Raavan is the name dreaded by most children in their childhood.
Well, when I was a kid I couldn’t even imagine how hideous he would have looked with ten heads.
Later, during my teenage, I used to chuckle looking at the funny cartoon that was telecasted every day on Pogo, a channel for kids. I always wondered as to how he balanced his body with one extra head on one side!
Mythology says Raavan’s ten heads stuck out when he was infuriated and smoke oozed out his ears. Now I wonder as to how his wife would have mellowed his temper down, as she would have to kiss his ten lips to soothe him.
Jokes apart, if this is the change in my attitude in just 20 years , what will people think of Raavan after a million years? Yeah, I am talking about the modern day Raavan.
We have already witnessed a portrayal in contrast with what happened in the mythology in the bilingual film, “Raavan”.
Gone are the days when Raavan was considered as diabolic and sceptic. and a ruthless animal or even a barbaric human.
There was a time when Raavan was depicted as brawny with a big fat tummy. And now…?
The unctuous, hunky, handsome guy with a six-pack is the Raavan of today. I am exclusively hinting at the Tamil-version of the film, “Raavan” .
The actor in the Hindi-Version is not even close to being the hunk.
The hero kills thousands and is mean to everyone,.But he is nice to one woman, and that’s the heroine.
Isn’t this what the actual Raavan do as well? The only difference is that Raavan version 1.0 used a sword and Raavan version 4.0 uses a toy gun
Even Ram version 1.0 had left his wife to suffer in the jungle in the name of I-want-to-take-care-of-the-kingdom. Wasn’t that uncompassionate? That was clearly back-stabbing in the name of love.
Till the very end Ram didn’t enjoy his life, such as going out for a picnic or having a banquet with the kings of other states. Instead, he was a complete workaholic, a nerd!
May be a modern day Valmiki would have given an unexpected climax to the myth.
Raavan has taken a tricky turn in the other forms of media as well especially in serials. On television the character of Raavan is depicted as a con man and the ladies back home, pity him. Well, they weep more for the female version of Raavan though.
In Ramayana version 1.0 the characteristics of sacrifice and perseverance was so graciously depicted, but now, none of the relationships have commitment. People switch and oscillate faster than AC current.
It is a disgrace.
If the protagonist in a successful TV show does not have at-least two previous relationships, and a small affair after marriage.
One could argue and extenuate the importunity of the issue by stating that even Lord Krishna had an affair before marriage, and Lord Muruga who enjoyed his life with two wives. But one thing that you missed in noticing is that both Lords were seriously committed to their true love.
So, my wish to Durga Ma on Dussehra is this: kindly kill the bad thoughts of men and women who have the intention to cheat on their partners or else neither Durga Ma nor a Lakshman Rekha would stop any Raavan from taking Sita for a ride on his new Thunder-bird and elope.
Varun M.
Image Source [http://1.bp.blogspot.com/Na1cvmGLyQ0/To1ifpN2GNI/AAAAAAAAAD0/eyaF537Wyh4/s1600/ravan.jpg]
