Nabbing n Napping

Was really amused to

read in one of the leading eveningers that the very well known sandalwood bandit Mr. Veerappan could easily have been nabbed by making use of the readily available technology. This didnt come as a shock but when the statement was attributed to the intelligence sleuths it assumed greater importance. Lets us go step by step. Not since the Chambal days of Madho Singh, Mohar Singh and of course the Kapoorean bandit queen Phoolan Devi has somebody like this full-offragrance fallout Veerappan caught the imagination of the whole country; more so of the southern region. Thanks to Dr. Rajkumar the legend and the inability of the government at the state level. It has been proved time and again beyond doubt -like the sun and the moon in the sky- that the machinery of the government never seriously thought of nabbing the super duper king of the sandalwood jungles. It is said and believed by all but few that the snakes always protect the sandalwood trees. Seems that the mustachioed man has the uncanny knack to charm the creatures with the sinusoidal style. What else could be the reason for dodging the dreaded bite of the hollowed teeth? Well, for him the people outside the jungle are far more dangerous than the ones with the venomous fangs. It is to his luck or credit that the government never ever seriously tried to nab him. Perhaps it preferred napping with a purpose. It is nothing but a sad and sordid commentary on the part of Government that turns away when it comes to catching the dreaded dacoit. So what if he has the audacity to effectively hold the second largest populous country of the world to ransom. The Krishnas and the Karunanidhis or for that matter even the Advanis or the Bajpayees can do nothing but watch the game from the balcony, to use the distance showing term of the theatre, and applaud the genius of Veerappan the man who is having the last laugh through his bushes. That certainly is the matter not be, after all, an anglophile to appreciate the Ruling qualities of the Lord Mountbatten and company. The gentleman in question, let me tell you, is a hard core Indian because whenever he narrates the glaring differences between the two systems his eyes shed silent tears.

Prakash Pathre

what he wanted to do. His success percentage shows that he had been successful in almost all his attempts; whatever may be the nature.

of grave concern not only for the country but also for an individual who likes to call himself the free citizen of an independent India.

I know one such gentleman who graduated from The Elphinstone College, Bombay in 1939 and is a witness to the so-called good old times. He is still There are many, still living, very much there to evaluate who have seen and enjoyed and compare the two times the good old British times. without any bias. One need

Now the crore-rupee question: Did the Government really want to catch him? The answer to this troubled question is a plain no. Our politicians only know the great game of waiting. They have been easily fooling the Indian voters by creating the impression in their mind The imminent defeat that everything was well mocks at him. He when everything really accepts it in the was not well at all. The silence that is more final effect produced was a suffocating than parallax par excellence that death. The days overpowered one and all of independence, alike. unfortunately, cannot fulfill his What these elected petty expectations. members did not gauge Suddenly he says, was the master craftsmans the British wanted dexterity at their own to rule India and waiting game. Veerappan they ruled her. The was the master. And not stress on the word one of the five hundred wanted was like odds from the parliament a hammer. It just singularly or collectively summed up the success can hope to outsmart the story before 1947. Wanted Mephistopheles of the was the word; the crux of sandalwood jungles. the matter. Very easy, yet conveniently forgotten. To make the long story short is that technology or Coming back to Veerappan. no technology Veerappan He has been meticulously could easily have been and carefully doing exactly nabbed.