Of statues that are alive!

By Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem, MD

After having narrated in my past three articles, the tales about the role of statues that are erected to commemorate the memories of distinguished personalities, I would like to tell you about how the trend has now changed.

Whether this is for good or bad is for you to decide, although to me it seems most unusual and even ridiculous.

In the past, if you were somebody worth having your statue installed somewhere, you had to first exit this world honourably, leaving behind a sense of loss in the minds of the people to whom you mattered.

There were almost no instances of statues being erected of living people because this practice, although centuries old, was always reserved as a way of honouring the dead and departed.

But in a few instances, people in power, to glorify themselves, have had their own statues erected like in the case of Joseph Stalin of the former Soviet Union. He held the world record for erecting the most statues of himself, with nearly 6,000 of them being erected across his vast domain.

Benito Mussolini of Italy, during his reign, did the same although without outdoing Stalin in its magnitude, perhaps only because his empire was not so vast. The former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussain not only oversaw the erection of his own statues but also had the ignominy of seeing them being pulled down, very much in his own lifetime, when he lost power. 

There are a few other such instances from across the world but this trend entered our country only when Mayawati, the former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, started erecting numerous statues of herself and her mentor, Kanshi Ram, at various locations in her State and particularly in overflowing abundance, in Lucknow, the State capital.

There was a time, many years ago, when on a visit to Lucknow, to attend a medical conference, I had an occasion to see the statues of these two, then towering personalities, along with those of a good many of their political associates, dotting the whole city.

Interspersed very liberally amid them, were the statues of their party symbol, the elephant, which were the only ones I could recognise for what they were. I say this because being election time then and the canvassing time having expired, every one of these statues was tightly wrapped in pink plastic sheeting, on the instructions of the Election Commission, as a part of the model code of conduct.

And, because it is just impossible to hide the figure of an elephant standing in plain sight, under any kind of camouflage, there was absolutely no difficulty for me in recognising its form. It is a different matter that when it comes to a live elephant in its natural habitat, in a forest, it turns out to be a master of disguise, making it almost impossible for us to spot it.

The only other place I have seen an elephant vanishing is in a P.C. Sorcar magic show!

So, although I could only make out the forms of the wrapped-up elephants in Lucknow for what they were, my local cab driver, as we drove past them, had no difficulty in telling me the names of each one of the human personalities who had been banished into oblivion by the Election Commission!

I am hard put to comprehend how covering up statues would help make elections fair, when all the voters know very well who they would be voting for, well before the cover up operations.

This move drew much flak from the media and the affected political party which wanted a similar cover up on other election symbols like bicycles, hand pumps, lotus flowers and even human hands.

Interestingly, there was also an instance of an astro-palmist in Bengaluru, who approached the court for relief, when he was ordered to remove his advertisement board depicting the palm, which was the main source of his bread and butter! 

I think, until very recent times, there has been only one instance of a statue of a living person being installed during a person’s lifetime, here in Karnataka. I am talking of the statue of Dr. D.C. Pavate that stands before the Vidya Soudha building of Karnatak University in Dharwad.

He was among those who were instrumental in the establishment of this University and was also its third and longest serving Vice-Chancellor for a full thirteen years, from 1954 to 1967.

Although it was a very unusual event, it is said that Dr. Pavate himself had no role in the erection of this statue because it was done by his admirers in the year 1959, to commemorate his 60th birthday.

This fact is testified in the plaque at the base of its lofty pedestal, where I have sat chatting with my friends on many evenings, more than fifty years ago, while I was a student of the Karnatak Science College, Dharwad.

Flipping the pages of my recollections and coming to the present times, we now hear of our Chief Minister Siddaramaiah himself unveiling his own bust (is it AI generated?), at the inauguration of a newly built bridge near N.R. Pura in Chikkamagalur District.

Although very unusual, it seems to be the harbinger of a new trend in our State, going by the fact that another one of his statues was unveiled in Haveri District, to mark the completion of 1,000 days of his rule.

But the funny and very ironical part is that this statue was unveiled, not by him but by his arch bete noire, D.K. Shivakumar, the most eager contender for the CM’s chair.

Now, that speaks volumes for the all-powerful, friendship-fostering effects of sharing Nati Koli over highly publicised breakfast meetings!

e-mail: kjnmysore@rediffmail.com