“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes…you’re doing something.”
―
― Neil Gaiman
The current breed of Indian writers is a brave lot. They are not scared of experimenting with the set-in-stone mythologies which have been part of our ‘cultural upbringing’ diet for generations. The Rama of Ramayana and Krishna of the Mahabharata have been humanised, making their follies look more acceptable; Ravana is no longer the blood thirsty brute nor are the Kauravas just power hungry brothers.
This time on Feb 14, Valentine’s day, there was a different tune being played. No mushy music, no poetic verses for the lovers, no romantic serenades. All this change came not because of some right wing extremists who wanted to protect our culture (though yes it did happen because of some other extremists). This year…
Maybe because it’s these diluted aspirations which keep us hopeful about the future. The gelatinous turbidity of our lives ensconces our hopes reminding us of the knob on the walking stick used by Richard Attenborough in Jurassic Park. The tiny mosquito embedded in the blazing glow of the lava rock, remember it?
Hindu mythologies are full of varying versions of the same stories, yet they all reach the same outcome – the celebration of good over evil. For example, the Navaratri puja is celebrated for different reasons in different parts of the country. In eastern and southern India, this festival is celebrated as Durga puja, to celebrate her vanquishing the demon Mahishasura and emerging victorious. In the northern and western states, Navaratri is celebrated to mark the victory of Lord Rama over the asura king Ravana.
September is waiting at the threshold to give way to October to come in and start off. I mean the whole September just zipped by and I had no idea what happened to the days. Dates, ok. But days – it was so difficult to be sure what day it was, or is. The reason was because we were in the middle of a major project – shifting from our rented apartment to our own house. It was a big deal.
The year had started and I wanted to do something other than talking about sanitisers and masks or find that elusive work-life balance which has become a victim of the work-from-home. I wanted to get back to doing things that I had enjoyed in another life (or so it seems). As I was just reading…