Ravan and Ramayan: A Retake? Part 1

Ravan and Ramayan: A Retake?

Part 1:

A few years back, we were spending 2-3 days at Kanha Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh, India. The resort we stayed at was patronizing a local Gond artist. His paintings were displayed on a patio adjoining the dining hall and I had the opportunity to talk to him a few times before dinner time. Me and my obsession with sarees was actually what got me into the conversation with him. I asked if he could customize his art on a saree for me. He showed willingness. So I made a deal with him about the job and handed to him a brand new Vidarbha karvati kathi tussar saree I had picked from Nagpur before coming to Kanha. 

During the casual conversations with him I got some interesting tidbits about the Gond way of life. How they relate with nature. How they collect the red pigment of sindoor from fruits of a tree indigenous to their forests. 

It is from him I learned that this tribe views Ravan differently than how we were taught in the Ramayan. They consider Ravan as a hero. They believe he played the negative part to highlight the virtues of Ram!! To bring forth those qualities of Ram, that otherwise, the world would never have known. Made logical sense to me. 

Controversial but certainly thought provoking. Will discuss that shortly. 

More recently our daughter was home for a weekend. And I can’t recall what was the context of our earlier conversation but she asked me “ Aai, do you think this notorious leader in the present era could be a reincarnation of Ravan?” 

It amazes me how the mind of the young people works. How, despite growing up in the western culture, they try to connect mythological stories they were told at Chinmaya Mission in their childhood with what they observe around them.

I hadn’t thought about it on those lines. 

Her question made me pause for a few seconds. 

The realization came in that instant that until now I had not given Ravan the respect that was due. No way the leader she was referring to could be a reincarnation of Ravan! Despite his glaring flaws, Ravan actually had some noteworthy principles that were not highlighted for us !! 

The world knows Ravan had deceitfully abducted another man’s wife. We grew up hating Ravan for that. Ravan was also painted a villain in our psyche for his unyielding ego. He was the prototypical character of what we should try not to be. His defeat and destruction represented the eventuality that was impressed on our minds in a bid to deter us from following in his footsteps. And we were impressed by it. We did our best to keep Ram as our role model even though we could neither be everything that Ram was, nor completely avoid everything that Ravan stood for. We swayed in both directions from time to time. 

But this question from the daughter made me look at Ravan with much more respect than I had ever done before. 

Yes, Ravan was a coward who had to take cover of a fake persona, deceive a good woman and forcibly kidnap her from her home. He felt lust for this woman who was someone’s wife. That someone, her husband, had done no harm to him. Yet such evil desire had overcome Ravan’s mind. None of this is disputed by most.

What our teachers at that time probably did not think we could understand was that even such evil man showed certain traits that were worth taking notice of. Even after the fact that he had successfully kidnapped the woman and taken her to his kingdom, he had not molested her. He had not raped her. Instead he kept her in a place where she would be under the watchful eye of other women guards. He repeatedly tried to impress his greatness upon her so she would accept him as her suitor. He was mad as hell when she turned him down each time. Yet he never crossed that line of imposing himself on her. Nor has history noted him talk disparagingly about women.

In his earlier years he had done extensive penance to earn certain extraordinary blessings from Lord Shiva. He had proudly created an empire that was flourishing so well that it was  the envy of the Gods and humans alike. There is no note in history that he created this wealth through illegitimate, corrupt means or criminal activity or at the expense of his people. Ultimately the greed for power and sovereignty over rest of the world is what led to his downfall. But if we momentarily take that out of sight, we can see how virtuous he truly was until that point.

Some stories from real life in the present day really make Ravan look highly virtuous! That by no means implies that Ravan was better than Ram. It simply means that Ram and Ravan are relative measures in terms of virtues and are symbolic of two hierarchical choices we have before us. 

Going back to the Gond artist whose culture worships Ravan as God. What can I learn from their reality? 

They see good even in someone who most of the world labels as evil. 

Yet, would I make such person my idol? No. 

Not when I understand that there is an option of a better idol on the menu. 

But even when my role model has more good things, I can’t forget that this lesser God too has his own goodness in some ways. That should make me hold respect for him. Recognize him for what he truly deserves. See him for both the good and bad , not just the bad or not just the good. 

The reality of this world is that good and not so good things exist simultaneously in everything and everyone. Despite seeing this everywhere we don’t reconcile with the idea. That two opposite things can and do exist at once at one place. The same man can have honesty and dishonesty within him. Our brain can’t easily wrap itself around this reality. If he is dishonest how can he be honest? That’s the confusion in our mind. But when we look closely and carefully and without bias, we can see both things in him. We can see both things in ourselves. For obvious reasons we allow the world to only see part of us.

 It’s the part, that we so carefully attempt to conceal from the world, that one day lands us into trouble. Thinking of Ravan, the only time he concealed anything about himself was when he went to kidnap Sita. He did not hide his desire to dominate the universe. He did not hide his lust for a woman. He did not deny that he had brought her by force. He did not pretend about his intentions and ambitions. He was an open book for the most part. That was a sort of honesty. 

The Gond artist who spoke so proudly about his traditions and people, ultimately revealed a side of himself that he had managed to conceal from me in those 2-3 days. 

He outsourced the painting on my saree to a distant cousin of his. I had no issue with that. When I began to communicate through WhatsApp about the specifics of what I wanted, he put me in direct contact with the man who was doing the painting. The saree was completed and I sent the full payment for the work as per our initial contract to the original artist based in Kanha. I thought the matter was happily settled. I got a beautiful Gond painted saree. I had duly compensated the artisan for his work. 

But behind the scenes that’s not how it had unfolded. 

The man in the remote interiors of Madhya Pradesh was a poor man who barely sustained a living with the help of his art. The guy at Kanha sold paintings of poor artisans like this man, without himself doing any of the work. He put his own name on their work. He charged handsome prices for their work. And left them in the lurch. For months after they had given them hundreds of their art pieces he would evade their calls. 

Not a single penny of my payment had reached the man who actually painted my saree. He kept requesting me to talk to the Kanha guy. I tried talking to him in a friendly manner a few times. But after a few messages and phone conversations he began to avoid me. Finally I contacted the authorities at the resort I stayed and shared the matter with the manager of the place. It was only then that the poor man who did the painting on my saree got his share of the money from this cheater. His payment for his other paintings still remained overdue.

With such behavior I wonder whether Ravan too would be disgusted with his devotee? On the lines of “ Toonay Ravan ka naam poora mitti mein mila diya!” ( You have brought disgrace to Ravan’s name). Or would it make Ravan get insights into what behavior he is modeling for his followers? Hard to say. 

Thinking about the newfound respect for Ravan, I realized the dangers that arise when the mind falls prey to the disease of herd mentality. When it joins a chorus, because that’s the trend of opinion.

There is usually one chorus of people who praise one candidate or a certain way of thinking and bash its opponent. And another chorus that chooses the side that is bashed by the first. 

And then the two factions fight each other. 

There are those who keep moving camps to the winning side from time to time. Those are the real spineless ones. 

The one who chooses to stand apart from either side faces mud slinging from both the main factions. He/she is condemned for betrayal and weakness. Labels such as stupid, selfish, blind, confused, immature, removed from reality, arrogant, mentally disturbed and many other things are hurled at him. Everybody has trouble understanding him. That maverick really needs ample dose of confidence in himself. If he doubts himself he can be trampled from both sides. 

What makes him withstand the mud slinging and isolation?

The taste of freedom. Only he knows what freshness feels like. What it feels like to see the world with own eyes. What it feels to not fear the powerful or live forever identified with the weak or the herd. And not relish or have any interest to overpower or show down either of them. How it feels to sing one’s own song. How it feels to walk that uncharted path. And not care about the final destination. 

Will continue my thoughts in context of Ravan in Part 2.