Rajan Kapoor Blogs!: Hindu

Fête de Dusshera - Delhi 10-2006 / Dusshera Festival - Delhi 10-2006 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Dusshera is Over. Most Indians celebrate this day as a very important festival day. A day celebrating the 'The Victory of Goodness over the Evil' and parents take their children to a violent display of a public Mob Killing of a 'demon'. The 'killing' is seen as a moral and a fun outing for the children. In a modern age of 'correct' behaviour where old fairy tales and stories are being moderated to avoid violence, abuse and racist instances of past; where even a Bible has a New Testament dropping many old testament's 'rawness'; even the Hindu old and original versions of our 'shastras' and writings have been censored or modified according to the prevalent moral thinking of the times repeatedly over the centuries.

The today's proponents of Hindu 'Culture', the so-called Hindutava, comprises mostly of self-appointed 'Hindu experts', who are not educated in the actual shastras but brought up on distorted and censored versions of a bhelpuri variety and are building their vituperative outbursts based on the same. And the idiotic masses too lazy and intellectually deficient to educate themselves just lap up the doled versions. And the distorted versions just get passed from one idiotic generation to another.It is a huge canvass to talk on and even I am not a expert on it. But I do have my personal thinking and observations as a erst-while 'Hindu'.

Coming back to the 'Rakshash' Ravana. The very word 'Rakshash' to be used for a human being like Ravana for being dark complexioned and from South India is same as a North Indian calling a South Indian a 'bhoot' or a 'Kaalu' or any other similar racist comment; and in case it is a reference to the community Ravana belonged to it still is as bad! And if one points out that they were demons class well it still is very racist. Ask a black or a tribal or a Andrew Symonds or ask our very own North Eastern folks who even today are seen by many mainstream Indians as not Indians!! A Mery Kom may just shut up these Indians for some time. So the word Rakshash for the community Ravana belonged to does not makes him a non-human being. If one talks of the demonic powers he and his brothers supposedly possessed, well some of the avatars of many accepted Gods were worse including Durga's Kaali avatar. Kaali may be feared for her 'roudra' and violence but she is called a goddess and not a demon; though she is also worshipped actually by many so called 'demons and tantriks'.

Ravana is a great scholar, a capable ruler, a player of the veena and a devoted follower of Shiva, and he has his apologists and staunch devotees within the Hindu traditions (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The last justification that Ravana was a human being, albeit a differently-abled one!, comes from the fact that Hindus, and films and TV serials, show some of his brothers like Indrajeet and Bibhashan as normal humans! Medically and genetically it is impossible that siblings be projected as different species as per convenience.

So, on my premises presented above that Ravana was a human, ok lets say a human-like being!, and Rama was in his human avatar,; lets compare the two 'Men'.

Ravana:

Accepted universally including in the Hindu shastras as a Intellectual and a Erudite Man
A Creative Person credited as a Master in the art of Playing Veena
A feared Warrior
Kidnapped Sita as a reaction for the disfigurement of his sister by Laxman (like any brother would do though not recommended!)
Though besotted by Sita, he never touched her but waited for her to accept him (like a honourable man)
Even when he, his family and world was destroyed he never tried to force himself on her in a very acceptable Hindi film goon way
His traitorous, wimpy and cowardly brother Bhibashan not only deserted him but actually gave the secret of his destruction to Opponents while other talented and great warriors brothers, including the humongous but 'duh' Kumbhakaran, in the best tradition of a family loyalty and warrior code, die but do not desert him. The irony being nowadays many are named Indrajits, some perhaps Ravana, even a Kumbhkaran here and there; but hardly a baby is named Bhibashan!!
He was married to a Rajput woman, Mandodari, from Mandor near Jodhpur. There is a temple in Jodhpur where his devotees till today worship him. ( ref: The Times of India article October 25, 2012)

While preparations for Ravana's funeral are underway, Ravana's wives headed by Mandodari (with her back to the viewer, upbraiding her hair) lament his death. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Valmiki community in Punjab, the 2nd largest dalit caste in Punjab, switched off their lights for some time as a mark of respect for the valiant warrior 0n his martyrdom and sing hymns in his honour. According to them in Valmiki's original Ramayana, Ravana emerges as a strong and virtuous warrior. ( ref: The Times of India article October 25, 2012)

And, he was a worshipper of Shiv, who gave him some special boons as a rewards (and punished him sometimes for his brashness but never killed him)

Shiva-Parvati seated on mount Kailash, while Ravana tries to lift it. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Rama:

Seen as a Ideal man,a Maryada Purushottam, come across many times as a Wimp
On being banished to a forest, he wants to keep his step-mother and his obsessed (by her!) father happy but does not remembers his duty to give his wife a secure life and happiness
His juvenile and ill-tempered brother Laxman cuts off the nose of the sister of Ravana on her marriage proposal; and the Ideal man Rama, the paragon of all what is right does not even chides Laxman , forget about punishing him for such a heinous crime against a woman! After all the Shabari episode is told to us to show Rama's secular and pro-women beliefs
The Righteous and principled Rama kills another famous Monkey warrior Bali, on complain of Sugreev, Bali's brother, in a very deceitful and covert manner, unlike the accepted norms of those days of the rules of engagements for honourable warriors!
And, again when the Ravana's Army seems to have the upper edge in the final war with the seemingly Invincible Ravana undefeatable by the right code of warfare, the righteous Rama at his wit's end, gets influenced by the advisors to use a unethical intelligence input by the treacherous brother of Ravana, to finally slay the Great Lankan King. All is fair in love and war was never truer even in the so-called 'Satyayug' era!!! As justifiable as the justifications of the corrupt in today's 'Kalyug', I suppose.

Rama's coronation (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Victorious Rama returns to his empire at his peak with a great victory, a great Commander and a friend Hanuman, loyal brothers, and a most loyal and committed wife Sita. What does the great Hero and the epitome of righteousness does. Listening to some gutter-level gossip and insinuations, instead of cutting off the heads off such idiots, or more normal behaviour of ignoring the imbeciles, He actually conducts a very humiliating 'virginity or purity' test of his own Wife!
And the worst of all of them ever, He banishes his pregnant wife again on some hearsay gossip or comment never to have Sita back. Sita dies in a forest all alone with her twins protected ironically by a dreaded butcher-and-dacoit turned a sage, Valmiki, who wrote the original and the authentic Ramyana, where Ravana is depicted as a virtuous warrior!

The Irony of life is that our elders want us to believe in Rama as a role model: as a man, a ruler, a husband.

Then why crib when the Khaps want the women to be married at 11 to avoid rapes but do not punish the rapists;
why crib when the Politicians loot money and listen to the Khaps' opinion;
Why crib when Media conducts Public trials of anyone accused without waiting for a fair trial
Why crib that the Prime Minister is so silent on corruption of his ministers

You are experiencing Ram Rajya anyway!!! Jai Ram!

Concluding this ejaculation of mine, I asked is it fair to have Rama as a role model of today's youth, men and society and have a 'Ram Rajya' as a epitome of good governance when it was a weak government, given to gossips and insinuations and a weird justice system in a guise of being just and fair to all? Looks uncannily like a Talibanic society which does exactly the same and also believes it does it to be a moral, religious and fair society!

And should we carrying on this very racist, very violent and very unfair demonised celebration of killing, as a example of immoral science, of a very erudite, a very creative and a very principled Warrior (ideal candidate for today's top B Schools!) called Ravana? When we pretend to accept the gays, the lesbians, the live-ins, the beautiful minds and Barfis coming out of the cineplexes, after having splurged parents' hard-earned money, and done hormonal things in the darkness of the theatres, --- never experienced first-hand madness or a handicap or aloneness nor accepted them in real lives -- and just putting them as Your 'Likes' on Facebooks to show how liberal and educated you are!!!!! Or displaying Books like The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged on Books admired or 'bibles' when most of you have never been on your own early in your age (or will be later) nor even having been meritorious in the real sense. So WHY cannot we accept Ravana as what he really was and let his soul R.I.P. rather than torturing it every year in your best dresses.