A state needs peace and liberty to grow more properly. The man who rules the state must understand the problems and needs of the people. But, ironically, most of the states are being ruled by ‘melon’ kings. Neither have they any status or authority nor discretion and judgement. They live on their whims. The real issues never attract any attention or care.

Only a judicious and powerful ruler can bring peace and liberty. But, ironically, the state here possesses a king who has no personality and thinking of his own. He is swayed away by the moods of the masses. The king invites his own death to meet the ends of justice. A foolish and idiotic king is nothing more than a melon. People don’t care. They want to live in peace and liberty. Be it an idiotic human being or a water melon on the throne, it doesn’t matter. The only important thing is that he must not interfere in their lives.

The poem satirises how a ‘Just’ and ‘placid’ king ruled his state. The king has been described a ‘just and placid’ king. He lived in a fool’s paradise. He was too placid. Nothing could move him to take an independent decision. Perhaps he was too good to be of any use to his state and the people. He was whimsical and fickle-minded.

One can imagine the state of such a kingdom. The king was so ‘just’ that he could do no justice. He goes on shifting his decisions. He is swayed by the moods of the people. He can be easily convinced. He lacks determination and sound judgement.

In such a state anyone can meet the most unexpected end. Be it the king himself. The just king has to appear just and fair. He judges the mood of the people. They want someone to be hanged immediately. Be it the head of the king himself. The king is hanged to death by his own decree. The Ministers and the people only thank God. At least someone came forward to be hanged. It made no difference to them if their king was a man or a melon.

Try it yourself with the help of your English teacher.

Vikram Seth’s poem ‘The Tale of Melon City’ is full of humour and irony. The very opening of the poem is ironical. ‘There was a just and placid king’. The just king was too good to be of any use to himself or the people. His unique sense of justice brought his own death. Everything sounds ironical. Another humorous thing is that the ‘placid’ king gets agitated on a small issue. He makes an issue of a non-issue—the bumping off his crown by the arch.

It is quite humorous how easily the king lets himself befooled by others. From the chief of builders to the architect everyone escapes by shifting the blame and responsibility on others.

The most humorous and ridiculous instance comes when the arch is brought to the scaffold to be hanged. Fantastic ! Only an idiot king could have agreed to such a thing.

The tragic irony in the poem is the death of the king himself. Someone has to be hanged. It is the demand of the people. He is hanged to death by his own decree. The crowning of a melon may sound absurd and ridiculous. But it carries a message. The people are completely disillusioned. That it matters little to them if they are ruled by a human being or a melon. Only their interests should be saved and not interfered with.

The poem ‘The Tale of Melon City’ is the story of a moody and whimsical king. He ordered an arch to be constructed. The arch was built too low. When the king was under it, his crown was banged off. The king became angry. He ordered that the chief of builders would be hanged for that disgrace. The chief of builders pleaded that it was workmen’s fault. The just king ordered the workmen to be hanged. But the workmen blamed the wrong size of the bricks for this mishap. Masons pleaded innocence and shifted the blame on the architect. The architect saved himself as he had already advised many amendments in the plan.

The king needed some counsel to solve this tricky issue. The wisest man in the kingdom counselled that the arch itself was guilty. As it banged the crown off it must itself be hanged. The arch was brought to the scaffold. But a counsellor urged the king not to do so. A thing that touched the royal head couldn’t be hanged.

The people were watching the whole drama. They grew restless. They wanted someone to be hanged immediately. The king judged the mood of the public. He declared that someone would be hanged immediately. The noose was set up. Everyone was measured by and by. Only one man was so tall whose neck fitted in the noose. He was the king himself. His majesty was hanged by a Royal Decree.

The Ministers proclaimed that ‘the next to pass the City Gate’ would choose the new king. An idiot passed first by the City Gate. He declared that a melon would be the next king of the state. The melon was crowned as the next king with due respect and ceremony. It made no difference to the people. It didn’t matter if their king was a man or a melon.