Reflections on the Ramayan connection - Page 3

Originally posted by: ggn_girl

Wow..beautiful connection..and when i think about it Sita was not made to stay in the palace but in one of Ravan's gardens..the best one in Lanka..i suppose the pool side is the quivalent..intersting observations.

Originally posted by: Shilpa.Agarwal

@bold...couldn't agree more...I am a baniya and on dussehra day we actually worship ravan in the morning and burn his effigy in the evening...cos as baniyas are supposed to be traders and so we have a lot to learn from ravan as he was wise and a very successful administrator...and yes sometimes one wrong deed someone does completely overshadows his past goodness but in ramayan after the yuddh ram had sent laxman to seek blessings and teachings from ravana while he was on his death bed...as for ur analogy with IPKKND characters, i don't whether the makers ever thought that way but i think Ramayan is such an integral part of our thoughts that we always tend to borrow ideas from there while creating or understanding anything...so relating situations and even fictional characters to the epic always gives new insights and different perspective so thanks a lot for sharing👏

Originally posted by: wesha

Arnav is an anagram of Ravan. An observation could not have been more spot-on.

You know, before the CVs lost their grip on ASR's characterization, this is always what I thought about Arnav. Going by the disaster they are writing now, it is hard to believe that they had actually named this show as 'Vaidehi' at one time with perhaps the exact kind of analogy with Ramayan that you brought out so beautifully in your post.

But to continue with the character arc that ASR once was, I thought he was Ravan through and through. And that is because, to me Ravan was always the hero of Ramayan.

The force of Ravan's existence was such that every part of the story just happened as a reaction to him and his actions. He was all that you said - a scholar, a just ruler...but even more than all this, I think he was an antonym of all those "good girls/boys" who rarely make "history" on their own. I loved the character and I could even identify with his arrogance. In real life, if you have pulled yourself up to that kind of pedestal of "success" all by your own, you are bound to feel a little smug. That is natural and to an extent well-earned. Trying to suppress it, unless it goes beyond ethical realms, is actually dishonest. I liked how honest that character of Ravan was to himself. He knew he had done what he had to do but he also knew what was in his hands NOT to do. He DID NOT touch Sita. If kidnapping her was in line with his value system (sister's revenge), so was not maligning Sita's purity. And he was honest even in his death. He revered Ram for all the later's good qualities (true sign of an educated mind with a lion's heart) and felt no loss of self-esteem when he asked Raam himself to end his life after being defeated by him fair and square on the battlefield.

Raam does not exert his existence much although he is a fountain of personality and talents as well. There is, however, one crucial point that always distinguished Ravan and Raam for me.

Raavan's love and passion for Sita and Raam's love and passion for Sita.

Raam was the man who in the world's eyes was authorized to love Sita. (Like, many of us some times feel, Shyam is after all much more well-behaved around Khushi and he has the mellowness required of a married man...etc...).

Ravan, on the other hand, was her clandestine lover. ( Almost illegitimate like the current 'fake' marriage)

But, when it came to really living these roles, Raam failed miserably ( whatever be the reasons...there can be a whole debate over a ruler's responsibility towards state vis-a-vis his family...and I can go on and on but that is not the question here).

So, Raam let his love sacrifice herself to save his 'greater' skin. While, Ravan went against his 'greater' skin - the demonic world - to hold his passions and desires for Sita back so as not to cause her any further defamation. This despite the fact that Raam left his sister "unmarriagable" for life because he frivolously decided to punish Surpanakha for her overt gestures towards him by cutting off her nose.

I thought ASR's character was through and through Ravan before he started to physically hurt Khushi and before he started to think that his brother was a complete WIMP and had no life or mind of his own. This is where I now see glimpses of Raam in ASR - that Raam who did not think much about Laxman's wife and family life before he 'let' him accompany him to the forest where he himself was going to enjoy 'female companionship' before the 'eyes' of his s*x-starved brother.

And that Raam, who thought sacrificing Sita's fame for the greater good was the noble thing to do.

Sorry, for carrying on for so long but you have started on a very apt topic for discussion. Will be good to know various points of view on this.

Originally posted by: swati1975us

What an absolutely masterly post Wesha! This is incredible and says most of what I wanted to say in the most lucid, elegant way possible. I love the way you argue that Arnav is a Ravan through and through - and I think your point is very convincing. Ravan is definitely the most commanding, interesting character in the Ramayan and is everything that you described him to be.

I really hoped the CVs had continued with the Ravan analogy as you do - it would be a lot more interesting. Alas, as you said what we are witnessing is a lack of firmness of character a la Ram.

By the way, Ram rhymes with Shyam as well. Coincidence?

Originally posted by: wesha

Thanks Swati. If only they hired a couple of us as "logic consultants" for the show. :) But, I am happy that there are some people who want to discuss this topic. Credit goes to you for leaving an ambiguity in your post. That helps people from both sides of the coin to express their views openly.

And yes, in Bengali, we in fact have a proverb to denote commonplace people which goes - "Ram,Shyam,Jadu,Madhu". They are all supposed to be the "and yada, yada group". :) Common place..!! (hope you know what I mean).