Malice in Blunderland
“That rascal has no feelings.It is the secret of his success.Just as the fact that he thinks that other people have none either is the secret of his failure that lies in wait for him somewhere on the way of life” Oscar Wilde
One of Salman Rushdie’s characters was catapulted to fame. From being a dabbawallah , Gibreel Farishta becomes a fillum star in Bollywood. Our character Mr Malice in Blunderland had a similar history.Brought up in the mean streets of Brooklyn he became a CPA in a company that eventually filed for Chapter 11.
The little rat Malice left the sinking ship. With the help of the auditor of the sinking ship , Malice jumped into the cheese larder of an international accounting firm. He rose up the ranks like Gibreel’s friend Saladin Chamchawalla-faithfully and loyally serving Le Boss.
In the corporate world and in the world of sports you find such destructive and malicious men. Think of Greg Chappell. He destroyed the morale and leadership in the Indian cricket team. Finally he rode into the sunset as an unsung and unlamented
villain like Malice. Even those whom he had foisted on the Indian team did not shed a drop of tear when the time of his departure came.
I had a “friend” like him. In the corporate world. His peers call him Gene-ral Bobblehead. When he was propped up to a position of power, he morphed into a megalomaniac. To celebrate his glory he ordered hundreds of bobblehead dolls made in his own image .These grotesque dolls adorned the work desks of his subordinates and employees. Honest. And, he presented these dolls personally to his colleagues, friends and admirers. He was dreaded, feared and hated like a puppet dictator of a banana republic. But he miscalculated badly. He did not anticipate vox populi .The puppet regime led by Andhera Mein Dia Jalao Mia – Mir Suffer collapsed in the elections. It heralded the beginning of his end. The lamp went out and with him General Bobblehead.
In June, lonely and forlorn, he travelled into the desert sunset just like his bete noire Rats.The bobblehead dolls have been consigned into hundreds of trash cans. Rats, the Lawman, smokes Classic in his checked lungi and Malice looks out of the window admiring the traffic jam in Manhattan.There will soon be a Madhatter’s Tea Party and the Chesire Cat is looking forward to it. Watch out Rats that are in -meow.