Darkness

 

It was Roshan’s first day to the work. As he bid goodbye to his parents, his mother asked him if he had everything he needed. He replied in affirmative and left. Walking down the stairs he could sense the excitement and nervousness in the same breath. Having his companion with him gave him confidence.

As he walked down the streets carefully, he could hear the plonking of the horns, buses & cars passing by and people talking on cell phones, to each other and then out of nowhere he got a push across his shoulder. He fell down, losing his companion not realizing what had happened.

All he could see was darkness which had been his reality since birth. He started moving his hands to find his companion, when a few people gathered around, helped him get up. One of them came forward and said “Here is your walking stick. Are you all right?” Finding his companion in his hands gave him a big relief and he thanked them.
 

Taking his steps forward, he remembered the poem “Koshish karne waalon ki kabhi haar nahi hoti”, repeating the lines in his mind as he went on his way to work with his companion showing the way.

Agni Pariksha

 

I have been trying to find a good rational explanation for ages and the ones that were made did not make any sense to me.

Do you agree that in Ramayana, Rama was right in putting Sita through Agni Pariksha to prove her chastity after defeating Ravana? Couldn’t he trust his wife’s words that she protected herself from getting harmed from Ravana?

 

Though I am aware of the various explanations that have been put forward like the Sita kidnapped by Ravana was an “image of Sita” and not her and when she passed through the burning flame, the ‘real’ Sita returned.  Also that it was necessary for Sita to pass through the Agni Pariksha to prove her purity.

I don’t quite agree with it coz when it’s taken in context with the common man. Does it mean that a man who does not trust his wife can make her go through a test to prove her faithfulness?  I know the times were different but the issue of trust is interpreted differently not they way I think most of will do.

On top of that, after clearing the “Agni Pariksha” and going back to Ayodha, she is again send on a second exile when a common man says that he is not great enough like Lord Rama to accept his wife who had lived in another man’s house.

There are various interpretations of the decision taken by Rama to send Sita on exile.  One of them is that he took the decision as a king and not as a husband.  What I fail to understand is why no attempt was made to make the public understand about the purity of Sita and that she was not unchaste as it was made out to be?  Does it not send the message across that if a man thinks that his wife is unchaste he can throw her out of the house especially without proving whether it was indeed the case?

Remember the public opinion is not always right.  If it’s the king duty to look after his people then it’s also his duty to remove any misconceptions that arose within the public.

 

If one looks from Sita’s point of view, she ended up losing her husband and paid for the crime of abduction by Ravana.  It’s no surprise that she took refuge in Dharti mata when Rama came to take her back to Ayodha in case fingers were pointed at her again…

P.S.:  If anyone has better explanation, I am all ears.

College Crush

He looked at the invite and was not sure whether he would go or not.  He wondered if she would be there too. It was five years since graduation and still Janak remembered her.

Seems like yesterday when he saw her in the third year of college in one of the classes he attended. She was seated one bench ahead and asking her neighbor who was roll no. 21 and it did came as a surprise to him when he heard her saying his roll no.  He never got to ask why as he would often catch a glimpse of her like once in a blue moon day.

He never realized when he had fallen for her.  He would often attend classes for her but she was never around.  He did found out her name but never got the opportunity to talk to her.  Time passed and the day of graduation was getting near.

Then one day as Janak collected his hall ticket from the administrative office and turned around, he saw her.  She was standing at the door, with the rays of sun falling on her making her look just perfect.  His heart beat got faster and hands went cold.  Not knowing what to do, he gave her a big smile and she too smiled back.  He just stood there as the distance between them narrowed down.

That was the last time he had seen her. As he came out of the memory lane, he had made up his mind.  He decided to go for the college reunion in the hope of meeting her again and this time taking a step forward.