CHAPTER 17 :KINGDOM IN BLOOM

Ravichandran employed people, especially beggars, to clean the streets. He imposed a hefty fine on those found dirtying public places. He also constructed tanks, ponds and wells at several places to resolve the water woes of his people.

The village Panchayats were instructed to resolve all issues at their desks as amicably as possible. They were only given rights to charge a fixed penalty for petty offences and refer all serious crimes to the administration.  

Aryaman played his role as a vigilante and savior of the people. He did not interfere in the decisions of the King. As long as the initiatives adopted favoured the subjects, he was satisfied. He spent most of his time in Amlanagar, which did not gain from the new decisions of the King owing to its territorial dispute. Still the King’s new avatar of an able ruler and Aryaman’s presence went a long way in making both the zamindaars and Panchayat exercise restraint in their approach.   The Panchayat presumed Aryaman to be a superior being and therefore did not dare to oppose his initiatives!

As planned, Aryaman met some learned men of nearby districts and exhorted them to spread their knowledge among the people outside their village. It took some time for him to convince them where he finally succeeded. They alongwith Aryaman launched a door-to-door campaign and tried to motivate the people to get education. Initially, this move yielded no results but slowly with sustained efforts, the people’s mindset began to change. It was a challenge to make the elders believe that girls, too, should get education. After much coercing, things finally changed for the better!  

Much to Aryaman’s glee, Aditi and her friends too joined ashrams. Ever since that day when he left the girls thinking, they constantly demanded to know from their parents the reason for keeping them away from education. At first, the parents did not pay much heed to this but when they realized that Aryaman was behind the changed mindset of their children, they gave in fearing his mighty powers.

With the Panchayat not raising any dissent against any of Aryaman’s moves, more people relented to send their children with him to Vedanand’s ashram. Aryaman carried a couple of children on his shoulders at one time. This move drastically brought down the travelling time of the students and as Aryaman had pointed out gave them more time to study and even play. Sometimes when Vedananth too volunteered to join the intellectual class in their day-to-day campaign of making people realize the essence of education, Aryaman stayed back and looked after his father. His genial approach and superhuman deeds made him a household name in Pallava. Many regarded him as someone divine. Although Aryaman dispelled this notion, he kept his origin under wraps.