The Laughing Dagger
He held me close to his heart. My cold naked body rested
against his, waiting for him to quench my thirst.
I knew he has already made up his mind and yet, he was
nervous to go through the act. I could sense that from the sweat on his palm.
And now, while both of us are eagerly waiting for the moment to come, let me introduce myself.
I am a dagger; No, not just any ordinary dagger. I am the
dagger that belongs to my master, Marcus Brutus.
You know Brutus.
Don’t you? He is the noblest of all senators in Rome, the epitome of honesty
and selflessness.
But the temptation of a dagger is so strong, that even a man
of his stature is hiding me in his cloak ready to use me on his best friend.
Today is Ides of March and here in this great Central hall,
beside Pompey’s Theatre we are all waiting for the mighty Caesar to appear.
I am not alone in this hall, there are more than 200 daggers
waiting for him. And you know what?….While he will be subjected to more than 30
wounds, only one will prove to be lethal.
Yes, it would be the one inflicted by me. No, not because I
am forged with different metal, but because Caesar’s heart will open up, when
he will see Brutus with a dagger in his hand.
The man, who lived among the swords and yet walked unscathed,
will fall to a dagger. I feel so proud of myself today.
But you know one thing; I never wanted to be a dagger.
I hated, hiding inside a human cloak, and waiting for an
opportune moment to strike. For me it was an act of a coward.
I always wanted to be
a sword, tall and handsome, the one they brandish with pride. Sword that make
its intention clear to its enemy well in advance, and challenge them for a
worthy fight.
Sword, whose act of
bravery is documented in the books of history.
But as fate would have it, the Old Blacksmith in royal
foundry forged me into a dagger.
One day, as he was tempering me with fire and water, I
expressed my desire to be a sword.
But he laughed and continued with his work.
He dipped me into cold water, wiped off the
water from my body and looked at me in admiration.
Then pointing to a sword kept at the corner of the room, he
said “Swords represent the known and the expressed feelings of a human”.
“You, my son” He
said, “you would represent the hidden and the dark desires of a man and these hidden
desires of a man are far more lethal and ferocious than the expressed ones”.
“Yes” He added “Act
of a sword will be documented in history.”
“But you” He paused,
“You will make history.”
“And you don’t worry about your reputation.” He went on, “These
humans have a unique ability to justify the vilest of their crimes. They will
have no qualms, using you. No regret at all. The justifications they will give
for using you, will make you feel like a sword.”
Today, Brutus is
doing the same.
So, no matter what you think, Brutus is not using me for his
ambition to become the noblest. he is not killing at behest of Cassius and
Casca. He is doing this to ‘save’ Rome from the tyranny of Caesar.
Today I am the savior of Rome.
ssshhhhh…..here he comes... The mighty Caesar, a man with tall
stature, fair complexion and black, ever vigilant eyes. I wonder if he has any
idea about what is going to unfold...
The Weeping Sword
No he doesn’t….. he has no idea that today on Ides of March
he will be betrayed to death by his own friend. A friend who stood by him for more
than a decade would desert him on pretext of saving Rome.
Caesar is not a
tyrant and I know this better than anyone.
You wonder how I know this.
Well…… I am the sword of Julius Caesar, the sword that
helped him win many battles, the sword that fought for him at battle of Gaul. And
today the sword that kept his enemy at bay will not be there to save him from
his own friend.
Look there…... how “courageously” the senators surround my
master, pouncing on him, stabbing him, making sure that the “Tyrant” is dead.
And as he struggles
to defend himself from the deathly blows of those vile daggers, I regret not
being there to save him.
Finally he collapses at the feet of Brutus….Cold and Dead.
A man, who was victorious among his enemies, lies dead and
defeated among his friends….this can happen only with humans……….isn’t it?
‘Humans’…the most evolved species on earth. You must be
proud of the progress you made on this planet.
But, tell me one thing, honestly; do you really think you
evolved because of the opposable thumb of yours? Or because of some superior intelligence you
think you have?
Let me tell you, you evolved because of your ability to
betray the very nature that created you.
You evolved because you borrowed fire from the woods (by
rubbing it together) and then used the same fire to burn down jungles. You
evolved because you begged the hills for shelter, and then broke down mountains
to make way for your ambition. You evolved because you stole your breathe from
the air and then poisoned the same air with toxics of your dream.
But yes, just like Brutus you all had your own reasons to do
all this, a reason that makes you a noble man.
But today, no matter how hard Brutus tries to justify the
act, for me this is a heinous act of betrayal.
And make no mistake this act of treachery will not be
forgiven.
O Brutus, I the sword of Julius Caesar Curse you, and I
curse all the Brutuses out there, who cover their act of betrayal with cloak of
reasoning, no matter how hard you try, you will never move on, no matter how
deep you bury your act of treachery it will still come back to you as macabre
of your past and drag you into the darkness of your own guilt, and one day you
all will die to your own sword.
One day the air, the water, the entire earth will rise
against you and bring your ivory tower crushing down. One day you will end up
killing each other in the name of love, friendship, country and even god.
And that day, Caesar will be revenged.
The Laughing Dagger - Again
So, finally I tasted Caesar’s Blood. The crimson color blood
is intoxicating. And now that I am inebriated I will……Hello……..I am talking to
you. You seem to be lost somewhere else. Were you talking to the Old sword of
Caesar?
Oh, don’t listen to him he is just a whining sword, who cannot
deal with the loss of his master.
Ask yourself, haven’t you moved on….. from being a cave man
to a superhuman having control over everything around you.
Do you even remember how many times you used me to stab
mother earth for your dreams, for your ambitions? No you don’t or perhaps you
don’t even realize you did anything like that. Because like Brutus you had your
own reasons to do it, a justification that gives you a license to pursue your
dreams at whatever cost.
That is the beauty of being Human, you can justify anything,
you can reason any act of yours.
Look within yourself, I am present in each one of you, eagerly
waiting for an opportune moment to convert your hidden dreams into reality.
Those that you see successful in life, the ‘Alchemists’ that have changed their
dreams into reality, do you think they are a different breed? Oh come on……
They just know when to use me; the deft and subtle use of a
dagger has made all the difference.
So celebrate being human and keep the lust for growth
burning inside you, I will always be around to make you fulfill your dreams at
all cost, putting to rest anything that comes between you and your dark desires.
But now I have to go, I have to appear before a hallucinated
mind of a man and help him achieve his dreams, a dream that is fueled by
prophecies of three witches.
SOME PLACE ELSE
“Is this a dagger that I see before me?” wonders Macbeth,
“With its handle towards my hand, come let me clutch thee…………”
Disclaimer: The write
up though inspired by William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, is purely personal
thought and outcome of the writer's imagination. Here writer has not made any attempt to explain the
characters in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. And this is just a fictional
narration of Caesar’s assassination. The last line taken from Shakespeare's Macbeth.
