19 VISIT

Coming from an era when the whole planet had moved so close to its own destruction due to the excessively selfish acts of humanity on nature, I understood the importance of keeping the environment and nature safe.

Since we were little, we had heard stories about the country being a "Sone ki Chideya". This was the saying used to describe the glorious past of our country. We were reminded that if we had not been so brutally attacked and looted multiple times, while we always followed the philosophy of peace and harmony, India could have been a developed nation before any other.

In my era we felt proud when we countered an argument by saying that we were the only country which had never taken the initiative to attack another sovereign nation. While it was novel thing to boast about, many forgot to mention the price that we as a nation had to pay for this simple line. I myself, like many others would prefer to not be able to say the line and instead live in a powerful, prosperous nation.

In this era when India was still an untapped gem, I wished for its fortune to be utilized for the betterment of its own citizens, rather than wait around for the britisher's to arrive and fool my fellow countrymen out of their fortune to fuel their own monarch.

I fully realize that the current me is not in a position to enact changes throughout the country and therefore I had set my vision towards my own kingdom. With my father's support this will be a simpler process.

Forests and wildlife were excessively abundant in this era, leading to the disregard the people showed towards their safety and care. Deforestation was a normal site. Every village, town, city, kingdom and empire in India today, relied so heavily on resources from the forest for their basic necessities that they utilized the resources without caring for replenishing. Due to its abundance, it is never a matter of consideration among the population to think about how to replenish the exhausted resource.

By passing rules and laws throughout the kingdom for the preservation of nature and wildlife, we could slowly increase the awareness among the population and develop towards a healthy, wealthy and wise nation.

Apart from this topic, my focus was fully on the project.

Five days later, the full forty-kilometre patch was complete with the first three layers completed. After we pressed the first layer of soil, the rocks were placed. The next layer of soil which was placed was done manually, considering that the animals could not walk extensively on the crushed rock layer.

It was finally time for me to unveil how coal tar would forever change the way we travel. The anticipation was running high among the workers and artisans alike. The soldiers too were curious and waiting in anticipation to see if the prince that they follow would shine or sink.

The process up until now was different and better but not anything ground-breaking. This could be easily achieved by others and the streets in capital and empires were made with somewhat similar procedures. The road formed till now was surely easier to travel but still crude in all sense of the word.

The new ingredient, coal-tar, was the additional layer that I was going to introduce.

The soldiers were in anticipation for the road because if it was successful, the march towards war or travels of nobility would become much easier.

The fanfare over the last step was so high that my father and the two senior ministers had arrived today to watch how I would fulfil my promise of creating a safer, cleaner path.

The masons and blacksmiths had finished creating the furnaces for coal along the forty-kilometre path.

Everyone was back to the starting point. The month and a half long work was finally completed and we arrived back to the point where the project began.

This step will be divided into patches of a kilometre each in all sections of the road. This was due to the fact that this step will take simultaneous pouring of coal-tar and rolling for completion. Even after the rolling was completed there will be a need to water and care for that patch until it fully settles down.

As we were informed beforehand about the arrival of the king and the ministers, we had already produced enough coal-tar previously to begin the work immediately.

They first arrived at my mansion early in the morning and praised the hard work and dedication I had shown in the month and half since the project began. They had received regular reports either from their subordinates or the soldiers, regarding the progress of the road.

The left minister who had arranged the doctors for the camp, praised me for the simple steps I had implemented around the camp of workers to improve general health.

The right minister who had arranged for the soldiers and the elephants also praised me for the initiative I had taken with the children of the camp.

My father simply praised me in general and did not elaborate considering we were with company.

I was excited to show my father the fruits of my labour. I wished to see his approval after seeing the progress with his own eyes.

The construction was to begin at noon. Till then we all rode on the sides along the project for inspection.

Seeing the even pathway along such a huge stretch in the middle of the forest was certainly a surprise to them. Even my father was surprised, after all seeing was more believable than reading the reports.

The left minister even questioned me as to the reason on my insistence of adding another layer of coal seeing that the road in front of him was already of appropriate standard. He assured me that this road was adequate enough for travellers and merchants alike and if I was to try too hard just for proving a point, I could end up losing the progress I had already made.

I could understand his point. They only knew and understood that I was somehow going to incorporate coal into the project and from what they knew up until know about the substance, it was coarse, brittle and easy to burn.

Now imagine that, but placed all over the road.

Fear regarding the unknown was natural. I bet they had already imagined a tiny spark igniting the entire path.

I explained to them that what I had planned to use was not coal in its purest form and after undergoing a procedure the final product will be useful for roadways construction.