Ravana and Veerappan
Today is Dasara. The day when Bhagwan Rama killed the baddie Ravana. Incidentally, Indian cops killed the ferocious Veerappan recently. And well, I cannot stop thinking of the similarities between these two guys.
Both were deemed evil by the world. And both committed heinous crimes. But there were good shades to both the personalities. While, Ravana was a renowned scholar and a learned man, Veerappan was a shrewd businessman in his own capacity. I read a great article on Veerappan in Indian Express. He was considered a robber of the jungle stealing precious sandalwood, which was apparently public property. However, the fact is that he also planted many more trees than what he cut down (as per that article).
He planned for the future. The forests were his livelihood; he could not let them disappear! If he indeed meant harm for the forests, he would not have cared for what damage he caused to the nature. Compare that to government programs. How many forestation projects have been successful? Of course, he was a criminal in many other ways. But if he could have been given an opportunity to legally trade sandalwood in return for taxes, maybe both government and Veerappan could have mutually benefited.
Or maybe I am completely wrong. But I am totally right about the fact that a lot of people in politics would be happy that Veerappan was shot dead and not caught alive. Was that supposed to be that ways… we might never know.
February 29th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
Nice comment buddy . Right now i am planning to do a documentary on him as a robinhood or may be i will highlight all other aspects of him. If u can sms me your number or send a mail we can be in touch my no is 0-9871142196 its delhi number .