This writer resisted temptation to use the plural, ‘pieces’, as against the singular, largely to zero in on a few of the missing pieces and not all of them. The jigsaw is very large, with small and large pieces; the loss or absence of the pieces is from both the categories of small and large pieces.

How are nations built? Is it a one-time transaction? Or, is it a simple, but an extremely complex activity, that intertwines several aspects of activities that involve history, culture, society and economics?

In history, individuals by sheer dint of brute force (physical, mostly) and strength, coupled with vision have built great political dynasties and empires that ruled large parts of the map of this world. But almost all are, today, part of history, some recorded and remembered, but a large many have been vanished by the fury of time. They don’t exist.

The powerful dynasties that ruled the world, say in the past three centuries, have long been laid to rest in the cemetery of time and history. These operated from the East to the West. The 19th century took a toll on the Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Indian, Turkish (Ottoman) and European dynasties. There are but few remnants, which are also largely for the purpose of keeping them “alive” as symbols to attract tourism—the ceremonial roles most living monarchs in Europe and the Isles play are essentially those who have a toothless presence. People love to live in fantasy and fairyland.

From Queen Victoria to King Charles, the purpose of monarchy is to retain them as “Royalty in the showcase for promoting tourism.” People throng to see the change of guards ceremony at the Buckingham Palace. People queue up at museums by paying a hefty fee to see the used items of clothing, jewellery and even stationery of the Royalty. I recently saw in Tehran the wardrobes of Reza Shah Pahlavi and Empress Farah Diba; the former lived all his life under the illusion that he was a direct descendent of King Cyrus the Great — what a frame of mind, full of fallacy.

Post-WW II began the departure of most monarchies from Japan to the heartland of Europe. They just disappeared. Thanks to people’s power. Nobody today talks about the Romanian royal family, who fled in 1947, leading to the abolishment of monarchy; so is true of all other monarchies of the West, inclusive of the Czars of Russia.

People’s revolution, starting with the Bolshevik revolution of 1917, spread like wildfire,........

© Business Recorder