Fiddling with the Constitution

Ratna Raman 

AS school-going children, we were routinely instructed to stop fiddling and sit at our desks quietly.  Fiddling refers to the inconsequential fidgeting (shuffling, restless movement) that is so charming in small humans and animals. However, young adults who fiddle’ (verb) with things or fidget continue to annoy adults in control.

On hearing that ‘Nero fiddled while Rome burnt’ I wondered idly as to why he would behave in such a petty manner in the wake of the large fire engulfing Rome. Learning that a ‘fiddle’ (noun) was a colloquial term for the bow-stringed violin, and that Nero was an accomplished musician, required a  ‘fresh pair of eyes’ (careful re-examination). 

Fiddle is a homonym that is also synonymous with any act of fraud, confidence trick, flimflam or ruse.  The verb  ‘fiddle’  could refer variously  to playing the violin, fidgeting and include acts of defrauding.

Nero performed in public on the lyre, was a patron of the arts and sculpture. He enjoyed chariot-racing and encouraged sport and rebuilt Rome after the fire. He sanctioned new buildings, sheltered the poor and fed the needy. However, he is accused of executing family and friends and persecuting Christians to the point of death. Such readings of this flamboyant last emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty are reportedly biased. Fearing political vendetta, Nero chose an ignoble end by ordering an attendant to take his life.

 The expression ‘Nero fiddled while Rome burnt’ draws attention to the impropriety of attending to inconsequential detail and remaining oblivious to the urgent task at hand. When cities burn, first citizens, such as chief ministers and  heads of state, must be around, fire-fighting. Emperors, of course, were often whimsical, but  modern political leaders bound by  ‘the constitution’ (body of laws) seldom put out fires literally or metaphorically.

‘Constitution’ (Latin ‘constituere’; to establish, to Middle English; body of laws) isalso a homonym. Everyone desired a robust constitution (physical health). When the human psyche was discovered, mental health was constituted as significant and ‘constitution’ became indicative of both physical and mental well-being.  Water is constituted by (composed of) two parts of hydrogen and one part of oxygen, and this is its chemical constitution. 

In the context of nations and politics, the constitution’ is a body of fundamental principles based on which nations, states and other organisations are governed. Hard-wired (permanently connected) constitutional laws must be treated with reverence. Actions ‘violative’ of (infringing upon) the Indian Constitution can only ‘imperil’ (put in danger) civil society.

The death of over 70 children in a government hospital was identified as a natural calamity in an address to the nation on Independence Day. We should have collectively observed  a few minutes of silence to grieve over these deaths and reached out to anguished parents. Instead, preparations for large-scale Janamashtmi festivities were announced and the public was informed that deaths due to encephalitis were routine in Gorakhpur. 

In UP and MP, madarsas were ordered to provide selfies of Independence Day celebrations, as their ‘aadhar’ to nationalism. The government-run Prasar Bharati blacked out the public address of Tripura’s CM. Fiddling with the constitutional rights of Indian citizens is ‘actionable’ (reason to take legal action). Such fiddling continues to ‘precipitate’ (trigger) unsurmountable crises, ensuring that  ‘history repeats itself’.