Pati, Patni aur woh
This summer we are going to see a contemporary version of Ramayan in the form of a movie called 'Raavan'. And in the movie Raavan and Sita fall for each other and live happily ever after. Now this might be a shocking end for some pious religious people, but I can't understand why she would want to go back to Ram.
Why would she want to go back to a man who left her because of lack of faith in his own wife? Left her because some washer-man doubted her? Sita lived in exile for years, raised two sons and did all this alone. Why would she want to go back to a man who never bothered to find out about her in all these years?
Then look at Raavan. He abducted her to avenge his sister's death which was not very uncommon or disrespectful in those times. But, he kept her safe and well. Raavan was a well learned man. He was a good kind King. Imagine another ending to Ramayan. Raavan, who knew that Sita was a married woman and was in love with Ram, falls for her. Why can Sita not reciprocate? If we are willing to accept and respect a husband who leaves his wife simply because she was abducted by another man, why can we not live with a Sita who falls for Raavan?
ps. This post is merely meant to question my understanding of Ramayan as an epic story and to weigh alternative possibilities. It is in no way meant to hurt anyone's religious sentiments.
Why would she want to go back to a man who left her because of lack of faith in his own wife? Left her because some washer-man doubted her? Sita lived in exile for years, raised two sons and did all this alone. Why would she want to go back to a man who never bothered to find out about her in all these years?
Then look at Raavan. He abducted her to avenge his sister's death which was not very uncommon or disrespectful in those times. But, he kept her safe and well. Raavan was a well learned man. He was a good kind King. Imagine another ending to Ramayan. Raavan, who knew that Sita was a married woman and was in love with Ram, falls for her. Why can Sita not reciprocate? If we are willing to accept and respect a husband who leaves his wife simply because she was abducted by another man, why can we not live with a Sita who falls for Raavan?
ps. This post is merely meant to question my understanding of Ramayan as an epic story and to weigh alternative possibilities. It is in no way meant to hurt anyone's religious sentiments.
Comments
As we know... Sita (Maithili) was born in Mithila...!! (My native place Darbhanga is a part of old time Mithila...) And even today, people of Mithila avoid marrying off their daughters in Marg-Shish because that is the month Sita got married. Even today, people of Mithila do not want to marry their daughters into families living in Avadh, in fact anywhere west of Mithila. They repeatedly recite Sita's name in marriage songs but Ram's name is omitted. It is a whole culture's rejection of Ram as a husband. For instance, people will say approvingly: "He is a Ram-like son, a Ram-like brother, or a Ram-like king." But they will never say as a mark of approval, "He is a Ram-like husband."
And I so totally echo their views!!