Epic in replay

Mother and son attended this year’s Dusserah ceremony at Ram lila grounds. Mother initiated the proceedings aiming the fatal arrow at the devil incarnate and subsequently the devil was consumed to flames. I watched the proceedings on TV and I could discern a gleam  in madam’s eyes, a gleam of a mixture of  utter hatred  for the devil and a joy that its end is near. An incident that happened eons ago was thus replayed on this day. The cause of this momentary gleam was a vein of thought in her that  seemed to run somewhat as follows:

For me the ten headed Ravana  is still alive in the form of  BJP, who is bent on  destroying  my loyal vote givers of a major minority in the country. Who but me can save these  devout  followers of mine  from the  atrocities of BJP.. Who but me in this country has the courage to fight for the downtrodden? I am the chosen one, a Durga of sorts from the land of Mussolinis  and Berlusconis, to give birth to an avatar of Rama in the form of Rahul. Only the pure at heart can recognize divinity when they see one. Fortunately for the country there are many loyal followers  who are anointed with this purity. Take Diggie for example. Any adverse remark on my noble clan will  be rebutted immediately by a Sonia stotra, in which RTI is of frequent refrain. Sonia Stotra , I can assure you is  a panacea for all sins. Sins however mean will be wiped out by it’s five  times daily utterance, something like the prescribed  five  times Namaz every day. You can verify its power and potency  from the very people who has come out unscathed  by the above prescription  from atrocities of the worst kind of murder, rape or fraud of individuals or society as a whole. It is for the purpose of propagating this Stotra  in all the Indian languages  that  my son and me revived the ailing National herald. Money is never a problem  for this stupendous task when when we can dip at will into the party’s funds. Further plenty of it lies in Swiss banks too. Having become a part of a noble clan how can I show disrespect to an illustrious  in law up the line. Rahul cannot do any wrong. The culture I have inculcated in him cannot  permit him to demean our blue blood. That he has no pretensions to his nobility, he has proved  by eating  dry Bajra roti  in  dalit huts  in   some godforsaken places in UP while he was doing “Bhavathi biksham dehi “ for  the minority and dalit votes? His exertions have tired him, no doubt. But he is recuperating and rejuvenating   for a final battle with the demons destroying secularism in the country. He, like Rama,  the descendent of the great  Surya vamsa, is a  member of the no less illustrious  Nehru clan and  is the savior to be of  the minorities. My Diggie is no less than Viswamitra under whose protégé Rahul has learned all the tricks of the trade. For the time being my son  is in a sort of self imposed vanvas honing his yet wanting skills to meet the  ultimate challenge . 2014 is round the corner. My son will annihilate the devil and return to  Delhi, to be  crowned  emperor of Bharath , our great democracy run by my illustrious clan whose lineage is not likely to be broken with my grandchildren  around , two cute little ones whom you might have seen on TV in company of their dearest parents, the model like   Priyanka and the macho Robert during Rahul’s exertions during UP elections. Mio piu grazioso Roberto! he  has  great business acumen, possessor of a sort of Mida’s touch I would say. He knows how to multiply money fast , few lacs to many crores in the shortest time, with which he has  bought  vast tracts of  land  in  Gurgaon and I don’t know where else. By the by, he never forgets to regularly chant the  Sonia Stothra.

 Madam left even before  the completion of total annihilation of the devil. Her steps towards her vehicle was full of confidence, perhaps thinking that the ten heads of her  adversary, the present day Ravana are incapable of thinking in unison , by itself a sign of his impending downfall in the battle royal ahead.

 Being far away from Sonia on this day I could only send a telepathic message to her. I wanted to tell her, that Ramayana did not end with Ravana’s downfall. Ram after becoming King of Ayodhya again, banished his dear wife Sita on a rumor of alleged suspicion on her chastity. As a righteous king,  he did not ask the rumor mongers to go and prove the same  in a court of law. Nor did he seek anyone to speak on his behalf to explain his position. I just wanted to remind her that Ram is  revered for  his strict adherence to the propriety as becoming of a King apart from being the cause of Ravana’s end The contemptuous  appellation given by her dear son in law to the poor and law abiding citizens of India and which might have given her  and her family a chuckle at dinner time will never be forgotten.

I hope this part of Ramayana  would also be narrated   by her to the  family. Perhaps, a new angle worthy of contemplation and appropriate action for the redemption of her clan.

Dr T N Vasudevan