The Emperor — Ahmed Essop

His address to the pupils at assembly was rhetorically delivered: 'As from today I am the principal of this school.' He paused for a moment, then went on: 'I am undertaking my duties with all the seriousness, dedication and responsibility that my position demands ... a school is not a place of amusement ... but a place where instruction is given by dedicated teachers to equally dedicated pupils. A school may be compared to an ashram. The teachers are the gurus and the pupils the disciples.'
Thus begins Mr. Dharma Ashoka's first day as principal of Ashoka High School. Egotistical and authoritarian, Mr. Ashoka provides the writer with a protagonist and a milieu rich in satiric and ironic possibilities. Strong in characterisation and skilfully told, The Emperor is an engrossing story and, among other things, deals with the problems which can result from educational change.