Finally gathered the courage to say, “I.Do.NOT.Like.Ramayana”. I am really ashamed of myself that it took me so long to acknowledge it and confess it to myself. Was it the fear of God? Was it the fear of every belief I hold falling apart? The truth is that not acknowledging was exactly the antithesis of my second fear. It is only ironic that I let forgo my beliefs to protect them from falling apart.
Ramayana is a beautiful story no doubt, but not just because of the lifting of the mountain by Hanuman or the Vanara Sena building a bridge by floating rocks branded “Ram” but because of its ending. Yes, the ending which most of us either conveniently overlook and don’t talk about or rationalize it with (use a diplomatic word) weird explanations. Yes I am talking about the *wait for it* Agni *keep waiting* pareeksha yes Agnipareeksha.
If you think so much build up for such small detail then I would only like to give you one advice ‘go, reevaluate your life’ You may still be in denial of some major things. One thing I have learnt the hard way is that it’s always better know if the (Schrodinger’s) cat is dead or alive. The longer you wait to open the box, more is the time you are wasting.
If you are in Rama’s time and have great respect for him and he is yet to demand Agnipareeksha or if you were following Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayana on TV and the electricity went out just before the Agnipareeksha scene and thus you have great respect for Rama then it’s fine and you are completely normal. But, if you have the same respect for the man/ character knowing fully well what he did (even though it is different from your beliefs), knowing fully well that Sita had living a lie for all these years, then there is definitely something wrong with you. Because no, it is not “difference of opinion”. When the box was finally opened, the cat was long dead and stinking.
It only takes one moment to lose all respect for a person. If the moment has to come, it better come sooner than later.
The point is, according to me people, for ages, have interpreted the Ramayana wrong. It was meant to be a suspense thriller where in the end the protagonist turns out to be the bad guy but people take it as a melodramatic farce with no development of character.
