Biography of the Gods!
It was week-end again; the two days cease fire after a tiresome five days of toil at work. After a well deserved slumber, one tends to just wake up to a lazy day. I turned on the TV on a Saturday after noon to POGO channel. (There was nothing worthy to view in any other channel). They were featuring Ramayan- the Legend of Prince Ram: an animated film. It was a Japanese animation so beautifully done, such exquisite work on the greatest story and even more great characters that this world has seen, coming alive in front of you.
Actually, the same animated movie is played almost (religiously) every week-end. And I watch it almost every time it is featured. Ramyana and Mahabharat, the two best of the ever written and even ever told stories of the world. Almost every child in India grows up with these stories, rich in morals.
You would notice that there is something compelling about these stories. One could have seen it , heard it, be touched, by these stories one million times in his life time. Nevertheless every time you see it, you see it with the same intensity of interest and passion, equally thrilled. Every time is a firs time experience, though one knows explicitly what exactly follows and how it would end. Such is the magic binding the two epic tales.
Turn the TV on a Sunday, a channel like POGO meant for children features Ramayana and Mahabharata. There is a good half a dozen animated stories only based on these two stories over the week end. The Ramayan, the Mahabharat, Vayuputra Hanuman, Shri Krishna, Mahayodhya Ravan, The demon king Ravan etc etc. Besides there are many more soaps in more than a dozen channels, like Ramayan: the old version & the new version, Mahabarat: the old and the new version, Krishna Leela and many many more names. And so much more, remember what doesn’t sell isn’t sold.
Couple of months ago I was invited to a Ramayan Paat at my friends place, nothing but the reading of the Ramayan. In Ramayan Paat: any family playing the host invites there near and dear ones, all of them read Ramayan together as a song, a prayer meeting. And here I was standing in front of a huge banner at the Spence’s Plaza of Shobana “the famous dancer” performing “The essence of the Ramayan”.
Most celebrations in India also quote back to the epics, any auspicious or mundane day or an event calls for a recital. To an extent that in certain Vaishavite marriages the groom is given a copy of the Ramayan as a prop for his Kaasi Yaatra. Well Kaasi yaatra literally translates to a trip to the city Kaasi. This is a ritual enacted in Hindu marriages, which is the groom being upset and threatening to go away to Kaasi for ever to become a Sanyaasi i.e. a saint giving up material life; and the brides father consoles him to persuade the groom to marry his daughter.
These two epics are wonders as fresh as new, and every time is a first time.
Actually, the same animated movie is played almost (religiously) every week-end. And I watch it almost every time it is featured. Ramyana and Mahabharat, the two best of the ever written and even ever told stories of the world. Almost every child in India grows up with these stories, rich in morals.
You would notice that there is something compelling about these stories. One could have seen it , heard it, be touched, by these stories one million times in his life time. Nevertheless every time you see it, you see it with the same intensity of interest and passion, equally thrilled. Every time is a firs time experience, though one knows explicitly what exactly follows and how it would end. Such is the magic binding the two epic tales.
Turn the TV on a Sunday, a channel like POGO meant for children features Ramayana and Mahabharata. There is a good half a dozen animated stories only based on these two stories over the week end. The Ramayan, the Mahabharat, Vayuputra Hanuman, Shri Krishna, Mahayodhya Ravan, The demon king Ravan etc etc. Besides there are many more soaps in more than a dozen channels, like Ramayan: the old version & the new version, Mahabarat: the old and the new version, Krishna Leela and many many more names. And so much more, remember what doesn’t sell isn’t sold.
Couple of months ago I was invited to a Ramayan Paat at my friends place, nothing but the reading of the Ramayan. In Ramayan Paat: any family playing the host invites there near and dear ones, all of them read Ramayan together as a song, a prayer meeting. And here I was standing in front of a huge banner at the Spence’s Plaza of Shobana “the famous dancer” performing “The essence of the Ramayan”.
Most celebrations in India also quote back to the epics, any auspicious or mundane day or an event calls for a recital. To an extent that in certain Vaishavite marriages the groom is given a copy of the Ramayan as a prop for his Kaasi Yaatra. Well Kaasi yaatra literally translates to a trip to the city Kaasi. This is a ritual enacted in Hindu marriages, which is the groom being upset and threatening to go away to Kaasi for ever to become a Sanyaasi i.e. a saint giving up material life; and the brides father consoles him to persuade the groom to marry his daughter.
These two epics are wonders as fresh as new, and every time is a first time.
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