Finding Nemo

Mahabharata is a great collection of short stories. The stories are all connected with each other to display a central theme. Yet the stories convey a powerful message in themselves. They showcase the thought process and the behavior of people subjected to various scenarios. Many of the scenarios have never outdated themselves, in fact, have turned around and presented themselves before us many a times. A good understanding of the stories helps us brace ourselves to deal with our situations better.  I would like to talk about one such story that has always evoked emotions of awe and despair everytime I read it. It’s the story of Karna. The story of Karna has moved many. It was unjust for him to have been brought up in a charioteer’s home. It was unjust for his teachers to have abandoned him in the moments he needed them most. It was unjust of Bhishma to have kept Karna outside of the war till he was the general. His own charioteer – King Shalya, disobeyed him and caused his d...

Taking the cue from my previous article – Insurance , I wanted to lament upon the different goddesses mentioned in the Hindu Mythology – Durga and Shakti. Though the two goddesses have often been mentioned synonymously or interchangeably in many stories, the scriptures hold them as different. Those who are familiar with the Shaktas, would know that Shakti represents supreme power or energy who replicated herself in many forms to bring them to life. She represents the life force. In a way she represents the power within oneself. The scriptures have been pretty much silent where Shakti herself has engaged in a war. She represents power, but does not exerts herself. She is always represented as an epitome of peace.  Maa Shakti Durga was invoked by the gods when they needed to kill a demon – Mahishasura. They joined together, provided their own weapons to the form of Goddess to make her all powerful and provide protection to them from Mahishasura.   Incidentally, the w...

A friend of mine is recently looking to purchase an insurance policy for himself and his family. We were debating upon the merits of such a policy and he argued the security for the family. In case of any untoward incident, his family shall be taken care of monetarily. The other day I met the same friend partying hard and later driving. He was lucky to have reached his home unharmed. Later, one day I sat thinking of him and his situation and a story came to my mind. When the Pandavas formed their kingdom of Indraprastha, representatives from various kingdoms all across India were invited. Many kings and princes came to Indraprastha to pay their regards to the glory of Pandavas and also to satiate their curiosity on what kind of kingdom have Pandavas built, without the support from Hastinapur? Pandavas chose Sri Krishna to be their chief guest. This decision of theirs did not go well with many invited guests. Amongst them was Shishupal – the king of Chedi. Shishupal happened to be...

Now that the days have become shorter and the darkness prevails most part of the day, I was remembering the dark stories heard in the childhood. I remember my parents telling me Diwali as a festival of lights where brightness wins over darkness. It was then that I started to read Ramayana once again, only to realize how little did I knew of the great epic. I am sure that when asked the question “Do you know Ramayana?” you shall promptly raise your head and would probably term me as a lunatic for having such a doubt! But trust me, many of us do not know or understand Ramayana! And yes, I shall go to the extremes and say that those who ask of “Ram Rajya” or the “Perfect Ideal Administration” also do not understand Ramayana. Ramayana was written by Valmiki in Sanskrit and has been adopted in many languages and has spread to countries other than India itself. In fact, there are more than 300 variants of the Ramayana known today. Valmiki composed Ramayana into 2400 verses over 7 s...