he walks to the open window, stares out, and returns to address UkiRani as she gazes at him anxiously.
Ruso: My dearest UkiRani, this is not easy to put across to you, but put it across, I must. If you insist on having ties with Nato, you will be responsible for the
consequences. I beg of you to listen to me and ignore what that other
“friend” of yours-Ha! Friend indeed!- is telling you and keep away from Nato. This other person, Youeseh, is dangerous and wants to spread his influence all
over the World. I beg of you not to take advice from that scoundrel and listen
to me, me who has such long ties with you and me, who shall never harm
you…unless you leave me no alternative, and that will be so sad.
UkiRani returns to her sofa, quite distressed and after a short period of silence, addresses Ruso.
UkiRani:
That was quite a speech young Ruso! However, I have to Put you in your place.
My friendship with Nato is not intended to harm you Ruso, or any of my
neighbours. We have far too much in common and much to lose.
Ruso, red-faced and angry, looks directly at UkiRani
Ruso: That is good to hear, but I am deeply saddened if you insist on letting in Nato and value the advice of Youeseh, that megalomaniac scoundrel, much more than mine. In which case, I have no alternative but to take action to protect my country, and that will be a sad day for all of us.
Ruso turns around and storms out of the room.UkiRani is speechless and stares at him close to tears as he leaves in a huff.
UkiRani: I know him only too
well. He will never invade my territory as he knows quite well that it will
cause such unspeakable agony.
Postscript: Ruso
could not accept UkiRani’s friendship with Nato, and “all hell erupted”.
The End
Act 2 to follow
Mahen
ReplyDeleteI am glad I asked you to publish this. Although brief, the play simply brings up the important issues and makes us think and rethink. As I read about the goings on in the world I am thankful I am the age I am. I may not be around to endure the fall-out from it all, for long.
The current situation makes me love the sanity of the Serenity Prayer:
God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.
Yes, Nihal we need to repeat this prayer often so that we can sleep well at night. Thanks for the reminder!
DeleteI liked the clever names you chose for your 'characters!' I may have been able to enjoy the satire a bit more if this weren't based on reality. I hate to think what Act 2 may bring! Youeseh is out of control and needs to be kept in check!
ReplyDeleteSure we cannot do without money but it is so true that Money is the root of all evil. This wisdom come from Bible, 1 Timothy 6:10.
DeleteGoes to show this was so even in those distant days.
Thank you Nihal and Srianee for your enouraging comments. I value your feedback very much. I was wondering how best I could present the view held by many that although Russia has absolutely no right to invade another country, Europe and the USA should have recognise the reality that powerful nations feel a bit threatened when their immediate neighbours become allies with their "enemies". Ukraine in my view, should have been advised not to seek NATO membership although they had every right to do so, in return for a Russian assurance that they will respect bordres. Remember Krushev-Kennedy-Cuba confrontation?
ReplyDeleteI do hope I succeded in my effort with a satrical play, my very first one!
Mahen, I tend to agree with your analysis. It is so sad that so many countries are being controlled by egotistical, evil, power-hungry, greedy, ruthless (I can't find enough adjectives!) men, who have no compassion for their own people. Some of them have been ousted, but many remain in control. (It is time for more women to take charge of the world!) From what I am observing in Sri Lanka, we seem to have good people in charge at the moment. I hope it remains that way.
DeleteSrianee and Mahen
ReplyDeleteOur civilisation is 6000 years old and we haven’t still learnt to live in peace and to live as equals despite the many religions and philosophies that are around. Democracy gives a country and its people a right to elect who they want to govern them. This assumes they have the knowledge and the correct attitude to elect the right person. A person with a university degree just like an illiterate peasant can make a hash of the election as we have witnessed all around the world including in our own little island. It is wrong to believe that people who have the wisdom to pass examinations make good political choices.
Educating the public is the key to improving the democratic process and its outcome. I believe politics should be a compulsory subject for every student at school until GCE where they are taught their obligations to the country and their community and to learn about their civic sense. This will indeed teach the citizens to elect suitable people. Those elected too will have studied politics and have the political knowledge to serve the people.
We can call this compulsory subject Civics instead of Politics.
DeleteCivics is defined as: the study or science of the privileges and obligations of citizens. Civic education is the study of the theoretical, political and practical aspects of citizenship, as well as its rights and duties.
Nihal, I agree with what you have expressed. About Civics, it was a subject that was taught at my school, probably at the 6th through 8th grade and it was not compulsory. (I don't remember much of the content!) But, when I switched to science courses, I had to drop it as well as some other subjects, such as art, that I enjoyed.
ReplyDeleteLike you, it baffles me that countries have not yet learned to settle disputes by any other means except armed confrontation. We consider ourselves 'civilized' but the only advancement that has occurred, is that we have developed more sophisticated and lethal weaponry. Sitting down and discussing peaceful solutions happens only after many lives have been lost.
I do agree with you Srianee about the tragedy of war. I think they start because of the selfishness and the megalomania of individuals or groups of people. They have no concern for the loss of lives but only of themselves.
DeleteWhat's happened to the United Nations?
I remember at Royal, Civics was a subject but I have no recollection at all of what was taught and what I learnt. Another reason why negotiation is not resorted to more is because settlement by negotiation does not enrich the purse of arms manufacturers and othet Industrial Giants who make such vast amounts of money. Human beings are just pieces to be moved about on a board with diminshing value according to age, sex, colour, wealth, ethnicity and dollar-worth!
DeleteNihal, you are absolutely right about how Human Civilisation is yet to learn that disagreements should be solved by negotiation and not through violence. There are many aspects to this.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, our perception of human advance and “civilisation” is questionable. Too much emphasis is placed on material changes. Some tribes in South America and Africa who value Nature and treat it with respect are classified as primitive because they don’t drive BMWs and don’t own i-phones.
Secondly Human greed driven by selfishness and power, has always been a strong force which could act in either way, i.e., benefit or loss. This will never change as the ideal humanistic society will remain a distant goal which is unlikely to be reached. The main drivers of morality and ethics is seen as Religion. The other factor is the Law of the land and fear of punishment. Religion has failed, not because it is good (or bad) but because principles without acceptance and implementation have a long history of failure.
Democracy is the best system we have not because it is perfect but because the alternatives are worse. Even in Democracy, majority rule is accepted as fair…but in reality, it is so unfair to neglect the minorties!
I agree that Education is important but we need to be more specific about what Education is and how people become educated. Education is generally regarded as having gone to school, later University and emerging proudly with multiple LETTERS after your name! To me, that is not the meaning of being educated.
I have sadly, no answers!
Mahen
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed reading your post and you had chosen interesting names for your characters. Recently Youseh has been critical of UKi Rani and this is causing problems for UK-Ranee/Ki S who is a relative of NATO and a long standing ally of Youseh.
Good of you to comment Bora- it always acts as a stimulant for us regulars. What you say is veru true and watch out for Act II of this saga! On the subject of interesting names, you being a cricket fan would no doubt have noticed some interestin names of cricketers. Just to name a few,,- Harshit, Hardik Farqar. An Australian born in England called Inglis. Easy for a man to decide which is worse, Harshit or Hardik!
DeleteHi guys loved reading the satire, I also read Act 2 eagerly waiting for the next Act. How true ND’s quote from the Bible its all greed for the material things that overshadows such honorable qualities such as the second commandment given to Moses “ love thy neighbor as yourself”. The challenge is how do we who are in the departure lounge educate the present generation bombarded with the social media, AI, movies of gruesome and violence. is it civic classes, return to religion or something else, love your thoughts.
DeleteRajan
Mahen
ReplyDeleteThanks for focussing on Hardick the Indian allrounder. He certainly whacks the cricket ball very hard and must be giving his fans a lot of joy and satisfaction.
In the eighties England were playing West Indies at Lords and this is what the commentator said "The bowler is Holding the batsmans Willey and he scores a single".