Not Everyone Is Sita

The words in above title are said by my mom "Not Everyone Is Sita" some years ago. It did shook me to certain extent as my mom didn't bother to get into the details & they have stayed with me since then as a puzzle & later as lesson.  I remember, while discussing Ramayan with a friend , I said if Lord Ram couldn't trust his own wife , then we are even lesser mortals. Years later I did realise how much wrong I took from that epic.

So, while I kept visiting those lines in years to come , I could not dissect it . Who doesn't want to be Sita ? Sita is pure and Queen of Ram . Above all Sita is 'Pativrata' (chaste) , so when you call "not everyone is Sita" , Is that an accusation ? I could have said yes , but those words were used in in defense . The words remained itched in my mind seeking answer.

One day DU banned 300 Ramayanas , and for the first time I felt like thanking govt. for some thing. On twitter everyone was talking about 300 Ramayanas . For starters , I had never heard about the book & quest for my answers begun. The book was part of Delhi University academics for post grad program and it dealt with various versions of Ramayana and its stories . While looking for arguments related to 300 Ramayanas , I came across a paper presented in one of the US universities .

The paper brought  light upon Indian folktales . Indian folktales who tell stories of Sita & Sita's pain .  I'd this paper in my pc , but I guess I lost it . This paper talked about patriarchy in Indian society . It talks about how the versions written by women are rejected by our patriarchal society . It talks about folktales in Bangla , Marathi , Telgu and other languages . The paper tells for ordinary women in these folktale Ram isn't a great husband . How Rama treated his wife . These folktales about which I learnt from a paper presented in some university . The folktales which are lost because probably they were thought to be inappropriate to  be passed on  to generation further . The alternate story is lost in idolising Ram & Sita . A relationship where one should look beyond divinity .

Indeed if we look at today's situation of many women , they are Sita .  I am glad yet "Not Everyone is Sita".

PS: If I get Link & PDF of the paper , I shall share it .

The Alternate View

The beauty of alternate is it keeps changing . The alternate view takes centuries & generations to change & it aims become contemporary. These views exists as a folk tale , poem, an individual thought or  a book .  Today we see alternate view more prominently , thanks to internet .  The churning of these views contemporary vs alternate keeps this very Indian culture beaming and vibrant . I was witness to such an alternate view , recently .

Shivaji Underground in Bheemnagar Mohalla is Marathi drama/skit which pushes this alternate view .  This is indeed first drama I have ever seen in theatre & It completely amazed me. The technicalities are well  handled , the use of sound, light, stage & ofcourse the music score . Everything was above par . Marathi Drama industry is truly blessed . The theater was more than 70 percent full on a rainy weekday.  The drama has already won several awards and its cast include none of the stars of Marathi cinema , it says the artist are farmers of Jalna village .

The plot -Yamraj is assigned with the responsibility of bringing Shivaji's soul & thoughts from earth . While returning with Shivaji , Yam asks him whether he brought his thoughts with him, Shivaji tells he left them on earth , he needs to get it back . Shivaji leaves his "Jeere tope"  (Cap) with Yam . Needless to say Shivaji  doesn't return reminding audience of his great escape from Agra . Yam is subsequently suspended till he brings back Shivaji & his thoughts . Fast Forwarded  today's era Yam still looking for a guy on whom tope would fit & its not the size of head he is looking for , but brain . Anyone who speaks  little sense , Yam tries to fit the Tope .

Often , Shivaji is potrayed as a king who fought Muslim . He was sent by the Gods to establish Hinduism . If you follow most of the wars fought by Shivaji , former might seem true . In National History he is often treated as disillusioned king  who wanted freedom.  My school history only devoted a paragraph  to this "regional" hero and chapter on Sinhagad Fort in hindi literature. The same education , though gave me an oppurtunity know Shivaji more through curriculum project and I knew where to head , state board syllabus . Though I did do well from others however I wish , I should have been to Central Library in Mumbai . I should have researched him bit more . So, when one of my earlier bosses called him 'mountain rats' , I did not take it to slightest of my liking , sensing my dislike for comment he said , what I meant was he kept hiding from one for to another though his Gorilla warfare saved Vietnam from America in 1970s. His addition made me wonder what this king was doing by winning these forts. Ofcourse , I am not yet an enlightened about Shivaji who now I feel is a subject in itself .

The drama is an attempt to erase lots of myth about , Shivaji -The Great Maratha King . The one among it he was "Gods own form" & his sword was gifted to him by none other than Goddess Bhavani . The truth is , his Sword was world class as it was Portugal make . He was not fighting against Muslims , He was fighting against a ruler who was notorious , a ruler who was ripping common man of wealth . The drama throws light on how his army had people from across caste & how he facilitated research in modern arms in those time . 11 of 33 bodyguards of Shivaji were Muslim . Babasaheb Ambedkar rightly called him king of "Shudras" .He was one of the most un-superstitious kings, he mostly traveled on Amavasya (Considered most Inauspicious) .The drama will tell you several stories of Maharashtra's beloved king.

The drama also tels today Shivaji is lost in political mileage gaining . The drama throws light bigotry of today's political class . Hlow even common man switches side to fill his own stomach .  The drama accuses Brahmins & Marathas . The drama says these very people opposed his "kinghood" and these people are now manipulating history & glorifying Shivaji for their personal interest . Though it is not false what drama tells , but I would say its history .  For a class to rise one should not pull down the other .  The purpose is to bring equality.

At one point of time there is question asked in drama , which book is true ? which book to follow ? who writes truthfully ? It is indeed a difficult question .The writer tries to say may be a book which appeals to you or which is not biased. If the mind is biased , how do you find a true book?

The drama is ofcourse served with humour & good music. It makes your ride easier through this complicated narrative . It does gets little loud & preachy on  2 to 3 occasions , but its over all a job well done .

Husband was little disappointed .  After having Popcorn , Samosa and tea he couldn't get his hands on Garam Wada , Sigh !!!

JOLLY LLB

As usual by end of the day , Patidev's wallet had been bankrupt . No , he didn't buy expensive gift for me . He had lend some money to contract labours in his office . On an average, every month around 2k-3k is always in rolling in this interest free lending business  . I asked him , do those people really need money ? ( I was hinting  at alcohol problems ) . He said yes , one of the fellow who he lent money yesterday wanted it for getting LPG at home . He continued , they earn only 6-7k per month .  They don't stay in their own house  , its generally rented , food , daily travel , they survive with quite  a lot of difficulty . Most have wives who are domestic maids .  The good thing is all these people return him the money they take in less than a month or two and I haven't yet heard my husband ramble about money not being returned. Hence as they say , wheel of Karma keeps moving.

We  decided to break the jinx of having not seen a movie in theatre for three months . I was expecting Jolly LLB to be some light humored comedy . It begins with nerve raising land cruiser speeding scene which ends up in an accident. Though it is indeed a comedy , I'd say a "dark comedy" . How the system is manipulated by the rich & affluent for convenience and how the middle class common man has found its discourse of making money at the cost of breaking or lets say ignoring ethics & principles . At no point the movie is preachy . It is what I say - ruthless to our judiciary , police and society .

The courtrooms are supposed to be mundane & rote . But this movie brings back the livelihood of courts . The arguments , the cases and the judges .  The way a senior counselor (Boman Irani) is treated with respect by judges. Everything gels in & one starts enjoying  the whole drama . Saurabh Shukla is so outstanding that I was trying to recollect when was the last time I enjoyed his performance . The fellow shows his true blue colours of stage actor . Every frame he has acted in , is so so wonderful. There are many high points in the movie, vague references to Sibal & Jethmalani , the quality of lawyers which we are churning . 

 In one scene Arshad Warsi tells a poor labour "Insaaf Maangne Se Nahi Ladke Milta hai" . The truth is there is lack of mechanism to provide basic needs to the poor , leave alone justice . In climax while concluding his argument  Arshad asks , why a poor man has to run through dates from court while defence will go an every inch manipulate evidence & facts of the case . In the end even Saurabh Shukla says , he would always know on day one who is guilty , yet evidences & witnesses fail to appear in court .  

This movie may not be a cult but will find its way to your movie collections .  Me & Husband were glad that we spent 400 odd bucks on weekday on a low budget flick & it was worth it  . The movie certainly leaves  a lot of  fodder for brain.  

The Story Of Chhatrapati Shivaji's Date Of Birth

On 30th March ( Falgun Krishna Tritiya), most of Maharashtra will celebrate his Jayanti . Now why only most Maharashtra will celebrate , and others won't considering Chhatrapati is respected by everyone who is born Marathi is because some have already celebrated it on Feb 19 . 
Ajit Ranade on Feb 19 tweeted this , reproduced below:

Overheard: आज राष्ट्रवादी आणि कॉंग्रेस वाल्यांची शिवजयंती आहे. एप्रिल मध्ये शिवसेनेची येईल

which means: NCP/Congress will celebrate  Shiv Jayanti on Feb 19 , shiv sena' Jayanti will come in April  . 

In response I replied with what I knew on subject : that some Historian question Feb 19  as actual DOB of  Shivaji and in response he said Lokmanya has role in this controversy . He later put this query to Raju Lokapur who has done a lot of study on subject  and he gave us some wonderful insights on this duel date and it starts with :-

Lokamanya Tilak didn't contribute to any confusion . When he started the Shiv Jayanti Utsav in 1896 time frame in Pune, the accepted date of birth of Shivaji was  Vaishakh Shudh Dwitiya of Shaka 1549 (Prabhav Samvatsara) corresponding to Thursday, 6 April 1627 based on several "bakhars"  such as 91-Kalami, Chitnis, Pant-Pratinidhee, Shiv-Digvijay, Satarkar Chhatrapthi, Shedgaonkar, etc.

 

However, VK Rajwade was the first to come across Tanjavur sheela-lekh in 1906 that mentioned the birth date of Shivaji as Phalgun Krishna Tritiya of Shaka 1551 (Shukla Samvatsara) corresponding to Friday, 19 Feb.1630

 

Then one SM Divekar went to Tanjavur around 1918 and obtained a Tamil poem called "Shiv-Bharat" that re-iterated the new date. The other evidences were :

a) The earlier date of 1627 was taken as official as famous British historian Grant Duff borrowed it from Chitnis bakhar written in 1820's, which in turn relies heavily on Sabhasad bakhar that was written at Fort Ginjee in 1697 at the suggestion of Rajaram Maharaj; however, several references have later proved to be inaccurate, probably since the bakhar was compiled during war-time and far away from Maharashtra.

b) The janma-patrika of Shivaji found in libararies of Rajasthan royal families around 1924, that were compiled in when Shivaji met Mirza Raje Jaising multiple times during 1665. The library also has janma-patrika of other 17th century personalities such as Shahji, Sambhaji, Shah Jehan and some Mughal mansabdars, and have proven to be authentic.

(c) The references of Ramdas Swami disciples. 

(d) the movement & battles of Shahji with Mughal and Adilshahi forces, notably DaryaKhan, during 1627-32 period in & around Pune, and the killing of Lakhuji Jadavrao at the Nizamshah darbar also re-inforces that Friday, 19 Feb.1630 evening (6.10 pm) as the correct time of Shivaji's birth. 

All further research has shown the latter to be the correct date based on Jedhe Shakavali, Shri Forbes Gujarathi Sabha, as also the horoscopes found at Biyawar, Badnera, Bikaner, etc. The other references of movement of Shahji and his battles with Mughal & Adilshah forces also re-confirms the latter to be the correct date of birth.

 

Lokamanya Tilak himself acknowledged that there was some confusion about the two dates in Kesari editorials in 1916 and 1920, and emphasized that more research needed to be done. The conclusive evidence, however, came about in 1924, i.e., four years after the death of Lokamanya Tilak.

 

For a few years until 1932, the birth-day celebrations continued on both dates when Bharatiya Itihas Samshodhak Mandal of Pune accepted the 1630 as birth year of Shivaji

 

In 1966-67, Govt.of Maharashtra appointed an expert committee to conclude the debate, that confirmed 1630 as the year of birth of Shivaji

 

The lunar calender date of Phalgun Krishna Tritiya never falls on 19 Feb any more as the Protestant Church of England corrected their Gregorian calender in 1752 by dropping 10-days to correct itself and coincide with the Vatican year

 

Therefore, the natural frequency of Phalgun Krishna Tritiya shifted to 4-30 March in present day calendar (2013) that creates a confusion in the minds of most people .

I found this bit interesting & worthwhile , hence shared here :) .

The Blog is Dead

Last month I was quite exuberant  to write about a piece of History received in mail , a review of  a good book and thoughts on Agatha Christie . Also a bit of personal blog on relationships , Indian parents &  throwing in fiction piece for readers on  which I intend to build my book . This site always had unique visitors which is why it kept me going . Ofcourse I also  dream of being a celebrity blogger some day with 1000s of visitor per day but that for some other day. 

The issue here is inability to complete a draft & post it . I am suffering writer's block . They claim , writers in general drink a  lot of coffee to get over these blocks & also since they are insomniac , they later sleep for hours and days . I am a no coffee drinker , infact when I visit CCD I proudly order a Icetea ( their hot tea tastes terrible ) & a   plate of Samosa .   I  for that matters didn't even drink gallons of tea and I haven't written a post at night in past one year . Yet every post has remained incomplete .

I have been visiting this blog for past one month , see its visitors  count . Check on some old post , wonder about all those posts written by me ,Muse over those silly spelling & grammar mistakes and still I couldn't finish a single post . As I write this , I now remember there was even a 'sales & marketing' post in drafts , there is another on "customer satisfaction" and two days back I guiltily planned a post about 'networking without social network' (backbone of Indian culture) while returning from Nasik .

 But yesterday something alarming  happened, the blogger stats showed zero visits . By end of the day I made up my mind to pronounce -  blog is dead .  I haven't watched a movie for past three months in theatre. I haven't even visited hair dresser since past one month .Television has been what it is ; an idiot box. These are terrible signs , signs of cluttered mind , signs reading a lot of crap ,signs of work getting hectic and too much confusion. Confusion between capitalism & socialism , Confusion with ethnicity , Confusion of faith ( A post was also planned on that ) and a lot of confusion . 

Not that I know how future would shape , Atleast The blog isn't dead. 

To Write or Not to Write

Yesterday, I found a seat within first two stops of boarding the bus.  The bus was so crowded that the probability of finding a seat early was almost in 2-3 decimals i.e, 0.02 or .01 but it turned out to be my lucky day; in addition to finding an early seat soothing music was also played on the bus. It's an apt start to a working day. As I settled, my thoughts slowly drifted to the conversation with a friend I had a few days ago. I told her,

"I won't be writing a book anymore, probably that's not something I want to do now,"  the reasons were numerous including people might call my book dud, something I am not ready to digest. The concept is there, but to take it forward is one problem, Grammar is another problem and it's been more than a year since I begun writing it here and there.

Then a thought occurred to me, what if I finish the book two/three years down the line. Well, It would be a great achievement. Well, will I publish? Umm no, Maybe I will send it to friends and then the kite began to fly.

Yeah, Maybe I will publish it. Maybe the book will be so good that I will have offers from eons of publishing houses. It would be an instant hit. Suddenly my self-conscience shook me, the little girl on my shoulder said,

"Isn't your kite flying too high. I told her, of course not. It's just a beginning," She also tried to reason me with a Panchtantra story of a brahmin, who broke his milk pot in sleep while dreaming about how he would change his life from that single pot by selling milk from that, then buying one goat, two goats & so forth. I told her,

"Chill, there is no pot around. Let me fly this kite."

So, the book would become an instant hit, a bestseller even. Both  Karan Johar & Anurag Kashyap would want to work with me. I could also foresee a Hollywood studio buying rights for my book. Money! How much money will I get? Oh be it, it will come. Wait, what if copyrights are bought by publishing house, oh my content would be their property. Here  I made a mental note to self on finding out how these publishing house writer relationship worked . Especially financial aspect of the same.  Sachin would invite me for a dinner with him & discuss the book. I can also be the honorary guest on KBC, and yes Mr. Bachchan would host it. And then the  conductor shouted,

"Virvani, Oberoi, Dindoshi,"  I had arrived at my stop.

In few minutes, office.I was standing in front of the large gate of my office. The grind must start and the kite must stop flying. I was back working on SAP, excel & some Marketing work too.The day was quite exhausting. Towards the end of the day, I received this article. IIt'san interview with Ben Affleck, Matt Damon & the cast -crew of the Good Will  Hunting . Its mainly about Matt & Ben's journey in getting a movie made which they wrote & wanted to act in it. It was their dream.


It took 4 years to write that story & 4 years to get it made. Also, when the story was up in the market there was a bidding war for the same. Finally, they sold it to Creative studios for a handsome amount. But they hardly knew, their journey had just begun.So in real life, it takes little longer to fly a kite in the sky.

 Their journey to find someone would produce it, some guy who would direct and other characters for the movie who would want to act in it. They had their share of challenges.Then the making the movie itself. The logistic & commercial aspect. Matt & Ben literally cried when the movie went on the floor. The movie was one of the highest grosser, had academy award nominations. Had it not been Titanic in that year, they would have swept more awards. I was in awe of both the guys. It had me thinking maybe its not a bad idea to write a book.

I still had some more time left and after reading few posts, I read this.  A movie/docu recco from the moifight club , a blog on films. The story was of a construction worker who cuts an album, which sold only six copies in whole America and then he went back to his life of obscurity. However, in  South Africa, his music starts getting a cult following. The word goes around that he is dead, some fans decide to find out what happened to him. Interesting . Another possible result for a good book.

The day had ended. Sun took an early day off due to winter & the darkness was coming on its whole. In the washroom, I looked into the mirror and I wondered where my journey would end; in obscurity or in fame. An answer I am not ready for, yet.  To Write or Not to Write remained the question, yet again.