Prince Vikrant was slouching in his throne gazing outside the big window. He was the prince of a lost state. He was in love with his royal life and the rich possessions. His childhood friend Krishna would always give him company. Krishna was the grandson of the then royal prime minister of the then kingdom ruled by Vikrant’s ancestors.
After India’s independence, the government took over all the princely states of the country. Vikrant’s ancestors also surrendered their state’s administration to the government. Now, the royal family lived a modern life just like the elite class of the society and not as monarchs. The royal palace was declared as a heritage site and a section of the palace was given to the royal family for their residential purposes. Vikrant’s parents gave the best of the education to their children. His siblings were sent abroad to study for higher education. Vikrant too was coaxed to follow the league. But, his sheer obsession to live like a living royal prince made everything difficult for his parents. They were tired of telling him to let go of this blind possessiveness and behave like a normal youngster, but somehow as Vikrant grew of age the obsession only grew to make it worst. His parents were helpless and disgusted. Present day, Vikrant’s father was the head of the state government’s tourist department. He had moved on and embraced the non- regal role. The palace attracted lots of tourists as it was a lavish display of the royal family’s lifestyle. The arms and ammunitions, their royal chambers, the palace kitchen etc. it surely was a tourist attraction.
Vikrant had heard lot of royal tales from his childhood and was very fascinated thinking of the imperial life where people would come to the court to solve their disputes. Vikrant got himself a decorative chair done and called it as his throne. He would spend hours on this chair doing nothing. The actual throne was placed as an exhibit in the palace hall.
Krishna was a very smart but wise guy. He knew Vikrant was wrong in thinking the old-fashioned way but he never influenced his thinking. He was a stylish dude and was very much famous in his social circle. He was a pro on all social networking sites. He had an excellent business sense and was very hands-on in handling his grandfather’s family business. Krishna’s grandfather had set up the business after surrendering of the princely state. Then followed by Krishna’s father the business grew on a big scale. Both Krishna’s and Vikrant’s fathers were very good friends. Seeing their dads as best friends, both kids too became best friends of each other. But Krishna’s father detested the idea of his son wasting his time with the dumb Vikrant.
Vikrant would debate with Krishna on his continuous mobile usage. He would tell Krishna, “What do you keep doing with this small phone in your hand? I wonder whether you get even an inch of happiness with this little nuisance in your hands always. Look at me, I have no phone, no laptop. I love living in this basic royal life. But you know what Krishna? I really want to do something adventurous. I want to become famous like my ancestors and not be just one of them who will be mentioned in the royal family tree. Can you help me out in achieving this ambition? You are so smart. That evening Krishna saw the real worry on Vikrant’s face. He felt that he would be feeling suffocated living between the vintage royalty and modern so-called royal life. He had become a joke among his siblings. He was the lost hope of his parents. This all caused Vikrant to get into a shell. Krishna wanted to help his childhood friend. But how?
That night Krishna had a very disturbed sleep. He kept flicking his social media accounts and just kept thinking to help his friend overcome his inferiority complex. Suddenly, something flashed his mind and he shouted out loud, “Yes! This is it. My friend, now everyone will see the changed Vikrant.” Krishna in his excitement did not sleep that night. As the dim sunlight lit up the sky, Krishna hurriedly got ready and wore the traditional courtier dress of his grandfather. Well! it was in absolute good condition and fitted him well too. Krishna’s father saw his funny avatar and very sarcastically commented, “Huh, birds of the same feather, flock together”. He rushed to the palace. He ran up to Vikrant’s room. “Wake up Vikrant! Look, I have an excellent idea! This will make you famous and you will be remembered as the royal prince, just as you wanted to be.” Vikrant stumbled out of his bed. He gazed at Krishna and said, “Huh! What is it? What is it that you have worn? And why?” Krishna quickly grabbed his hand and said, “Waste no time. We have lot of work to do. Come on! Be quick and wear the best of your royal robe and come with me” Vikrant all puzzled followed his friend’s instructions. They hurriedly rushed to the royal palace.
It was about an hour for the palace gates to open for the tourists. They stood in the centre of the palace court and Krishna very confidently smiled at Vikrant and said, “You wanted to be different and yet not give up your royalty. Right? Here, stand here. From this day you will become the face of your regal family. All you must do is to take all the visitors around the palace, explain them your family’s royal living and show them the greatness of your ancestors in your words. It would be a welcome surprise for the tourist to hear your family stories from the royal himself. How beautiful and innovative it would be to see a prince, taking you through the grandiose! You, have heard the legacies from your elders then I am sure it would be a great thing to tell the tourists about this. Is it not something great?” Vikrant could not absorb this sudden change; he pondered over it and was convinced. Krishna quickly added, “To top it on, I will be video recording all this in my phone and post it in my social media accounts. This will make you an internet sensation and with this we will invite more tourists too.” Vikrant quickly protested, “No Krishna, I oppose on this recording and uploading all of this on your nonsense internet. It is like ridiculing our royalty and an insult to my family tradition.” Krishna gave him a confused look and said,” No my friend, why do you say so? It is something which nobody has ever tried in your family. Don’t you think that your ancestors are known for creating history? You don’t be an exception. For you being royal is your passion and that’s about it, we are simply being passionate. I know you are not an internet freak but it is a way of life. Technology if it does bad, it does good too. Please don’t deny. Be quick! we just have five more minutes before the palace door opens. I am always with you. Trust me you will be remembered by all your following generations. Vikrant inspired by his friend’s pep talk, hugged Krishna and immediately geared up for the new profile. He was looking much more positive, confident and off-course royal.
The palace doors opened. Krishna along with the staff welcomed the groups of tourists. He introduced Vikrant as the “Living royal prince” and he was welcomed with a huge applause from the crowd. They were happy to see a living royal prince. Krishna did his job well. He pulled out his smartphone, shot the videos, clicked pictures of a happy Vikrant and posted them on the social media. The royal prince became an internet sensation. His siblings were amazed with this noble but innovative thought and his parents were very proud. They never thought that their dumb prince would be so wonderful. Vikrant hugged Krishna and said, “Thank you my friend! I am glad I have you and I am happy that I lived up to my own expectations”
Seeing all this the state government officially declared Vikrant as the royal face of the palace. He was named as “Vikrant – The living royal prince”. Vikrant’s father too was felicitated as more tourists flocked and the state was blessed with booming tourist industry. Now the decorative throne of Vikrant was empty and the prince was now the biggest internet sensation of the country.
