Morning blossoms plucked at dusk

Jagannath was a play staged in Kolkata in the 1970s. Jagannath (or lord of the world), the protagonist, was a simpleton whose actions were often obscure to common sense. He bullied the weak and, in turn, was bullied by the strong. If he had been harassed less, or had shown more compassion, he would have had a different story to tell.

But when he clashed with a man of power, the reason was the unjust social system. His personality didn't change because of one woman's affection for him or his lust for another. He always deluded himself, even when it came to becoming a revolutionary. And in the end, he accepted death for a minor crime with a smile on his face. Was he content with his "spiritual victory", that is, self-deception that he loved to indulge in?

Perhaps it sounds familiar. That's because Jagannath was adapted as a play from Lu Xun's The True Story of Ah Q.