Draupadi, Polyandry, and a Palace of Illusions

I have never been too greatly disturbed by the moral/ethical issues of Indian Mythology. Perhaps because I was not brought up in a strict framework of religious life or too many rituals. Yet the major Indian epics, regarded by many as Holy Books, contain many examples of hair splitting where ethics are concerned. And, maybe more stridently post-colonialism, we are made aware that, possibly, these tales laid the ground for what we perceive as the degraded condition of Indian women, for one thing and among others. Examples of such mind sets abound and such exercises are greatly applauded.

Mark, for example, we are exhorted, how Rama, one of the foremost icons of Hinduism, treats the woman he loves. And, proceed these spoilsports, what about Draupadi? 


Rama fought a mighty battle to wrench his beloved wife, Sita, from the arms of the captor only to cast her away from him forever on the basis of a poisonous murmur: can a woman remain chaste who has been another's captive for so long? 

And even before this heart wrenching betrayal, she is made to walk through fire to prove her chastity. 

Well, these do not disturb me for two reasons.

Firstly, it is a tale - a grand story of love. The best love stories seldom end well. And this tragic twist fits well into the machinations that go into concocting an ageless legend.

Secondly, Rama, as ruler, has no right to a private life. The demands of the people must come before the desires of his heart. Keeping as consort a woman, whom the public views askance, lowers his credibility as ruler. 

Few truly great people have had exemplary family lives and we lose respect for many in power who use their positions to placate family members.

Now, as for Draupadi, I'm in no way pulled into the issue as the only way it has been presented to me is thus: her having five husbands!

Why is polyandry so distressing to some, to many, in fact, to more than those disturbed by polygamy?

I should think that a woman is a more complex psychological and biological being than a man and that, therefore, it would take at least five partners to meet the many aspects of her personality: one who is a good provider, one who is humorous, one who is sensitive, one who is dashing, and one who is in tune with her spiritual side, for example.

To my father, the tale was a symbolism of the Mind and the Five Senses.

Be that as it may, I look forwards to reviewing how the tale of this Princess with Five Husbands is dealt with in the Palace of Illusions.

I'm doubly drawn to this novel as I have often, even very recently, been enchanted by that marvellous palace of the Pandavas.  

Mighty stories like the Mahabharata are like palaces of illusions. They reflect you. If you have a paucity of mind you will see only so much. If your mind is richer you will see more. 

A Lohari Tale

For many months now I have neither indulged in a good workout indoors nor taken my exhilarating “Urban Warrior Walks”.


The effects tell: flabby tummy and low spirits.


Today, I made a spur of the moment decision. I asked my husband to drop me on his way to work at a point from which it would take me about an hour to get home.


This is an account of that walk.


I started at about 10 a.m. 

Yesterday morning I re-assumed a more focused insertion of mediation into daily life by sitting facing the photo of the lady with whom I feel comfortable about sharing everything. I did a form of Maitri meditation: starting with my dearest ones and proceeding with all relatives and in-laws and friends, I wished them well (May they be well and happy and prosperous and surrounded by goodwill at all times). 


Today I condensed it by taking this wish and the list of people and offering it to Her. I also proceeded to spread this desire for Happiness, Health and Abundance to larger groups, to beings seen and unseen, objects animate and inanimate.


As this routine was completed I began to take photos of the small roadside commercial enterprises.


The first such as I began my walk sold melons and tender coconuts. The sellers lounged and observed me with lazy curiosity.

These screens are used to shelter rooms from the oncoming brutal Delhi summer heat. 


A part of me wanted to meander off the main road into the mud paths and maybe even into the pathless urban wilderness but I had spotted a small group of tents on the roadside as we drove to my starting point and I wished to interact with these “gypsies”.

Throughout my years in Delhi and particularly since we moved to Gurgaon, I have observed these families who pitch tent by the roadside. They used to be mainly engaged in some sort of metal work: implements of various kinds. Wooden rope cots, some mattresses or quilts, hookahs, women in very exotic garments, grubby children playing amidst urban rubbish, sometimes a goat or two tethered to a post-who are they, I wondered?

Some of the shots of small roadside vendors that I took have not come out well-they were basically a cigarette seller and a shack selling wooden boards. A mother dog and her pups crossed my path as I approached the tent dwellings.

The first tent had a surly couple who wanted money for my taking photos.


At the second there was the invitation to write their story.


The lady strikes a deep chord in me: she and I are not so different and she knows it. Her husband, like mine, looks younger. She sits like a queen and after the children move into the picture she rises and begins the day’s work, hauling a cot to one side, pounding dried red chilies in a stone mortar with a wooden pestle.

The man says they used to live in the land Chittorgarh when Maharajah Pratap Singh ruled. When there was a war with the invading Muslims, their people got dispersed, moving from place to place, working with metal: loharis.


There is distraction from the young lady and when I turn, the father has gone.

The girl says she does not want to get married. No, no one will get her married off against her will. She looks prettily lazy like any young Indian girl of any other social strata. She says they have moved 4 times that she can remember. She says she gets ill when they move. But there is no suffering on her face. They have an enclosed space for bathing I am told but to answer nature’s call there are the bushes. The girls do not seem overly distressed at that. 

Soon I am ready to move on and pay my respects to the mother. “Stay for lunch”, she says. I reply that much work awaits me at home and I walk on.


And then there is Darshan of the Lord. Even so had they tied you, Baby God, and You pulled the tree out by its roots! I laugh and say this and a young man also laughs with me (the child’s father?).

And then I pass the man who grazes the buffaloes and enter the park. Spring is fast drying up into summer but some flowers linger. 

The park is peaceful. A young man sits on a bench munching something out of a paper packet. Like most young men that I pass, he is listening to music through earphones.


These brothers are enjoying a snack.

 

The park swings are fully and joyously used by the families of labourers building palatial homes in the neighbourhood.


My one hour walk has left me with inner strength, a place of peace in the clamour within and a nice flow of energy through the body.  


But maybe I should re-visit the Loharis and learn their story more fully?

Fit for Life

No fitness or weight loss goals can do full good unless they enhance your total enjoyment of life. Loss of fitness implies a loss of many enjoyments which are denied us when we are not at proper fitness levels. We cannot wear just any dress most of the time for few possess panache with extra pounds. As levels of movement decrease, we become slower, our reflexes are slower and we are no longer those who used to climb trees, have endless energy and want to play all day.
To work within the framework of making life fun again will make all your fitness and weight loss goals easy to reach and maintain.
All human beings need balance. As we age we tend to totter more often and slowly retreat into a comfortable hunch to avoid having to do vigorous things as we feel we have learned that they bring us grief.
They bring us grief because we jump in like fools without caution-we are no longer young and elastic and have slid into that state little by little. To come back to the youthful state we need to take it slowly as well. Besides for cardio, adjust the pace of your life by re-evaluating what you do-no body needs to be in the Rat Race! We are not hamsters but we need to stretch our hamstrings!
It is wiser to begin with a certified Yoga class, free or paid, at home or in a gym. In no time you will be able to make decisions on behalf of your body like an expert. Yoga, while gentler on the aging or otherwise novice body can provide safe challenges while and because of focussing more on being aware of the body and breath throughout the workout.
Other ways to be mindful which is what we want to effortlessly be so that we may enjoy our food rather than shovelling it in are to indulge the inner child and do drawing or colouring activities or dance/sing, to go on simple outings in the neighbourhood -all these will make activity so appealing that the right things will be done painlessly.
If you increase the daily ambit you cover on foot in time and variety of location you will burn calories and be alert and see the world around you -you will cease to pedal the cycle of empty calories and empty lives