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So what if the Privy Purse was abolished in 1971,indulging in a bit of royal nostalgia isnt banned,is it?

Maharajadhiraj,Yuvraj,His Highness,Ji Hukum. These honorifics filled a colourful shamiana in the North Gujarat town of Surendranagar,the centre of the princely Jhalawad region in pre-Independence India.

On Thursday,the Jhalawad Manguji Kshatriya Samaj came together to celebrate 919 years of its existence,inviting scions of 22 erstwhile princely states in Gujarat and Rajasthan. And the star of the function was 86-year-old Meghrajji Bawa of Dhrangadhara,perhaps the only surviving ruler of a pre-Independence state.

It was all collective nostalgia and those-were-the-times banter as elderly royals harked back to the olden timeswhen kings ruled and princes clashed swords. They were all dressed for the occasioncolourful turbans,moustaches swirling,the royal crests and insignia neatly displayed on their sherwanis,red tilak smeared on their foreheads and swords curling outwards.

Democratic traditions took a back seat as subjects bowed to the kings as they made their way to the venuea convoy of air-conditioned Innovas and SUVs. The Rajpurohit the royal priest and Charan Kavi community of royal bards completed the picture of royal obeisance. Young men,who had given up their Levis for the day to sport bright sherwanis and turbans,looked suitably awed.

I am happy that this function has become instrumental in bringing all the kings from the region together on one stage. And I wish that our generation makes progress while preserving the Kshatriya tradition, said Maharajadhiraj Meghrajji Bawa after he was honoured. He also expressed his full support for the education of girls in the region.

While modern times did intrude on the grandeur of a royal pastbe it the whirring fans or the chairsthe main organiser,Harshadsinh Rana,the scion of the state of Limdi,said traditions were being followed to the maximum extent possible. These are our guests,we did not allow any one of them to stay in hotels,instead they stayed in different bungalows in Surendrangar, said Rana.

While most of the speakers on the occasion opted to speak on the work done by Meghrajji Bawa for the people of the region and for the princely states,there were some who yearned for the old good times.

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Not all of them were royals,though. The curious commoner too dropped by. Atla badha raja ek sathe aam khulla ma kya jova malavana hata? Rasta par thi nikalata najar padi etle jova avyo chu It is very rare to see so many kings together. I was passing by the road and noticed this function so I stopped for a while to have a look, said Mahesh Pandey who was present at the function.

But it is the erstwhile king of Wankaner state,Dr Digvijay Sinh,who seemed to sum up the mood on the day. Nowadays,kings are only museum pieces. It might seem glamourous to be a king,but we cant cling on to our past. Unlike other museum pieces,we kings need to go out,demand the votes of the people and be there in power, said Sinh,a former Union Minister for Environment and president of the Akhil Bhartiya Kshatriya Mahasabha.