Mahabharat – My appreciation

Not that anyone is interested in why I appreciate the epic Mahabharat as is being shown on Star TV. Yet, I felt a compulsion to put in writing why I tune into it every weeknight at 7:00 PM and am rooted to the couch in front of the TV for 30 minutes.

The story of Mahabharat is not new to me. The first telling I heard, if I can remember that far back, was on the lap of the widowed elder sister of my mother. That must have been nearly 55 years ago. Yes, the tale fascinated me more and more as I grew up and as the number of distinct tellings from varied sources also increased. Of course, as regards the characters, the variety of tools employed in character development will put to shame any story writer today. But bear in mind that the writers (note the use of the plural) of the epic were not constrained by size; indeed, longer the better seems to have been the reigning norm of those times.

Now I am 60 years old and I have learned to differentiate between myths and history. I do not take the epic as a version, however much exaggerated, of truth, perhaps except in its kernel.

What exactly is the kernel? That it is a story of the feud between dysfunctional families, across generations!

Add a host of sundry characters and a number of sub-plots and you have the epic. If you felt like it you would bring in certain social issues that allow you to interpret as per the social climates of the time of the telling, hearing or reading. You also bring in the concept of God playing his inscrutable games with the morality dice and one can really capture the imagination of the gullible people. This is how I see the epic. Truly.

About people becoming gullible, I have my own story to tell. It is for you to believe or not believe. There was this Indian graduate student in the 1980s at the University of Kentucky who claimed that, without any sense or logic, every word said in the epic is true, word by word. Indeed, he went to the extent of fixing the global population of the time of the epic as per the number of people who took part in the war. I argued quite vigorously against every point, with facts and figures, he made but in vain. Yes, that is one of the few instances of my witnessing utter gullibility.

Thus far I have tried to undermine the credibility of the epic, with no expectations of success in my endeavor. Now it is time for me to take a different tack and explain why I appreciate it.

The epic weaves into a consistent narrative what must have been distinct folklores across a wide region. And, the inter-weaving of the stories is what makes the epic so colorful while also retaining a level of consistency.

The connection to Ramayan is established by bringing in Hanuman as the brother of Bhim. If a spurned woman has to kill the cause of her misery, then create a transgender out of the woman. A son is brought into the world for the express purpose of killing someone who had insulted the father. A fetus is taught only how to enter a war formation and not to come out of it. In a war, then, he is doomed after half success. You develop, through the accident of birth, hatred between two sons of one of the central characters. You weaken the brother who appears to be the more invincible (I know invincible cannot be used in a comparative sense, but please bear with me), through any number of subterfuges. You set the stage for the grand war by creating a mosaic of such enmities. A wonderful creative effort.  

 If you have to be draped in an infinitely long saree in desperate times, all you have to do is to dress the wound of a character by tearing off a piece from your dress earlier. If the antagonist has to be evil, say he is the advance incarnation of the upcoming era of the baddies. Someone has been killed and if his murder has to be avenged, one makes a loaded dice from the bones of the diseased. If a serpent king takes a vow to make a clan go extinct, then bring in the story of a worm transforming itself into a fearful serpent and kill the last emperor of the clan. If a clan has   to be exterminated at the end of their time, then bring in sharp edged grass growing in the beach and create chaos among people and let them annihilate each other.

Along with these, add the frolics of the God himself and you have an irresistible story. All through one dances along the knife edge of morality. If at times the protagonists’ acts appear to be immoral, never mind – these are justifiable through the argument of ends justify the means!

No wonder I sit still for 30 minutes each weeknight to watch this tightly woven epic; so many interesting sub-epics!

Raghuram Ekambaram

Attraction of a rape scene

This is a speculative post, deliberate but unnecessary speculation.

I refer to the current serialization of Mahabharat on Star TV. The near-rape scene has been going on for two weeks under the guise of repeated Q&As between the various parties much to the discomfiture of the impatient antagonist-in-chief Duryodhana. This plot development in drips and dribbles has actually slowed down the generally fast-paced narrative serial, which I felt was its USP. I am disturbed and that is one of the reasons for this post. 

Now, I want to know what the TRP ratings are for this serial. I am not interested in the absolute numbers or their truth but what they show in relative terms, day to day. I had warned you that this is a speculative post and now I will stand by that.

I want to know whether over the past one week there has been a spike in the viewership of this serial. I suspect there should be.

This is the hint given in the title – the attractiveness of a rape scene. The fact that we are sure there will be a rape scene, to be precise a near-rape scene, is enough to glue us to the screen. In no Hindi, Tamil or Telugu movies (and perhaps movies in other Indian languages too) of certain vintage we were as sure of a rape scene as in this serial and that compensates for the “near-rape” aspect of the episode from the epic.

In all probability, the near-rape will be shown this evening (this is not a plug for the serial, I hasten to add) and hence the urgency to post my speculation prior to the airing.

If ever I come to know the relative TRPs I will revisit this post in a sequel. A serial deserves a serialized post!

Raghuram Ekambaram 

A Pandav mystery

Whenever it may have been that the epic Mahabharat came into existence (possibly orally before being put down in writing), it is not insane to think that the Gods that are given prominence in the tale reflect reality of the heavenly hierarchy of those times. With this thought in mind, one cannot but be confused and confronted by the hierarchy of Gods as manifested in who the fathers of the six sons (including Karna) of Kunti are.

The Sun, father of Karna comes supreme, the father of the eldest. Next comes the Lord of Death,  Yama, conveniently seated upon the throne of justice (is this why death penalty has such a strong hold on the Indian mind?). Then comes Lord Vayu, the God of atmosphere/wind etc. Indira, in this hierarchy is relegated to the fourth position, as the father of Arjun. While it is curious that Indra comes so down the list, it is truly surprising that Lord of Fire and the Lord of Water (Agni and Varun respectively) were not allowed to place their seeds in Kunti’s womb. Oh, you may say that Agni enters the picture through Draupadi, his daughter. That still leaves Agni down the list and Varun (neither will I allow Indra being a proxy for Varun nor take Bhishma, he the son of Ganga, as manifestation of the Lord of Waters) alone.

But more curious is the fact that the Ashwin brothers, who may not have been Gods at all at any time, enter the picture at all, through Nakul and Sahadev.

Given the above, then, what,  does this order tell us about who were worshipped when Mahabharat came into existence? This is the Pandav mystery that exercises me.

Raghuram Ekambaram

Epics and Death Penalty

I am slowly coming to understand the hold death penalty has on our minds; we have been brainwashed into thinking of revenge as the ultimate solution, thanks to religion, or more particularly the stories and epics.

Mahabharatam is a tale of unremitting revenge. This is what I learn by watching the currently running serial of that name on STAR TV (its regional broadcasters). There are enough sub-stories woven into the tale, each one founded on someone being wronged and he or she vowing to take revenge. Shikhandi wants the life of Bhishma because it was the latter who left her a spinster (there is enough twist in this tale to spin your head, but the revenge factor filters through clear).

Sometimes this revenge appears in the form of conditional death penalty. Prince Pandu is proscribed from conjugal relationship, and if he trespassed, boom, he is dead! Why? Because he killed someone, in all innocence.

Why does Shakuni win at the game of dice? These are loaded, made by the bones of someone who had severe bones of contention with the ruling dynasty. Bingo! Shakuni takes his revenge and Pandavs are exiled! But, for whatever reason, the script does not lead to extinction of Pandavs.

Draupadi wants Duryodhana dead. Because she was ashamed in the court. Revenge, pure and simple.

In the pre-Ramayan days, we have Parasuram taking revenge against the warrior class for one king slaying his father, killing all (at least almost all) of them. In the epic itself, Sugreev takes the help of Rama to vanquish his brother, to rescue his wife from the latter, and better yet, to kill him! If you do not see revenge in this, well, I cannot help you.

Every religious festival we have is canonized as, “Good over Evil” with the Good triumphant. This is triumphalism at its worst, if you could see it clearly – defining good by who wins! Be it the Ram Leela festival concluding the Navratra, or Deepavali (in the south, Krishna slaying Narakasur). I am sure you can add to the list.

Having so many people die in our tales, we have become immune to death penalty. In addition, celebrating triumphalism, we never accept the possibility of ever being wrong, or having been wrong.

It is this mentality that the anti-death penalty gang has to counter to bring us into the fold of civilization.

Raghuram Ekambaram