The Forest of Enchantments - Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Palace of Illusions was one book that had blown my mind. Chitra's portrayal of Draupadi was real, complex, rebellious yet submissive at times, arrogant, enigmatic, powerful and what not. She is flawed and yet perfect....very much human. Palace of Illusions was written from the perspective of Draupadi. We have read the epic Mahabharata from so many writers and from many perspectives and yet Draupadi's perspective was refreshing to know. And my expectation form Chitra was already set high. After this book I reread Mistress of Spices. Here too her portrayal of Tilo left me craving for more. I started off with high expectation when I brought the book The Forest of Enchantments. I knew that the author had written the book form the perspective of Sita. And I had wanted to read Ramayana from the perspective of Sita very badly.

I have grown up being told that it is not good to name any girl child Sita or any of her other names like Janaki, Dhara, Dharitri, Siya, Maithili, , etc. The reason being that all Sita did in her lifetime was suffer and nothing else and if we name our daughters Sita or any of her other names, the same fate maybe in store the child. So in general we all know that Sita suffered throughout the epic story of Ramayana, So I was naturally curious when I picked up the Forest of Enchantments. I wanted to read about her experience as an adopted kid, her relationship with her peers and parents. I was very curious to know her perspective of being a bride and entering a household which had three mother in laws and other concubines. What was she going through actually when she went with Rama into the forest. Did she ever regret going into exile with her husband? After all, we are all humans we naturally question our each and every move. Did she question her decision and regret it ever? How did she feel about Lakshman for abandoning Urmila for so many years? I wanted to learn about Lanka and Ashoka Vatika from Sita's perspective. And most of all I wanted to know her relationship with Rama... the intimacy and the realty of being a wife to someone and her reaction to all the betrayals she faced.

The word play by Chitra Banerjee is brilliant. This book did answer many of my curiosities about Sita. Her story telling is as always too good and there can be no other opinion about it. But it was definitely not Palace of Illusions and most definitely not like Draupadi's character. The book felt more like just another Ramayana book to me just told from Sita's voice. I guess I wanted Sita to be filled with rage, hate towards the injustice, more emotions and most of all I wanted her to be real.... human. There was rage, emotions and everything that I wanted, but it was all very muted. Sita surpasses her emotions as much as possible. Eventually Sita rebels and stands up against the system, but I waned to feel Sita's rage against the injustice and not my rage.  Sita felt very much like how we have read in other Ramayana versions..... It was in a way a bit disappointing for me personally as I have felt that female characters in our epics are very strong characters and yet mostly they are pushed into the background and every major decisions are taken by the male characters. A female is always either a revered or a servile character but when it comes to decision making, they are never taken into consideration and always female characters have to be either a damsel in distress or made a villain . How often have we heard people saying that in Ramayana and Mahabharata war took place because of Sita and Draupadi as if by blaming the female characters one can hide the fact that the male characters created the circumstances that led to war. 

Overall this Sitayan had its hits and misses. The author also writes about other neglected characters in this book like Sunaina - Sita's mother, Kaikeyi - Rama's 'evil' stepmother, Urmila - Lakshmn's wife ( although I wanted more) ,  Surpanakha -  Ravan's sister and  Mandodari - Ravan's wife. We get to know each one of these female characters more and from other perspectives. Chitra Banerjee weaves all the characters so well and makes us desire more.  She makes the character of Ravana as a very learnt and an intelligent man who respects Sita. Overall I did enjoy the book and is a must read for everyone as it teaches us how one should treat others especially women and also how not to treat them. 

The Man!!

Life is Beautiful!! Time and again I have said this to myself and to anyone who listens to me. Life is what you want it to be and how you want it to be. Its been three years now since my beloved  Grandpa passed away and there has not been one day when I don't miss him or remember him. He was an inspiration not just to me or my family .... but he was an inspiration to a lot of people who had known him. 

Whenever I feel down I ask Dad to tell me Grandpa's story, and like a doting son-in-law, he obliges. My Grandpa never went to school it seems. He had attended a eleven day camp type thing held at a gurukul it seems. So he was an illiterate. But somehow he kept on practicing reading and writing throughout his life and could manage to read and write slowly. It is said that his father was forced to leave the house with his small kids by his brother. 

So basically he belonged to a very poor family and had six siblings and old parents and a wife to support too at a very young age. With his hard work, grandpa bought a big piece of land and by the time my Mom was born, they even constructed a very nice and big house too. He was a man of very strong opinions and also a very righteous man. People used to come to him when  they had disputes. Soon he became a person who had power and influence among the local people. Even ministers would come to him during and after elections so that he could persuade people to vote for them. He even tried a bit of politics himself but he realized that politics was not for people who had opinions of their own. 

He was a simple man. Always dressed in a piece of dhoti which was always stained due to all the work he did in and around his house or field. He always had one or the other story to tell, some funny incident to recall and lot of dreams for all of us. Whenever I used to visit him I would see him busy in work. He would take me to the paddy fields, areca nut groove and cashew plantation. I loved his company a lot. He had so many things to share, to teach us.   

When he passed away lot of people came from all over the place. People whom the family didn't know came and told us how my grandpa had helped them in time of need. Each and every person had some kind words to tell about him. One stranger came to my Granny and told him how my Grandpa had helped him with a very big amount at the middle of night when grandpa himself was in trouble. That was my Grandpa. And he never disclosed this to any in the family. He would sponsor poor students and always valued education a lot. Even without the formal education he had read the Hindu epics like Ramayana, Mahabharata, Geeta, Manu Smriti and even the Upanishads. He knew about all the Hindu traditions and stuff like that. And despite all this he was the most broad minded person I had ever seen. He never believed in superstitions and challenged the abnormal rules and regulations. 

I always wonder what if he had got the opportunity of education like the rest of us. What all he would have achieved if he was given all the opportunities that the rest of his peers got. Sadly we will never know. But he has and always will be my greatest inspiration in life. I learnt a lot from him. My inspiration!!!! The Man!!! My Man!!!

Going to the Past

Many feel that social media like Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp , etc., are a waste of time. But I feel its a boon... a blessing in disguise. I'll tell you why.....

My father was in a transferable job and so we never stayed in one single place for more than three years. And also I belong to the generation where back then, we didn't have regular phones in every house hold. That means that I was not able to keep in touch with a lot of my school friends regularly. Ya we used to write letters to each other for a while..... but you know as we grew up we got busy in our lives and we kind of drifted apart. We lost contact.

When in college, the era of  cell phones started and so we kind of remained in contact. But I always missed my High school buddies. Then came the era of Facebook and slowly many friends reconnected. But after such a long time one doesn't know what to speak to and we kind of remained just "friends" on Facebook. And life went on.....

Then suddenly one of our class mate got the idea of forming a group on WhatsApp and started collecting phone numbers. I was a bit apprehensive about it in the beginning. Anyway I gave it and then when he added me to the group, I felt soo out of place in the group as I was one of the very few who had left the place after high school and the rest of them had continued their studies in the same city. And so I couldn't recognize many of my old friends.

 I just said hi in the group and kept silent. It was irritating me that I didn't remember half of my friends and was not comfortable there either. But after a couple of days, as the group started growing, I realized many were in the same position as me. Like me, a few of my friends too didn't remember each and everyone. So we all started talking and slowly we all warmed up and unknowingly we chatted the whole day. Some of us finally called each other and spoke too.

We started sharing old stories, incidents and all the hidden memories came flooding back!! It was such a memorable day just talking about school days.....the fun, the punishments, the homeworks, the competitiveness and the crushes ( ;-) ) and what not!! All the memories made us young again and took us seventeen years back. All the nick names, the mischief done in class, the pranks played on teachers!!!! Oh !! So many sweet memories!! And suddenly we were not strangers anymore. I don't feel like a stranger in my group anymore.... in fact they have all become my best buddies...

 It was my memorable day in the recent past!!! It felt so good to reconnect with my past. Are you people still in contact with your school buddies? If not just do that!! It feels sooo good and fresh!!!

Start A New Life

I am amazed when I see people who know what they want to do in their life, about their goals and aims in their life. When I finished my 10th standard, all I wanted to study was science. I loved Biology and Physics equally in 11th standard. But when I was in 12th, I realized that Medical was not my cup of tea and I had no interest in Engineering.There were not many options and I didn't have any knowledge as such about these things and not many good guides who would talk about our interests or give us knowledge. So like everybody else who didn't pursue Engineering or Medical, I took Computer Science in College. But somewhere I realized that Computer Science was a lifeless subject and programming was not what I wanted to do. But anyway I continued like everybody else.

After graduating I still didn't know what I wanted to do. So I brought applications for M.S., and M.C.A. But suddenly my life took a big turn and I got married and I became a home maker. Then I became a mother and life went on. But somewhere the desire to do something was constantly was on my mind. I used to draw and scribble a lot when in college and hadn't left that one thing even after I got married. Slowly and steadily, this hobby started becoming my passion and finally after a lot of detours, I finally realized my goal and took up painting seriously. Now after all these years, I am an art graduate too and pursuing masters in the subject which is close to my heart.

After a lot of struggle and lot of practice and more patience and a lot many rejections, finally I feel that I am on MY WAY. This is the path I wanted to be in and I am finally happy. And in April 2015, i.e., next month, I am going to be participating in my first Group show in Calicut/ Kozikode. 

Not in my wildest of dreams, had I ever dreamed of becoming an artist.... let alone participating in an exhibition!!! This is a new chapter of my life!! I have traveled a long way from Science to Arts. I am nervous and excited and happy! So wish me luck guys!! Its never too late to start fresh. You have a dream, just go for it.

Go and fulfill your dream now!!! However small or big that dream is, it doesn't matter.

More Indian than you think

"This is the best time to be an Indian" this was the quote by an NRI, I heard on a news channel recently regarding Mr. Modi's New York's Madison Square Park. Madison Square Park is one of the World's Most Famous Arena and thousands of people had gathered to hear and see Mr. Modi. Though I am not a big fan nor do I hate him, this event surely kept my interest up. I haven't seen the world or the NRIs being so interested in India or an Indian Prime Minister in a long long time. 

NRIs holding placards, shouting slogans about India like "Bharat Mata ki jai", in a foreign country especially in a country like the USA is a very rare scene. The 18,500 strong audience was gathered at New-York !!!! One of the people gathered there said, "It is amazing to see the kind of euphoria created by Modi's visit and this is probably the best time to be an Indian". 

There was live and extensive coverage on various news channels regarding Modi's visit not just in India but also in the USA. We could see many non-Indians at the event too. This is the proof that the world is finally getting up to look at India with interest now. The fact that the Indian MOM missions' success and the fact that it cost India under Rs.10 per kilometer to reach Mars...... made every Indian proud of our scientists.

The photographs of ISRO scientists celebrating after MOM entered Mars was inspiring. The scientists hugging each other and congratulating each other the sari clad women scientists gave all us such a thrill that those pictures won't fade from our memories for a long time. 

India is surely a very happening phenomenon now. Mr. Kailash Satyarthi winning the prestigious Nobel Peace prize is another proud moment for all Indians. The reaction of Indians to all these changes shows that we are more Indian than we think like this in ad.

This is not a sponsored post ... all opinions are my own. Submitting for the contest in Indiblogger 

Life is Beautiful!

 Life is Beautiful!! Yes!! But only if you want it to be....

You are the maker and breaker of your life. You can only be as much happy as you want to be. So your life can be as beautiful as much you want it to be..... despite all the problems and all the setbacks.

Recently after refueling our car, we went to check the air in the tyres of the car. The man on duty was partially paralyzed on his left side.  His left hand was totally useless and his left leg was not looking healthy either. And by the look of it he had had an accident recently. His right leg was in a plaster that means his right leg that supported him, which helped him to walk was fractured. He had injury marks all over his body including his working hand. Yet he was performing his duty with as much honesty and sincerity. There was even a hint of smile for his regular customers. 

Yep some would say that he is poor and working is his necessity. But have you seen people faking injuries and begging for alms in traffic junctions and near temples. All the fake blood, the sleeping child in the beggar's hand gains a lot of sympathy with a lot of people.  He could easily have done that. Giving up is easy but never say die attitude is also not that difficult!! I have seen plenty of healthy people who do not work despite the financial problems. Every time I face a problem I try and remember that person in the petrol bunk whose left hand was paralyzed and right leg was fractured and yet worked hard and happily fought against all odds and my father who fought all odds and stayed positive. 

Another inspiration in my life is my father. My father has been fighting his health issues since the past 18 years. So many ups and downs he has seen in his life. But he has never given up in his life. He always wished more from his life and has worked for it. He is a very simple man and his needs and desires are simple yet he has fought all odds. 

Well you might be thinking why all of a sudden I am being so philosophical and writing so much about life and all...... Well one of my friend is in depression and all of our efforts to bring him out of it has not been fruitful. He doesn't reads my blogs, he doesn't even know that I have a blog as a matter of fact. Yet I am writing this post for him. A lot of things were going on in my mind and I had to get them out of my system. This post is also for me ..... to remember it every time I face a problem or whenever in a dilemma.............. to remember never to give up in life and staying positive because Life is Beautiful!!