SLAYING OF MEGHNAD - DRAMA STAGED BY KASBA ARGHYA

  A PERFORMANCE EXTRA-ORDINARY

I read about the  drama  enacted by 'Kasba Arghya'  group in Sunday 'Pratidin' published on 21/6/11. I searched for the group in the internet and found  them in the Facebook. I also found Anirban Ghosh, Ranit Modak and Seema Ghosh - the principal actors - in the Facebook. I enquired and learnt from them about their next show - which was @ Madhusudan Mancha on 24/6/11. It was quite a  wet evening - but we did not want to miss the chance.

 Anirban Ghosh as Indrajit.

The effort was worth-making.We were  rewarded with a performance that touched our heart.  An intelligent yet simple stage setting, excellent  lighting, music and choreography.  Ranit  and Seema performed in various roles - Ranit and Anirban simultaneously enacted the scene of 'Nikumbhila Yagna',  which was very well-conceived and  well-enacted. Over-all impact of direction of Maneesh Mitra and presentation by his team leave a deep impact on the viewer.

 Ranit and Seema.

A couple of years ago, I visited the temple cluster of Guptipara . The temple dedicated to Ramachandra has a long wall-relief on  'Nikumbhila Yagna', This wall-relief was crafted with a perspective in view , with Meghnaad in the 'front' and Lakshman aided by Bibheeshan was shown entering the scene stealthily towards the 'rear'. This panel is certainly a remarkable panel , created decades before Michael conceived and wrote 'Meghnaad Badh Kavya'.

This  wall-relief on 'Nikumbhila Yagna' inspired me a lot, I brought the copy of Michael's anthology from my library and enjoyed a his epic creation another time. That was the time when I wrote my blog
'Slaying of Meghnaad - a ballad' ( http://przmm.blogspot.com/2009/03/slaying-of-meghnad-ballad.html).

Needless to say, I had a special attraction towards this drama - 'Meghnaad Badh Kavya'. I must say that both Ruby and I enjoyed the drama a lot. I do have a few comments to make - I intend to share the link with 'Kasba Arghya' and hope that the Director and the team will accept the comments in a positive frame of mind.

First the positives. The production - lighting, sound - and music , stage setting, acting of Ranit, Seema and Anirban,  'Chow'-dance  - well the Director knows all these. He must have received many accolades  for all these and more. Shadow dance of Ranit , wallow of Ravan , 'Indrajit 1 and 'Indrajit 2' during 'Nikumbhila Yagna' in 3rd scene are the bits what we carried in our heart !The few areas where he can improve upon  are here :

• Was Pinaki Biswas  present in the stage show of 24/06/11 ? Why there was hardly any 'Kathakali' dance movement of Ravan on that day? Ravan, tall and elegant in the make-up and costume of a Kathakali dancer  appeared on the stage and stood nearly still !
• Pronunciation of one the two 'Kathak's - the one who was in the right-side of the audience - need improvement.He has miles to go.
• Indrajit was a great warrior. Why he would need so much effort to put string on his own bow ? May be Ranit was asked to show off his dancing skill - but his endeavour did not match the storyline.
• Ranit acting as Chitrangada and Seema  acting as Ravan  did not look OK to me. May be the Director showcased the actors' versatility. But, I was not impressed.
• Involvement  of the gods, their conspiracy  in Lakhsman slaying Indrajit have  been blanked off totally ! Director's liberty - but, I could not agree with the same.

Nonetheless, I shall recommend this production strongly. Enjoy the very interesting production of 'Meghnaad Badh Kavya' directed by Maneesh Mitra.

 'Nikumbhila Yagna'  

Wall-relief  from Rama Temple, Guptipara.

EMPERORS' LIBIDO: BERLUSCONI AND RAVANA

A few days ago, I was reading the reaction of Veronica Lario to the ‘roving eyes’ of her husband Silvio Berlusconi, the Prime Minister of Italy. I searched the internet for a bit more of details regarding the background and came across the stories linking Mara Carfagna with the Prime Minister of Italy and the painting made by Filippo Panesca. depicting Berlusconi as an almost naked angel in company of bare-bodied Mara C. (http://www.artknowledgenews.com/files2009a/Panseca_Berlusconi_with_wings.jpg)

Veronica Lario now retaliated by having a painting of her, similarly clothed, in an exhibition and the Internet……she too appears as a beautiful angel. (http://www.galloimmenso.com/images/blog/lario_quadro.jpg)

The matter did not end there. Veronica will very likely divorce her husband,19 years her senior , since she has run out of patience with Berlusconi’s ways with beautiful women, whom she calls ‘the emperor’.

Yet, Berlusconi is very popular in his country as well among the neighbouring states because of his capability and charisma, which is aided by his ‘high libido’. Our society and history have idolized Rulers and Kings who had insatiable thirst for expansion and at the same time, kept a large harem engaged. We do not have emperors any more, but, we have our John F Kennedy, Bill Clinton and Berlusconi.

History has not been kind to one such King, whose testosterone level was his nemesis. He is Ravana , a King who was learned, a good ruler, well-respected by his subjects and possessed excellent military skill. As we find from the laments of his wives and other women whom he brought into his bed and his palace, after his fall at the hand of Ram , he was loved by his women. Among the major negatives of his character, his uncontrollable sexual urge was the single largest cause of his and his regime’s downfall.

In a way, Valmiki Ramayana and many other version of this epic story have not been fair to this great King. His positives have been mentioned in passing while his negatives have been highlighted. But, there are others in South India, Michael Madhusudan in Bengal and presently several historians/Internet communities in Sri Lanka, who have viewed and portrayed King Ravana in positive light. I am not aware if anyone doubted about his over-active libido.

Had he remained satisfied with the women he married and later on ‘conquered’, his life would have been different. But, he raped Vedabati and forcibly took the paramour of his step-brother Kuber’s son to his bed ( strictly speaking, this is not incest, but, very nearly so). I found there is at least one more high-profile woman’s rape and complaint have been recorded in the chronicle. There must have been many more ! Finally, his death came because he abducted Sita , a woman whose beauty and sexual attraction kept his mind engaged for months while the consequent string of tragic events devastated his family and regime.

Someday, a poet , as great and capable as Michael Madhusaudan, will write a ballad on Ravana’s fatal attraction for Sita.

VIOLATION OF VEDABATI : A TALE FROM RAMAYANA

Violation of Vedabati : Krittibas and reference links/material from internet


It was a small district town of West Bengal in 1950s... Suri. A seven years old child used to spend at least one hour every day, pouring on two big books he had received during his last birthday. A volume of Mahabharata by Kashiram Das and another of Ramayana by Krittibas. In early fifties, epics as cartoons were not so popular among children. Kafi Khan has just started his strip on Mahabharata in Sunday Jugantar.

The stories were fascinating. Ramayana ... as linear as Valmiki wanted it to be. Mahabharata .... very complex for a child. Search for Vishalyakarani, Arjuna's exploits and Karna's demise kept him intrigued. Within a few years, he would read 'Mahabharater Katha' by Buddhadeb Bose and 'Krishnacharitra' by Bankimchandra.
He decided : after retirement , he would return to these epics again.

And after 53 years, I did that when I started to work on Iconography of terra cotta panels of Bengal’s temples.
Recently,after I dusted and read 'Meghnaad Badh Kavya' to address a question of a friend from sulekha.com, I wrote my 2nd blog on a stigmatised character of our mythology: Tale of Soorpanakha.

One point is true about that Tale : this was when the roller-coaster journey to destruction of Ravana's regime and life started. Or did it start when Ravana violated Vedabati, daughter of sage Kusadhvaja ? A serious reader of Ramayana will very likely agree with me.

During the last week, I searched for Vedabati ,Ravana and Sita in Internet . I came across complex postulations about Sita's birth and that took my notice away for a while . Many story-writers of Ramayana, across countries and ages believed that Sita was the daughter of Ravana and/or Mandodari, Ravana's principal wife and daughter of RakshasaRaj Maya . One story says Ravana sneezed to give birth to her .Yet another says Mandodari conceived Sita after she wanted to commit suicide and took a potion of six ascetic's blood ,collected by Ravana, on the assumption that it was poison and conceived Sita.One point remains constant : Mandodari , after learning that the new born would be cause of Ravana's death, arranged to send the infant away to Mithila (in Nepal,currently known as Janakpur).She was abandoned in a field which Rishi Janaka was tilling in the month of Baishakh ( end-April, early-May).Rishi Janaka took the infant home and fathered her.

Then, I returned to my Krittibasi Ramayana for the best known story about Vedabati. It has a less-than-two-pages story of Vedabati. There is a painting too : Ravana pulling hair of Vedabati, a white dress covering her well-endowed curves , not the dear skin Krittibasa described to be her regular dress. Ravana's appearance does not evoke fear or repulsion....nowhere near the two images of Ravana created by Ravi Verma. Now, the story by Krittibas.

Vedabati portrayed as an attractive woman, Ravana ,a wimp

Ravana did not approach Vedabati in a hurry. He tried to win her over by courting her , pointed out the futility of trying to be Lord Vishnu's consort , then tried to gain her attention by taunting her and bragging about his strength (and very likely about his virility) before he violated her. Stories say he pulled her by her hair and only one source have used the ultimate word :'rape'. Ravana had strong ego, uncontrolled libido and a desire to possess. So, it is difficult to believe that he stopped at pulling her hair. This woman ,who led the life of an ascetic and was so engrossed in her dream of being Lord Vishnu's consort ,that she ignored the threat her earlier powerful suitor DemonKing Shambhu cast on her family (finally she had to suffer the tragedy of having her parents killed in retaliation for refusal to offer her hands to Raja Shambhu in marriage!) definitely found the act defiling not only her body but also her soul. According to Krittibas, she committed suicide in shame, with a vow of 're-incarnation for retribution' on her lips.

In the story I intend to write, (same as in that of Lord Srinivasa, a Tale of Vedabai well-known in South India) , she stays alive . That will appear in part II.
Reference to the story of Srinivasa is : http://www.indiadivine.org/articles/394/1/Srinivasa-Kalyanam/Page1.html.
Also, here is the story of Vedabati from Internet which uses the word 'rape' whereas other writers stopped at molestation and avoided writing about Ravana violating Vedabati sexually.

http://www.experiencefestival.com/vedavati
"Vedavati - Early life and Dedication to Vishnu
Vedavati is speculated to have been the spirit of Sita Devi, the wife of Rama in the epic Ramayana. Vedavati - Early Life. Vedavati is the daughter of Brahmarishi , who is the son of Brihaspati, Lord-Guru of the Devas, the Gods. Having spent his life chanting and studying the sacred Vedas, he names his daughter Vedavati, or Embodiment of the Vedas, born as the fruit of his bhakti and tapasya
Her father wants his child to have Lord Vishnu for a husband. He thus rejects many powerful kings and celestial beings who sought his daughter's hand. Outraged by his rejection, a powerful Daitya king Sambhu murders her parents in the middle of a moonless night.
Vedavati continues to live in the ashram of her parents, meditating night and day and performing a great tapasya to win Vishnu for her husband.
The Ramayana describes her as wearing the hide of a black antelope, her hair matted in a jata, like a rishi. She is inexpressibly beautiful, in the bloom of her youth, enhanced by her tapasya.
Violation and death
Ravana, the emperor of Lanka and the rakshasa race found Vedavati sitting in meditation and is captivated by her incredible beauty. After mocking her dedication to Vishnu and her penance, he attacks her and rapes her.
Her chastity and reputation destroyed, Vedavati immolates herself by building a pyre, while Ravana is watching with sick pleasure."
I , however,do not believe Ravana viewed the scene with sick pleasure. Ravana had high libido. A King of his physical and mental stature is expected to have high testosterone level. We have innumerable stories in our mythology and history about persons with characteristics of Ravana.In this case,I believe, if he had lost interest in Vedabati,he would have gone away after the act . Alternatively,if he felt a bond with Vedabati, he would have tried to stop her from self-destruction as she was a beauty Ravana cherished. Immolation of women till 19th century is found in every corner of Indian history and this subject should be on our collective conscience...... Ramayana's more well-known act chastity's test by fire being no exception!

Before I conclude ,I copy/paste material on Ravana's libido I found in the internet, touching upon the link between death of Vedabati and birth of Sita :
"Ravana - Violations of Women
http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Ravana_-_Violations_of_Women/id/1869565
Ravana's sexual prowess is important to note as it plays a critical part in his legacy and downfall. Even as a young man he shamelessly violates women, and blessed with awesome strength, becomes an immensely virile rakshasa. He is a master of tantric vidya, or magical sexual arts.
Although Ravana is married to Mandodari, the daughter of Asura Maya, he captures thousands of women from his conquests and maintains a harem of unparalleled size.
Ravana also violates Rambha, the queen of the Apsaras. He is thereby cursed that if he ever forces himself on a woman again, his heads will burst. This curse protects the chastity of Sita when she is his captive.
There is also a discussed prophesy in the Ramayana that Ravana had violated Vedavati, a young ascetic who was performing tapasya to win Vishnu as her husband. Ravana's actions cause Vedavati to immolate herself, but she pledges to return in another age to be his destruction. The Rishi Agastya explains that Vedavati was born as Sita, and she is the wife of Vishnu's Avatara, Rama, and the cause of Ravana's death."


Vedabati sacrifices herself in flaming fire.
PanchaRatna Temple, Dt Bankura,West Bengal

SLAYING OF MEGHNAD – A BALLAD

A letter I sent to Mr DMR Sekhar of sulekha.com

Dear DMRS saab,

When you suggested a few days ago to write about ‘Meghnad Badh Kavya’, by coincidence, I took out an anthology of writings of Michael Madhusudan Dutt with the intention of reading this ballad once more.I wanted to write a blog on anti-hero of our mythology and who can be better than Ravan to be the person to write about!

Michael has broken many grounds with this ballad. He has introduced a new style …’amitrakshar chhanda’ ( the lines of his ballad do not rhyme : blank verse). More importantly, he has portrayed the characters of Ram, Lakshman, Ravan and Meghnad in a very unconventional way. The story has been told in several layers and he followed western grammar of epics , specially Virgil.Though reading ‘Slaying by Meghnad’ by Cinton Seely in the internet , through the window I suggested , is not easy to manage, it is the 2^nd best way for you to savour the ballad….since you cannot read the original. The following two links will give you a good idea about the ballad and there are couple of points I would like to add .

http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-Ln6wH3cieqcxWMDJColVNL6Evg--?cq=1&p=16

http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-Ln6wH3cieqcxWMDJColVNL6Evg--?cq=1&p=32

While Michael has shown Ravan and Meghnad are victims of Destiny (the poet has repeatedly used the word ‘Bidhi’ which means ‘the god above’), his narration brings out a picture of conspiracy by the gods and deception by Ram’s camp being at the root of defeat and fall of Meghnad, not the valour of Lakshman. He has portrayed Meghnad as invincible in face-to-face battle with both Indra, king of gods (that is why he used to be called ‘Indrajit’,he who vanquishes Indra) and Ram. Please read this quote : ‘….duibaar aami haranu Raghave, aar ekbaar pitah deha aajnaa more;dekhiba ebaar beer baanche ki oushadhe! – twice I defeated Raghav; father, you give me permission once more, let’s see which medicine brings him back to life this time ) !

Night of the long knives : Indra convinces Parbati to influence Shiva in accepting that Ravan and Indrajit do not deserve any more support of Shiva. Kamadev aids the process. With Shiva’s acceptance of the proposal in principle , Mahamaya hands over the weapons Kartikeya used to kill Tarakasur and Indra arranges to deliver the same to Lakshman before the day-break.

Deception : Bibheesan shows the path to the place where Meghnad has lighted the fire for his Yagna at dawn before he will proceed for the battle and obstructs Meghnad’s exit for acquiring weapons to fight Lakshman . Please view the panel Bengal’s artist portrayed decades prior to Michael’s penning this ballad.

William Radice is another person who has done a lot of serious study and work on 'Meghnad Badh Kabya'. His article is available in :

http://books.google.com/books?id=7YOptVKnP14C&pg=PA177&lpg=PA177&dq=Meghnad++badh+kabya%2BRadice&source=bl&ots=W0goWNCc4R&sig=iKKDvdpKltftRygcN6Rnbxcrd1c&hl=en&ei=IkLBSbNpw8OQBcvZ-CU&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=5&ct=result#PPA179,M1