A Woman of Substance

Recently we celebrated a day to laud Women in general. I from my side would like to applaud the efforts of one woman, who has braved criticism, and done a great favour to many who might now have a dignified death. (‘Might’, because there still is a maze of words called law which the society at large has yet to debate!)

I am talking about Ms. Pinki Virani who had filed a third party euthanasia plea for Aruna Shanbag. Ms. Virani lost the plea, but in her loss, is the gain for many an individual who are nothing more than dead. If it didn’t help Aruna, at least she got the subject out in the open and got the subject its much-needed due recognition. In Aruna’s case, there was celebration across nurse-dom. The Doctors and the Deans were ‘happy’ with the verdict and praised the court for showing mercy. All were happy, but Aruna, who is oblivious of all the efforts that a single woman took to help her.

I would like to recall a scene from a recent Hindi movie, Guzaarish, which is on the same subject. In one of the scenes, when the patient’s counsel, Shernaz Patel, suggests that they file the petition for euthanasia once again after having it dismissed earlier, his nurse, Aishwariya Rai, is agitated at the Counsel. The nurse goes on to say, that she has given her twelve long years, her family, her life to tend the patient and the Counsel wants to end it away? What about her tireless nursing for the last twelve years without break? The Counsel stoically reminds her, that the issue is not about her, but of the patient! That is the crux of the matter.

In the entire debate, everybody was thinking about themselves. The matrons, the nurses and the doctors on how they have tended to her so well that she doesn’t even have a single bed-sore. How some of them make it a point to visit her whenever they visit Mumbai. How they ‘feel’ that she understands and responds. How she calms down to ‘gentle touch’. All this even after knowing that her condition will not improve, but only go bad, as her bowel movements are going worse due to routine feeding, her teeth are giving in and how her brain has shrunk.

My singular question to all is; where does love end and pity begin?

Nobody thought of Aruna. Does she want to live? Does she even know that she has an option? Is it right to have her continue like this? Does she manage to communicate pain and discomfort, by her facial expressions the way she expresses joy and comfort, which everybody seems to understand so well?

The court went on the feedback given by the Hospital, which was emotional in its submission. During the proceedings, a Doctor went on record by saying that he could not put himself in her shoes. Exactly, none of us can, not even the nurses and ex-matrons. The court did not recognise Ms. Virani as her kin, and thus did not grant her a right to speak on her behalf. But then sometime back a mother filed a similar plea for her son, which too got rejected. (In that particular case the mother only wanted to donate her son’s organs if her plea for euthanasia was granted.)

Thanks to Ms. Virani, the story of Aruna came out in the open, till then she was just another patient in a ward at KEM. Thanks to Ms. Virani, the subject got debated and today we have some clarity on jargon associated with euthanasia. On her behalf, I would like to add, that here is a woman who felt the pain of another wronged woman, who was not related to her. She tried to bring dignity to Aruna, and in her failure she has brought dignity to many of her kind.

Ladies and gentlemen, let’s not make a villain out of her by crying ‘Pinki Virani murdabad’, let’s applaud her guts and her efforts and the service that she has rendered to many who can’t speak for themselves.

Thank You, Ms. Virani.

Kaikeyi

On this Women's Day, let's know more about Kaikeyi, the most misunderstood woman of our Mythology.

Kaikeyi was one of the wives of King Dasharath and the mother of Bharata, in the epic Ramayana. She is considered to be one of the women whose actions led to the events of the epic. She is also considered to be the proverbial step-mother and is seen as the jealous wife and an over-zealous mother. We will keep the negative epithets aside for the time being and try to understand the character, without the tainted glasses that we have been made to wear for long. 

Kaikeyi was the daughter of the King of Kekaya. King Dasharath had married Kaikeyi only when his first queen, Kaushalya, was not able to conceive. Thus the marriage took place, under some unuttered assumptions. First, that Kaikeyi’s son would be the future king of Ayodhya and second, that she would be the Queen Mother. All this because Kaushalya’s bearing a child had been already ruled out. However, when she too could not conceive, Dasharath got married again. But Kaikeyi was no Kaushalya. She was brave, beautiful and ambitious.

It is said that once, she had accompanied Dasharath to a war against a demon. During the war, when Dasharath was supposed to have been injured, she drove his chariot out of the battleground, nursed him and got him back on his feet, fit to fight the war. Some other versions say that during the war, the axle of the chariot’s wheel broke and lest the chariot break down and bring Dasharath on the ground; she is supposed to have used her finger for the axle till the battle was over. King Dasharath was very impressed by her heroism, and granted her two boons, which she kept for a better day.

It is said that every action that one takes has a bearing on ones upbringing or some event of the past (especially childhood) which has moulded him/her the way s/he is as an adult. It was no different in the case of Kaikeyi too.

According to some versions, Kaikeyi’s father, Ashwapati had a rare gift of understanding the language of the birds. But it came with a rider. If he ever told anybody what he understood of the birds’ conversation, then he would lose his life. Once while he was strolling with his wife, he heard the conversation of two swans and had a hearty laugh. This got the queen curious, and she insisted that she be told the contents of the conversation, knowing well the implications of the King’s actions. This led the King to believe, that the Queen did not care for the life of the King and banished her out of the Kingdom. Kaikeyi grew without any maternal influence and always harboured a sense of insecurity from the male community, who she thought were fickle. What if Dasharath did not love her in his later life, as he had other wives too? What if her son, Bharata did not care for her at her old-age? All these thoughts and thanks to Manthara’s (her maid who had accompanied her from her father’s place) fuelling of latent ambitions, were the result of Kaikeyi, seeking two boon’s – one, Bharat to be appointed the King and second, Ram to be banished for fourteen years.

Some versions also say that she did all this under the instructions of Ram himself! According to this version, Ram once confessed to Kaikeyi, that he was Lord Vishnu on earth and he needed to go to the forests to eliminate many a demon and Ravana as part of his duty on earth. For this, could she do something to help him? He also warned her of the implications, and the stigma that would be associated to her name for ages. Kaikeyi could not have said a ‘No’ as she was an ardent devotee of Lord Vishnu and a stigma on her name was a relatively small sacrifice to be made, to get to serve the Lord himself. It is said that after her death, Kaikeyi found a place at Vaikuntha, the abode of Lord Vishnu.

Yet another version says that Kaikeyi’s father had overheard from some birds that the jungles would soon be full of demons that would hurt the Brahmins and ascetics, which would need a long-term helping hand of Rama. To ensure that Rama spent a lot of time in the jungles, and being aware of Manthara’s character, he ensured that she accompany Kaikeyi, after the wedding. He had full faith in her capabilities, and needless to say that she did live-up to the King’s expectations!

All the versions and many more, lead us to one conclusion. Ram’s exile was destined and pre-ordained. The quintessential step-mother was a figment of an authors imagination or at best just a catalyst, who has been bearing the brunt of it all, since ages!

Why is Revolution not possible in Mumbai?

For quite some time people have been wondering, that in spite of some recent inspirations of revolt, why is it there is no such revolution in Mumbai. Is it that we don’t have reasons? Well we don’t have despots, but there is no dearth of reasons.

The pathetic roads, the three-wheeled menace called autos which don’t want to ply wherever the passenger wants to go, the apathetic government and its never moving machinery, terror-strikes and Rs. 9 lacs/day expense to keep the killer alive, student politics which tells us what to read and what not to in colleges, our moral keepers telling us which festivals to celebrate and which plays not to watch, etc. etc.

The above were just a few which fell off my head without having to rattle it. Coming back to why we can’t have such revolutions.

First we are too busy during the week-days. Breakfast, office, Boss and back home to another boss with travel thrown in between, who has the time? Week-ends, is for household work, men-in-the-kitchen-days, fitness, grocery, children’s skating classes, movie, mall, phew! who has the time again?

Then of course we have the famous ‘chalta-hai’ attitude of ours coupled with ‘what can only I do?’ feeling. Whatever happens to others will happen to me.

With the World Cup on, are you mad to waste time for such things? There is no religion bigger than cricket and after all the condition isn’t that bad, is it? Everything in life can wait.

Finally, and probably the main reason – lack of a Square in Mumbai. Cairo has Tahrir Square, Libya has Green Square and Bahrain has the Pearl Square. Mumbai has no square left, except that little tile on the floor! Have you ever thought that to revolt, just where are the people going to meet in Mumbai?

We have to revolt in blocks. One for the SoBo (South Mumbai), the other for the Western Line, probably in Bandra, then we will need one for Borivali too. I am sure we will not argue on the East vs. West as we aren’t that bad shirkers of responsibility! Then we need one in the Central Line and yet another in Navi Mumbai. Can you imagine a unified revolution in Mumbai at different locations, close to people’s residences or workplaces, to be conducted on week-days, with enough vada-pav and Frankie stalls thrown in?

That’s tough……and that’s why we cannot have a revolution in Mumbai, even though we need one very badly!!

Lord Shiva’s Wedding Procession

It is said that when Shiva’s marriage with Parvati was finalised, like all grooms he too was invited with his relatives to the brides place on the day of the wedding.

Since Shiva had no relatives as such, he is supposed to have asked all his friends and acquaintances to accompany him. Since his friends were not from the ‘mainstream civilisation’ of the times, the wedding procession was quite a site. It also reflected on Shiva’s far from homely lifestyle, which to everybody’s horror was definitely horrifying, to say the least.

His wedding attire was tiger-skin for dress and a snake for a necklace. He had ashes smeared over him, and his unkempt hair in matted locks! He was sat atop his vahana, the Nandi bull and the whole sight was a far cry from what any bride’s family would have preferred to see. The members of the wedding procession too were worth a sight. Shiva was accompanied by ghosts, goblins, gnomes and all sorts of weird creatures from the crematorium, where Shiva spent most of his time. Many of them were bedecked with skulls and bones and some of them were smoking hemp!

When the procession reached the doors of Parvati, all the women-folk who had gathered to greet the procession ran away in fear. Parvati’s mother, Menaka, refused to greet such a hideous crowd and a semi-drunk groom! It took a lot of cajoling from Parvati for Shiva to look more worldly and pleasing at least on the wedding day. So to conform to the societal norms, Vishnu and Brahma who were part of the procession, and other gods got together, bathed him with perfumed water, and adorned him with gold, silver and gems! With proper dresses and combed hair, he is supposed to have looked more handsome than Kamdev himself, thus making him more acceptable to his would-be-mother-in-law, Menaka, who was too happy to wed her daughter to the erstwhile mendicant!

 (A 1955 Hindi film, Munimji, has a song ‘Shivji bihane chale palki sajaaike………’ which describes the entire episode very beautifully.)

Shiva’s marriage to Parvati was his second marriage. Earlier Shiva had married Sati, in which Sati had followed Shiva to Mount Kailash and after getting his reluctant consent, had married him. This was more of Shiva giving in to Sati’s worship. This did not make him any more husband than what he already was. He more or less remained the same ascetic and yogic that he was prior to Sati coming to Kailash. He remained far from the society and the worldly ways of life and Sati was content being his wife, nothing more.

But in the second instance, Parvati insisted that he come and wed her in the most proper manner. Shiva and Parvati were to be a worldly couple and the two get married by the Vedic rites, performed by none other than Lord Brahma himself. This was Parvati’s way of educating Shiva, the acceptable norms of a worldly society of which she was a part of and this time; unlike in her past form of Sati, she did not want an ascetic and a yogi for a husband. She wanted a worldly man with all the emotions and longings for a woman. She wanted children, a family and a loving husband. This can also be seen as taming of Shiva in worldly ways. She was going to be his Shakti (power) and the two together would signify the male and female principle of the cosmos.

Hereafter, the saying शक्ति के बिना शिव भी शव के समान हैं meaning ‘Without his Shakti, Shiva is nothing but Shava (corpse)’, would have its true meaning.

Norse Mythology – Ragnarok

Ragnarok, (meaning “Twilight of the Gods” in Old Norse) in Norse mythology, was the predestined death of the gods. A three-year winter (Fimbulvetr meaning “Extreme Winter”) led to a final battle, where the gods and the frost giants fought the epic final battle. Ragnarok marks the end of the old world, and the beginning of the new, current world.

Odin, who had previously attempted to prevent Ragnarok from occurring, led the gods. They were assisted by the heroic dead, those who had died in glorious battle and had been taken to live in Valhalla and await the final battle. The frost giants were led by the fire god Loki and assisted by the unworthy dead who came from Hel, and by other monsters.

The wolves Guilt and Hate catch the Sun and the Moon and swallow them. The stars disappear and the earth is dissolved in total darkness. The World Serpent who had been gnawing at the roots of the World Tree emerged from the waves, spewing poison all over the world, leading to a gigantic flood on earth. As the sea came to engulf the land, on it came a ship with Loki leading a group of giants. The ship was supposed to have been built out of uncut nails of dead men.

Odin knew that the end was near. During the massive battle, he gets swallowed by a giant wolf, which gets later gets killed by Odin’s son, as an act of revenge. Thor goes out to battle and manages to kill all, including the, but was overwhelmed by its deadly poison, which killed him ultimately. One by one all the gods and goddesses fell like nine pins and soon all gods and humans had perished after a pitched battle between the gods, giants, mortals and forces of nature.

 

Ragnarok is a scene of chaotic violence in which the fate of all races, all beings, is decided. The halls of the dead are emptied, as is the plain of Hel. All who have died, whether honorably or not, are brought back for a violent war. All creatures and races alive during that time are drawn to the field of battle and will fight, and die. All the gods and giants appear, and fight and the far majority of them die. Every human being except for two (which also means every single human in the culture who listened to this tale) die. Even those who were raised from Valhalla die again.

The picture of intense cold as a background for mounting fire and smoke rising to the stars, in conjunction with a tidal wave which engulfed the inhabited land, may have drawn much of its vigour and terror from such remembered catastrophe.

But as they say, every cloud has a silver lining. Amid the destruction, two humans were saved as they had taken refuge in the World Tree, who go on to start the world all over again.

The myth of destruction could have its influence from many Eastern myths, where a myth of destruction has been a common feature. This could have been used to depict the end of the Viking era, though one can’t deny the influence of the pre-Christian myths of destruction too.

Ragnarok is based on a famous poem Voluspa. Voluspa itself may have been inspired partly by the experience , either first hand or from vivid accounts from those who had witnessed it, of a major volcanic eruption in Iceland, such as we know took place at frequent intervals in historic times.