Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath?
Can Honour's voice provoke the silent dust?
Or Flatt'ry soothe the dull cold ear of Death?
"Can storied urn or animated bust
The boast of heraldry,
The pomp of power,
And all that beauty,
all that wealth e'er gave,
Awaits alike the inevitable hour.
The paths of glory lead but to the grave."

- Elegy written in a Country Church Yard by Thomas Gray

The controversy relating to installing a statue of Tamil poet in Bangalore has been raging ever since the idea was mooted many decades ago. Why Bangalore? Is it because of the presence of a very large number of Tamilians in Bangalore? Then why not Mumbai, Matunga, to mention the preferred spot?

There were protests from Kannada Abhimanis then. Karnataka Rakshana Vedike was not there then. Vatal Nagaraj was the one - man army fighting such causes and some litterateurs.

Then suddenly it dawned on some politicians, apparently not wanting to displease Tamil voters in Bangalore, that Tiruvalluvar statue was okay if Tamil Nadu government agreed to install the statue of a Karnataka poet. So it was Sarvajna.

Yet there was a glitch. The Tamil poet got a prime location in the Ulsoor lake area. What about Sarvajna? Kannadigas are now asking for a prime location in Chennai.

Is there a need for these statues even on a reciprocal basis? I say a big NO. More than Tamilians of Chennai, we Kannadigas at Bangalore are buying trouble - both immediate and in the future. Soon, there will be a suggestion for Ramaswamy Naiker's, Annadurai's, MGR's and why not Karunanidhi's statues in the areas where Tamils are in majority in Karnataka or in Bangalore. And can this be arranged on reciprocal basis as with Tiruvalluvar or Sarvajna? After all, Karnataka does not have one charismatic Chief Minister or leader equal to those of TN mentioned above.

More important point to ponder is the number of disputes that exist between TN and Karnataka. Let us start with Cauvery water dispute which seems perennial as the water of Cauvery. Then we have Hogenakkal. TN has filed a case challenging the granting of classical status to Kannada (and Telugu) languages in the Madras High Court. These are like festering wounds.

And to further aggravate or ignite troubles, these statues could be desecrated by angry mobs whenever there is a rift of some kind between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka on any of the issues mentioned above or may manifest in future. The statues will become the first victims of the agitating crowds as we have experienced and we are experiencing regularly.

So why these statues? Drop the idea, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka and leave us in peace.

Don't unveil the statues as proposed on Aug. 9. And if you must, for the statues are already made, install them in their own home States - Tiruvalluvar in Chennai and Sarvajna in Bangalore.

Let us try to understand the futility of installing the statues of our leaders and poets (as in this case) to immortalise their memory which is exactly what the great English poet Thomas Gray says in his elegy.

Having seen the statues of Stalin, Lenin, Saddam Hussein and the likes of them having been pulled down and consigned to the dustbin of history, and the other surviving statues suffering the indignity and disgrace of being neglected and even desecrated remaining in their place covered with moss and bird droppings, they having become a very comfortable perch for the birds, we should desist from honouring our leaders in this manner.

Of course, there are exceptions. Some are well - protected under a canopy or a building. In my opinion the exceptions may be seen in the case of the Buddha, Mahaveer, Jesus Christ (all sculpted out of the artist's imagination), Abraham Lincoln, Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi and a very few. This is because of the religion they founded or the universal ideals and philosophy for which they stood while alive.