“High above the city, on a tall column, stood the statue of the Happy Prince. He was gilded all over with thin leaves of fine gold, for eyes he had two bright sapphires, and a large red ruby glowed on his sword-hilt…”
These lines are from my all-time favourite short story by Oscar Wilde’s The Happy Price (1888).
When I saw this very brass statue at Chow Rasta in Darjeeling, I couldn't help but relate it to ‘The Happy Prince’. It is a beautiful heart-breaking short story about a golden statue and a sparrow—it sings of compassion and bitter realities of life.
In the story, a happy prince who turned a blind eye to the suffering of his citizens during his lifetime is reborn as a statue in the centre of the city. As a statue, he cannot help but observe all the hardships looming in his city.
So, as a golden statue, he gives away all its grandeur and gold to make the lives of the poor little better. The sparrow bird serves as his messenger.
Well, as I sat on a bench next to the brass statue at Darjeeling’s Chow Rasta, I wondered if it could also see the looming misery over the little bustling town of Darjeeling—if it could see some people suffering to make a living, while some making merriment over their luxury.
I don’t know much about Darjeeling’s society but an incident that occurred a day back then, made me feel sad.
I was on my way back to my hotel, and I just wanted to grab a hot ‘chola’ on the way-- so I had stopped near a chola stall when a group of drunk young guys were snacking. I threw my share of chola after seeing a young man, pissed drunk and knelling before the stall. He was so drunk that he fell and sat on the dust, and was still eating. I could smell the filthy stink of alcohol... and I felt a cramp inside my stomach... I felt weird and I lost my appetite.
I told my friend about my feelings... she said, “What do you expect? The guy must be poor, jobless and miserable-- what else will he do than get drunk at early evening hours and forget about misery...”
Next morning, as I sat next to the brass statue at Chow Rasta, I wondered how many people will be suffering-- and how lost some people could be. And I wondered ...if a ‘happy prince’ lived within the statue.
Similarly, we have a golden Buddha statue (at Buddha Point/ Kuenselphodrang) over seeing Thimphu Valley, perhaps, observing the lives of all of us from there. I hope some of our lives are not as miserable as in the Wilde story. I hope it doesn’t bring tears to Buddha’s eyes to see some suffer while some flaunt away their luxury.
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