Clarion call of fairer sex
Priya S Tandon
The story of the Ramayana must have been enacted on stages — big and small — or in cinema a million times over. The more you delve into the saga of sacrifice and ‘dharma’, the more food for thought you find.
It is said that Ravana was a Mayavi i.e. he could change his form and appearance at will (remember when he disguised as a Yogi when abducted Sita?) In his repeated endeavours to terrorise and persuade Sita, he tried many a trick to make her accept him, but she was a “pativrata” woman, who did not relent.
Whilst Ravana was frustrated, a well-wisher suggested him to don the form of Rama, and then Sita definitely accept him. The answer given by Ravana is astounding. He said: “I have tried that too. The moment I don the form of Rama, I start looking at each woman as a mother or a sister or a daughter! I lust Sita no more! I don’t know what happens to me. The transformation in my feelings is beyond my control!” This makes me think … how powerful the form of Rama is! Just by dressing as Rama, one’s mental makeup changes!
Coming to the present… How many youngsters would have worn the costume of Rama till date to enact the scenes of this historical epic drama? Do Rama-like feelings get aroused in them? Think about this; when a girl is dressed as a bride on her wedding day, she automatically becomes graceful, demure and beautiful! When you wear sports shoes and shorts you feel active! Night-wear makes one feel sleepy and slouchy. The bottom line is that your dress does affect your mental state, how so ever latently it may be.
Society is reeling under the fear of the lack of safety for women; not a day goes by when rape is not reported in the newspapers. There are so many Ravanas at large.
The Ramayana is a story relevant even today. It is a story that initially took an ugly turn due to the hunger for power and the preference of one’s own over the other (on the part of Kaikeyi). It revolves around struggle and sacrifice, duty and devotion, lust and greed, principles and ethics. The world is same even today — quest for power, struggle and might; and the Ravana still lusts Sita!
This Diwali, when you decorate your houses, spare a moment to ask yourself… has the Ravana of today been annihilated? Is Sita safe? Has the fire of lust and greed been extinguished? The Ramayana is not just an epic. It is the proverbial ‘ghar-ghar ki kahani’, it is also ‘desh-bhar-ki kahani’.
A war was once waged to rescue Sita from one Ravana. Are we ever planning to go to war against lecherous plots and advances of Ravanas dotting the social scenario?
