War of the (old) Worlds!!!

Before i start putting mokkai again for a whole new year, let me wish you all a very happy new year. The other day I was reading a novel “Paandimaadevi” about the Pandya king Rajasimha who lived in 900 A.D. Though the novel wasn’t as good as “Ponniyin Selvan” or “Sivagamiyin Sabatham”, it described the war between Pandyas and Cholas to an imaginable extent. But since my imagination isn’t something that I can control, I got a lot of questions about the war in the olden days. I couldn’t help but think that the warring Kings had to agree on innumerable aspects of the war before fighting over their disagreements.

Here are some of the questions I have in mind on the list of aspects that the kings had to agree before going into war:

1. Decide the place of War: Without proper communication channels in those days, how do they agree on where to fight? WHat would have happenned if Pandavas turned out in “Hasthinapura” near Chromepet in Chennai instead of the “Hasthinapura” in Uttar pradesh? Did they have war grounds specifically built? How do they decide which king’s war ground to fight? Didn’t one king have the unfair advantage of fighting in home turf with support from his home crowd? Can they fight in a neutral place? How could a 3rd king allow his ground for a bloody battle between two different kings?

Good! We all found the right place

2. Time of war: How could they agree on what day and time to start the war? What if one king wants to start the war at 9.00 AM and the other king is say kumbakarna, who likes to sleep well into the day? What if one king is there in the battlefield waiting and the other king and his men come an hour late? If they don’t agree on war start times, did they fight over it too? But this seems to me like an infinite loop.

You guys are 2 hours late. I don't like to be kept waiting!!!

3. Tea Break, Lunch Break & EOD: How did the warring soldiers and kings decide the time for tea breaks, lunch break and end of day? Indians need a tea break at 11 AM and 4 PM without which their complete system would collapse. What if one king likes to have an early lunch at 11.30 while the other king wants to go for lunch at 1 PM? When two soldiers are fighting, if one soldier is about to kill the other soldier when that soldier calls a tea break, will he be allowed to go? When he comes from tea break, do they assume the same positions before the break and he still gets killed? Do they just stop fighting each other at the turn of 6’o clock and go back to their camps?

It's lunch break folks!!!

4. Public Holidays: What if the king and soldiers of one country want to observe a religious holiday on one of the war days and the other king doesn’t have it as a holiday in his calendar? Do they all just sit and chat till the holiday is over? Won’t the other king consider this as a productivity loss and how would he justify the cost to his people back home?

Look!! No one has turned out. I told you it is a holiday for them today!!

Boy its got to be tough to plan a war in the good old days!!ANyway, if any of you could answer these questions for me, I’d be glad to take you out to lunch at a restaurant of your choice.