Kites

NB: Apologies for the title of the article. This is the one that soars heights not the one which dives down at the Box Office!

On the day of Makara Sankranti, Gujarat also celebrated the largest Kite flying festival, better known as Uttarayan. This is a day which sees people on roof-tops flying kites throughout the day and at times even in the evening. The day after the Uttarayan is known as Basi-Uttarayan (or stale-uttarayan) and the fun and frolic continues.

What is it about flying kites? What is its importance and what kind of joys does it bring to us mortals?

Flying kites has been a tradition across the world. Nobody knows the exact place of origin, but many feel that the origins of flying kites can be traced to China. In the initial days, they prepared kites of thin bamboo sticks and silk. This was a practice till paper was invented and then kites were made of paper. It was during this stage that flying kites moved beyond China to different parts of the world.

We do not find too many references of Kites in mythology, but the Maori’s of New Zealand used to believe that Kites were the connectors between the heavens and the earth. There are numerous references of folk-heroes travelling on a kite to the heavens or chasing someone over distances on a kite, etc. Flying Kites in ancient New Zealand was a great religious occasion and nowadays the same has been renewed as a cultural aspect.

Many cultures have seen kites as messengers and a means to communicate with the gods who resided in the heavens and thus the act was a religious act, and not just that of fun and frolic. According to a Japanese myth, a mythological bandit flew on a massive sized kite stealing the gold leaf from the dolphins for decorating the towers of a palace. However, he could not go further as he was soon executed!

Flying kites have had its moments of scientific excellence too. We all know how Benjamin Franklin had used a kite to prove that lightning was a phenomenon of electricity. The Second World War had seen the usage of kites for spying activities. Finally one can’t help but acknowledge the contributions of the kites in the development of the early flying machines. Today it is a world-wide sport.

Kites give vent to man’s quest to soar heights in the sky and rise thru the clouds to heavens and knock at the celestial doors! Unfortunately, in the process it cuts thru the birds and injuring both our aerial friends and at times themselves too. If only we leave flying kites to an environment friendly method and refrain from using materials like glass, etc. the sky would be one beautiful and a colourful canvas on this day!

Makara Sankranti

Sankaranti means movement or changing of directions and Makara corresponds to the zodiac sign of Capricorn. Makara Sankranti is celebrated when the Sun moves northwards after the Winter Solstice. Astrologically, it refers to the transition of Sun from the zodiac sign of Sagittarius to Capricorn. In all there are twelve Sankranti’s, but this one is considered to be an auspicious one.

Makara Sankranti is called by different names in different parts of India, like Khichri Sankranti, Uttarayan, Ganga Sagar, Pongal, Bihu, etc. Though different places have differing significance, the day remains a very important day at the beginning of the year. This day onwards the climate changes a bit and the importance of Sun is acknowledged. It also marks the end of winter and the days start getting longer and the nights shorter.

Makara Sankranti has a special significance in the Eastern parts of the country which celebrates the day as Ganga-Sagar Mela. It is said that Bhagirath had performed great penance to get the river Ganga on earth to redeem the sixty thousand sons of Sagar, who were burned to ashes my Kapil Muni. It was on this day that Bhagirath performed the last rites of his ancestors with the waters of the holy Ganga on earth thereby liberating his ancestors from the curse of Kapil Muni. After visiting the Patal-loka, Ganga merges with the Bay of Bengal at the site where the Ganga-Sagar mela is held annually.

Mahabharat mentions that after the war of Kurukshetra, it was on the day of Makara Sankranti that Bhishma Pitamah, the grand-patriarch of the two families decided to end his life and proceed for the heavens.

This day is also considered auspicious for the father-son relationship. Surya devta never got along with his son, Shani-dev (who is the Lord of the zodiac sign of Capricorn), but on this day, Surya visits his son and stays with him for a month. This day thus symbolises the importance of the relationship between a father and a son.

Similarly in many parts of the country, this is a harvest festival, as in Punjab and some states of Southern India. Besides, it also marks the last day of the famous forty-day Sabiramala festival in Kerala.

Needless to say, like all Hindu festival this day has its own recipes to be made and had. Preparations of jaggery and til (sesame seeds) are consumed across the country. Also, preparations of the newly harvested foods are the norm.

So on this day, leave the negative thoughts and move on with the Sun. Just as the Sun goes northwards, we mortals should try to ascend in our thoughts and deeds and actions. If we can’t match the movements of the Sun literally, let us match them symbolically at least.

Happy Makara Sankranti!

An Obituary

Yesterday was a day of significant loss – an immeasurable loss that no words can express or bring out the pathos that’s in my heart, due to the loss.

I was mercilessly separated from one that had been a part of me, from before the time I even knew myself. It had been with me thru thick and thin, thru all endeavours of my life. It had been with me, even before I could count on my wife and child as my immediate circle of influence.

The tragic part of it was that I could do nothing, but just see it being mercilessly snatched (literally) away from me by people who had nothing to do with it. People who had no clue what it meant to me, people who had no clue how close and dear it was to me. To top it all, I was a party to the decision of the merciless severance of a more than four decade old bonding, and could not even shed one tear, for the fear of being laughed at. On second thoughts, it was more because, I was numb (literally again) with the decision of doing what I was doing. Numb because of the gravity of the situation and numb due to the guilt of me being a party to the severance decision.

Not a single person there could feel my pain (literally once again) and the sense of loss. Not one there thought of the entity that I lost, not one was bothered about it, who was a part of me for so long.

Finally the infamous Mumbai spirit of “life must go on” got the better of me. One look at it, and I was ready to move on. One look of pain, the imminent separation, and the reality of it all, and I left my Dentist’s chamber, leaving my solitary Wisdom tooth to be picked up by the beautiful nurse (someone who was sweetly staring at me while I was going through the ordeal, helping me cope with the separation) to be dumped in the dustbin.

Today, I feel a trifle foolish – what with the loss of my wisdom (tooth)!

Adieu, my friend!  

Ravan’s Family – Vibhishan

Vibhishan was the youngest brother of Ravan and he is the only one who had defected on Ram’s side before the final battle between Ram and Ravan. Vibhishan, though being Ravan’s brother, led a life of a Brahmin and his ways were not similar to his brother’s.

It is said, that Vibhishan, also did penance to Lord Brahma and when he too was offered a boon, he simply asked for being close to the Lord’s (Lord Vishnu) feet. Ravan was extremely disappointed with him for ‘wasting’ a boon when he came to know about it. Ravan and Vibhishan never agreed on many issues, the conflict came to a decisive point when Vibhishan suggested that Ravan should return Sita with all the due courtesy and honour, needless to say, that he should apologise too. This irked Ravan to no end, and the two decided to part, with Vibhishan, going over to Ram’s side.

Many see this conflict as a conflict of right vs. wrong, a moral dilemma. Should one stay with the King and support him even if he is on the path of delusion leading to a mass destruction or should one chalk one’s own path of righteousness?  Should one risk one’s life for the King’s immoral ways or should one follow the path of ethical conduct?

In my opinion, Vibhishan was partly correct. Yes one should not be party to unethical conduct, whosoever it is and protesting is in order. But I disagree with his joining the enemy (in this case of the State) and further down, divulging all the secrets of his family’s invincibility. Without him, it would not have been possible to find the secret path to the temple of Mata Nikumbala, the place where Meghnaad, his nephew, was performing his Yagna which needed to be disturbed to kill him. Again without his divulging the secret of where to strike to kill Ravan, Ram could not have been able to vanquish his opponent. It is not for no reason that we say in Hindi - घर का भेदी लंका ढाए, meaning that it takes a traitor from the family to bring destruction, even to an empire like Lanka! It is not a surprise, that at the end of it all, he was crowned the King of Lanka.

Well one can only say – Morality pays, and it pays pretty well!

Ravan’s Family – Surpanakha

Surpanakha was Ravan’s sister and some say, the second woman, (after Kaikeyi) who was responsible for the entire epic of Ramayan. Without these women and their actions, the whole chain of events might not have taken place. Before we go into what Surpanakha did and why, let us first know who she was, besides being Ravan’s sister.

Surpanakha (Sharp nails, in Sanskrit), was the one of the key women characters of the epic. Surpanakha was named Meenakshi (fish-eyed) at birth and like her mother was extremely beautiful. She was married to Asura Dushtabuddhi and enjoyed great favours from Ravan at his court. But Dushtabuddhi’s greed for more power saw him soon lose favour of Ravan, and in due course of time, Ravan had him killed.

The widow Surpanakha, was filled with anger and spent her time in Lanka and with her in-laws who used to reside in the Southern parts of India. When she saw Ram and Lakshaman in the forest, she proposed first to Ram and then on Ram’s recommendation, to Lakshaman. To cut this part of the story, she is supposed to have tried to attack Sita, as she was the reason, behind Ram’s denial, and Lakshaman ended up severing her nose. Needless to say, that both Ram and Lakshaman did have a bit of fun at her expense, tossing her proposition from one to the other, which was the main reason of her anger.

It was this act that provoked Ravan to kidnap Sita as an act of revenge. But let us look at the matter from a different angle too. According to some versions of this episode, Surpanakha had no actual interest in both Ram and Lakshaman. She had been trying to avenge her husband’s death, but was unable to do so as Ravan was very powerful and quite invincible. It needed someone with divine powers, to kill Ravan. She knew about Ram and felt that Ram could be a perfect match for the might of Ravan and it was her idea of pitching the two in a battle, which she did succeed at the end of it, thru her designs.

Though Valmiki has described Surpanakha, as an ugly woman, some versions of the South have described her as a beautiful woman, worthy of her name Meenakshi, however, she could have been middle-aged and definitely not of Sita’s age and looks. Though we do not hear about Surpanakha, in the epic after the particular episode, but scholars feel that she lived a life of a recluse in the court of Vibhishana, who took over the reins of Lanka after the death of Ravan.

Many scholars feel that Surpanakha was one of the most misunderstood characters of Ramayan and had Ram and Lakshaman not made fun of her and reasoned with her, the whole matter could have been resolved well. Also, severing the nose of a beautiful woman for a proposal (even if we are to believe that it was an indecent proposal!) is quite a non-chivalrous thing to be done by a warrior (who then was in the garb of an ascetic). But then there are numerous incidents where Lakshaman has displayed his hot-headed nature.

I also believe that the only mistake of Surpanakha was that she was not beautiful as per the Aryan standards and that she expressed her amorous desire openly and was aggressive. Acts of expressing one’s mind openly and asking for something directly was not seen as good standards for women in those days, and that could have made Lakshaman react the way he did, thereby also setting a norm of public behaviour. Let’s not forget that it was the same Lakshaman who had drawn a Lakshaman rekha (which was a limiting line) for Sita too later in the epic, which definitely had different connotations.

To conclude, so who was Surpanakha – an anti-establishment individual or was she a liberated feminist of her times? Or simply put, was she a victim of differing standards of courtship by a different culture?