What is Mahabharat?

महत्वाद् भारवत्ताच्च महाभारतमुचयते - It is Mahabharat because of its greatness and largeness (adiparva 1\300).

The dictionary meaning of Epic fits to the content of Mahabharat, and therefore we call this an epic. It is a long poetic composition, too long, but is it an epic in the same sense Iliad and Odyssey are considered epics?

The great Indian epic is probably the most remarkable work in Sanskrit after the Vedas - considering its size and diversity of content. This is largest of the epic literature found in the world till date – equal to eight times of Iliad and Odyssey together since 6^th century AD. Evident that it was not originally composed with 100000 verses, as it is claimed to consist of (Ś́a̅ttasa̅hasri̅samhita̅); but growth of its size through the ages proves its popularity since its inception.  Bards as well as poets through the ages certainly loved to add own composition to the original story of Mahabharat, resulting its being the largest compiled epic of the world. Obviously, Mahabharat is not grown as single homogenous work. What is Mahabharat, then?

Mahabharat, the core of which was known as Jaya – the song of the victory (Jayanametitihsoyam जयानामेतीतिहासोयम्) commemorating the deeds of heroism. The main story revolves around the Great War between Kaurava and Pandava, the objective of which was to establish the just right of a dynasty carrying the legacy of Bharat; the Great War which was initiated with the purpose of retaliating against insult to womanhood; the Great War which in turn united the far north, south, east and western part of India, that was called Bharat at the time of its unification. The concept of Bharat could not be so overwhelming if there was no Mahabharat. It needs a great heroic event to unify such a large mass of land within eighteen days and Mahabharat is the narrative of that event.

This is where the personality of Lord Krishna, the god of love and war in Hindu mythology, is in full bloom. Bhagavad-Gita, the most popular among all Gita texts, has been part of Mahabharat in the form of dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna, the teacher and student. This is the book of philosophy for both the householder and the ascetic which became the source of varying discourses transmitting differing worldviews through centuries.

This is of course, a collection of verses – काव्यम् परमपूजितम् which displays poetic excellence of many bards and poets through the ages – names of whom are lost under the mystic shadow of Vyasdev and Ganesh. Be the names of composer’s names known to us or not, all of them are successful in illustrating the stillness of forests and hermitages, grace of the earth and ocean, fury in the battlefields and pain of mothers and wives of deseased heroes.

This is built as a treasure house of Indian lore. It can be called a collection of old tales or Puranasamhita – पुराणसम्हिता). This contains stories of gallant warriors and vigorous kings, saintly monarchs and majestic sages, wise seers and lustrous nymphs, dutiful wives and loving husbands, revengeful women and greedy men. Stories of Harischandra-Saivya, Viswamitra-Menaka, Nala-Damayanti, Savitri-Satyavan, Sarmistha-Yayati-Devyani are only few examples of interpolations those not only enhance the extent of the main epic, but also explain diversity of ancient Hindu view of life.

This is also a manual of Dharma – duties, Artha – material wealth, Kama – pleasure and Moksha – salvation.

Arthasastramidam proktam

Dharmasastramidam mahat

Kamasastramidam proktam

Vyasenamitabuddhina (1.2.383)

Mahabharat expounds the concept of dutifulness of ancient Indians who did not hesitate acting heroic in order to establish the just. It talks about wealth, acquiring which establishes supremacy of a king on this earth. This also propagates the concept of fulfillment of earthly desires, without which life of a householder is incomplete. Hense this is Sastra – sacred teachings that lead the reader and listener towards the route of Moksha at the end. Hense, Santi Parva of Mahabharat annouces at the end of the devastative war between kins and friends:

“Guhyam brahma tadidam vo bravimi....”(22.299.20) – There is nothing nobler than humanity.

Mahabharat is the whole literature that became source of inspiration to every division of knowledge-seekers including historians, political thinkers, philosophers, theologists, grammarians, poets, playwrites and story-writers. This is the book of great Indian myth which controls the moral of India since hundreds of years and will continue doing so.

Picture from http://www.hindudevotionalblog.com/2013/07/vishnu-vishwaroopa-pictures.html

Bengali Literary Studies – Future is Built on Past

As it usually happens, articles of contemporary authors give me a scope to ‘think’ – my favourite pastime! This time it was an article on enhancing interest in regional languages in India, written by a contemporary non-resident Bengali author.

Photo credit - commons.wikimedia.org

The author addresses the issues in general applicable to all regional languages in India, but being a Bengali speaking reader, I find the story is worse in case of Bengali – as a language practiced in West Bengal.

True – technology boom in last ten years made localization turn into a lucrative business even in West Bengal, thanks to mobile service providers, FMCG and electronic goods makers; but on the other hand, there is a visible decay in literary language practice. How many of regular readers read Bengali these days?  I remember my parents reading Bengali newspapers 30 years back. These days, not even my mother, once a proud student of Bengali literature, wants to read Bengali newspaper. Her simple explanation is that the quality of news and language shows that we are not target readers. Who are the target readers then? One can realize only by comparing vernacular newspapers of 1970s and post 2000. Those are published for readers of less literate class, containing very little information from the world outside West Bengal. National or international news is given importance only when an incident has considerable impact on West Bengal. One can hardly expect detailed report on global politics, science and technology, economic or industrial issues in these.

Once upon a time, middle class Bengali homes used to wait for Magazines published on the eve of Durgapuja – in which literary creation of all contemporary authors used to be published first – books used to be published after a couple of months. What are names of Bengali contemporary authors in 21st century? Did anyone author a significant Bengali fictional novel in last five years? I don’t know – none of my Bengali friends knows. I still remember Travelogue like Nirad Mazumdar’s ‘Punashcha Pari’ or art history like “Palyuger Chitrakala” by Sarasi Kumar Saraswati read in a weekly Bengali Magazine. Where is that literary magazine now? It is still being published – but worthless to collect – even though this sounds rude.

I tasted European literature first in Bengali. I somehow managed to preserve a couple of Pragati Prakashan translations of Russian literature too till date. Starting from Iliad – Odyssey’s children’s version to Grimm’s fables, everything used to be available in Bengali, which actually created interest about others cultures among children even though there was no conscious effort to fulfill a ‘target’ of creating ‘global citizens’. I discovered German war literature – also Hemingway and Maupassant and Chekhov when I was in fifth or sixth standard – in Bengali! Originals were not easily available in towns and villages thirty-five years back– but translations by Mohanlal Gangopadhyay or Nani Bhowmik were too good to introduce the world outside India to potential readers staying far from Calcutta. Had I not read those, perhaps I wouldn’t be interested to learn European languages later. I found translations of Marquez etc. even when I was in college. But stories started changing drastically by mid nineties.

Or was the change really so ‘drastic’? I studied in vernacular medium - credit goes to my liberal socialist (autocrat?) father. Except a handful of liberal socialists, none of Bengali middle class was ready to send their children to vernacular medium school even forty years back unless forced to - due to lack of ‘Elite’ schools in locality or monetary issues. As a result, scope to learn literary Bengali was already reducing for children from educated Bengali families. Though liberal socialists went on dominating Bengali cultural life till nineteen eighties, their number started reducing by nineteen seventies itself. Well, Globalisation brought a radical change in this dominance pattern.

How to change the scenario? The author suggests “inward translation” that is, translating more global literature into Bengali than translating Bengali to English would be able to bring a change. We cannot deny that improving the quality of vernacular newspapers or making contemporary world literature available in Bengali may convince senior citizens to read in Bengali. But what about younger generation from educated families who rarely read anything in Bengali since childhood? Or the neo-middle class which takes up reading as a way to earn certificates that in turn helps in earning a particular standard of living? Is there any way to attract future generations to read in Bengali?

Educated Bengali started moving out of Bengal one fifty year’s back, as British colonialists established themselves well in this country. Bengalis were among the first Indians to get along with European education system and hence, became trusted employees for British to work in different parts of the country with them. Anyway, there were still enough Bengalis staying in own region while eastern zone of the country provided enough jobs being an industrially developed part of the country. Independence brought partition of Bengal which forced a good number of Bengali speaking people move to other parts of the country – West Bengal alone could not provide space for approximately two millions of migrants. People who had to move out, could not avoid forced detachment from Bengali reading-writing practices.  But the aversion to Bengali reading and writing actually developed during post seventies socialist regime. Socialist governance lead to downfall in industry sectors in West Bengal in the one hand, and on the other, blanket ban on English as a subject in vernacular medium school in mid-eighties pushed children of job-oriented Bengali speaking middle–class out of these schools – who wants to educate own children in a way that that they would never be able to communicate with outer world – eventually loss the scope of being recruited for any professional service? Hence, Bengali came down to the status of second language in late eighties. Obviously, children of these days, do not need to read global literature in Bengali - they read it in English, their first language.

In post globalization scenario, moving out of the state even for a civil engineer’s job became unavoidable to every Bengali. Why to learn Bengali with importance then? Isn’t it enough to speak a little Bengali and attend Durgapuja celebrations to prove Bengali identity?

Neo-middle class is usually not interested in literary studies or cultural studies anywhere in the world, but also to traditionally-educated Bengali families, Bengali as a language lost its significance. Migration became a must for all – neither children of our Bengali authors nor the children of neo-middle class are able to stay in the state due to professional reason. When we do communicate in another language fourteen hours a day, one hour of forced reading in vernacular does not help much in growing literary skill.  On a personal note, even though I was taught in vernacular medium, after staying outside West Bengal for nine years, I, a middle aged of Bengali-literature enthusiast, am more comfortable communicating in English rather than Bengali.

The inclusion of contemporary literature in school curriculum is an excellent idea, but most of the Bengali reader class does not read in vernacular medium any longer. Vernacular medium schools in rural areas these days are meant for providing basic education to children of backward class who mostly come to school for a free meal, not to study literature.  

Bengali literary studies in West Bengal have limited future. And I do not see any scope of change in the scenario unless Government and academic bodies have a plan to radically change it. Well, the language and literature written in Bengali will always retain its glorious place in researcher’s dissertation and thesis papers, of course!

My dealing with a complex topic - feminism

To be honest, I feel little uncomfortable with a word ending in “ism” – this suffix added to a word restricts the realm of the word I think. Take an example of the name – Marx. Who would deny the contribution of the Karl Marx in Western philosophy? But the moment the theory constitutes the area of “Marxism” – it’s for Marxists! Many of us would avoid going close to the fence surrounding the area.

    

Radical thoughts are part of the advancement of civilization. Wasn’t using fire to cook raw meat a radical thought? Wasn’t Copernicus’s idea considered radical in his time? But do these examples encourage us to become followers of “Radicalism”? I doubt!

Almost everyone loves to become patriot, but what about PATRIOT-ISM?  The value of own land and culture is immense to every person. But who defines that one national culture\ interest is so superior to others that its followers should be entitled to impose that standard everywhere in the world? Which route the followers would take to prove that superiority?

I think same happens with the word “Feminine”. We all are comfortable with femininity. But the moment it becomes FEMIN-ISM, we know the topic forces us to look at things conforming to a particular point of view. It excludes people from entering the area of discourse; creates a field for gladiators denying the universal nature of femininity.

One friend suggests me to write for some “feminist” magazine where I have to follow the standard of their style and language. At that very moment, I remembered Chapal Bhaduri – the man who used to transformed himself into a woman representing wonderful women characters from the world of Indian history and mythology. I remembered Kelucharan Mohapatra - his beautiful face of the mythical Radhika I once fell in love with. I remembered the bright pensive face of the male professor, who was going through the painful long process of gender change, sitting beside me and praising my skirt – “I love your dress. Once I become a woman, I will be able to wear dresses like you.” Am I allowed to write about them in the feminist magazine? Or my area of discourse needs to be borderlined by certain physical attributes of persons? Am I supposed to support the causes of the person having a female reproductive system and not hesitating before killing a hundred people in the company to ensure a promotion for herself? Or does the expression of “feminism” also include the subtle face of femininity manifested in persons born with male reproductive system?

 Chapal Bhaduri

Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra

Dictionary meaning of FEMIN-ISM tells reveals this is a “theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes” led by the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. How many other than some fringe political groups like ISIS deny that equality? Stopping a women from becoming a political or social leader because of her gender is rare notion these days; the world has seen many of them in different countries – more in so-called underdeveloped countries that in so-called developed ones. Only a few countries prevent a women from being an economist or pilot if she wants to and have the capability to become one.

I stay in a country where Durga and Kali and Lakshmi and Saraswati - all females take significant stature among the worshiped deities. Do Siva, Ganesh or Kartikeya create larger scope of business than that Durga, Kali, Lakshmi and Saraswati do every year? I do not have statistics but I have doubt whether the female deities really need to fight against males to establish own equality.

How many of registered Indian companies offer lesser package to their female employees than the males? I do not know of any. Statistics tell IT sector in India hires more women than men at entry level, 51 % as per a recent NASSCOM report. 22% of women applicants get final offers whereas only 15% of male applicants receive offer letter. We cannot deny women laborers face issues in unorganized industry sectors, but male laborers too face lots of troubles there - may be different, but life is not trouble-free for any of the genders.

Right now, when I am writing sitting on my desk – I hear a neighbour couple fighting over some domestic issue. And I hear only the high-pitch voice of the young housewife cursing the man - seems he expected her to cook in the absence of domestic help - not a job for “equal” housewives for sure!

Domestic violence is a hot topic no doubt. If a woman feels that she has been a victim of domestic violence and files a case for separation, the law of the country probably tells that she is entitled to claim a considerable chunk of the man’s earnings. I was wondering if there is a similar law to protect men who are subject to domestic violence. Or it is difficult for a single person to decide how much “equality” is still needed.  

Like most of the favourite topics dominating the discussion of section of academia and accomplished women in Indian drawing rooms, the root of “Feminism” also lies in some other part of the globe. There is no harm in cultural exchange between different geographies. In fact, exchange keeps civilizations alive. But it seems better to go through the social, political and economic status of women in the history of those parts of the globe to understand their context behind starting a movement before finding similarities between them and us – eventually finding examples from my geography which could fit to their context. 

I think we need to go through the history of feminism in the western part of the globe before jumping into their movements. How social, economic and political issues made a section of society feel the necessity to establish own equality with men, make them demand the right to take up same professions as men, change the choice of cloths too  - in turn making them the primary decision-makers for consumer goods in 85% of households. Once a subject of empowerment-advertising campaigns, women are no more "next-emerging" market, but a force controlling the market in all the countries where western economic concepts flourished. Shall we look at feminism through the same glasses we have been using since a hundred years or try to use a different pair of glasses now?

Annada Devi – the Lady of Courage

Too many footnotes!!! Unfortunately I could not find any other option to explain certain elements particular to the regional culture, though I feel uncomfortable with footnotes while reading stories myself.

This is a story of an era more than hundred years back.

Rangpur was a village near Chanak. Baikunthanath Chattopadhyay was a renowned Zamindar here. One of the his close relative's wedding ceremony was being held in a village far from his place and his entire family decided to attend the grand celebration. They had no reason to worry. The huge mansion of the Zamindar was protected by high brick built walls and moreover, there were enough number of security guards to take care of the house. Only some distant women relatives and his distant cousin’s wife, Annada devi, stayed back at home. Annada devi was about forty at that time.

This was the first new moon night of the rainy season*.  The intense darkness in the middle of the night made the world almost invisible. Entire village was sleeping. The only noise one could here was of dogs barking and jackals howling time to time. The sky was cloudy and a heavy rain was expected soon. The narrow canal with its many curves and twists in one side of the village was flowing towards the small stream at a distance as always. Both its banks were covered by bamboo forests, mango grooves and other trees and plants. Only slightly unusual thing in the picturesque canvas was the sight of three canoes, with ten to twelve people on each of those, speeding through the canal towards the village. All of them were carrying weapons – sticks, swords, spears and shields. Everyone’s face was painted strangely in red and black. The silent sailors anchored their canoes behind Baikunthanath’s palace – at the darkest stretch under the mango groves and bamboo forest. Gadadhar das, the Bagdi, was leading the gang. Not only he was an unusually strong person, but all his team-members were strong and daring.  The notoriety of Gadadhar's gang created terror among landlords and business people in the region – while none could anticipate whose home was going to be attacked and when.

Gadadhar and his team entered the mansion crossing the high wall. Another group attacked the guards at the same time, snatched their arms and tied them up – and made their way free of resistance. After entering the courtyard, they lighted their torches and started breaking the doors and windows. Their violent uproar terrified the villagers staying nearby while they started looting.

Annada devi, the strong built lady, was sleeping in the inner part of the palace. The wild noise awoke her as well. But she was a lady of courage. She ordered the other ladies in the home to move to rooftop and throw bricks towards the dacoits from there.*

Womenfolk and maid servants assembled on the rooftop and started showering bricks at the looters downstairs; the torches lit by dacoits actually helped them to precisely hit their targets. The sudden attack puzzled one group of dacoits looting one side of the home. On the other hand, Annada devi made a different plan sitting inside.

She untied her long hair that fell down to her knees, painted her face and body dark with burnt ash* and placed a big dot with vermilion powder* on the forehead. She also tightened the saree* at the knee length, held the Khanda* in one hand and stood motionless with her tongue out, posing the Goddess Kali at one corner of her room.

The group of looters lead by Gadadhar continued looting the rooms one after another till they reached the room where Annada was standing. All on a sudden, the fearsome sight of the great Goddess Kali was terrifying enough for them to stop at once. Gadadhar could not move anymore; did throw his sword on the floor and started reciting a chant for Kali
- “Hail the Goddess Kali\ Let’s everyone chant for her\Hail mother kali…” his voice was being chocked as he kept on repeating the chant. His body was engulfed by an eerie feeling. He felt the Goddess was angry with him for the crime he had committed; all the lady companions* of Kali was rushing to him with their wide open mouths. He stood trembling with fear, called his companions and told them to stop, “Mother Kali is angry with us today, we should not loot here; we should leave everything we have looted here. It was only Dakinis and Joginis throwing stones at us. Let’s bow down before the mother; let’s pray to for our protection.”

The entire gang sat on their knees and bowed their heads down addressing the Goddess. They brought everything what was looted before her before rushing back to their canoes.

Annada’s body became heavy as she stood motionless for a long time in the same posture. She fell senseless due to exhaustion after the dacoits left.

Baikunthanath came back next morning as he received the news of the event from villagers. He was surprised to find every piece of valuable left intact by the dacoits. He realised that nothing but the power of the goddess could make that kind of miracle happen  - it was the goddess's power that had possessed the body of his younger cousin’s wife to express herself. He thanked her with all his devotion.

This was an incident in the Bengali year 1294*. We find the report in newspapers published at that time. The lady became an instance of courage and presence of mind of fearless Bengali women. Even the British Govt rewarded her.

(original in Bengali by Jogendranath Gupta, the forgotten author)

*first new moon night was considered to be auspicious to burgle houses by dacoits in old Bengal

*throwing bricks and stones to hit attackers from rooftop was regular way of self protection for women staying in brick built houses in Bengal. They tried to protect their property from dacoits and themselves from foreign invaders and communal rioters using the same method. Owners of large houses used to build an arsenal with stones and bricks on the rooftop!

*wood and charcoal were cooking fuel in rural Bengal which used to produce good amount of ash, mostly thrown inside a small pit outside kitchen. This ash, mixed with oil made a dark paint which was sometimes used for the purpose of mud wall painting as well.

* vermillion powder – a red  powder. Traditionally considered to be sacred, this was used by Bengali married women on their forehead and also by the priests performing KaliPuja. Kali, being the most prominent folk Goddess in Bengal has a special association with vermillion powder.

*saree- a 10 yard cloth, colored or white was the dress of Bengali women.

*Khanda\Kora\Kharga - type of sword used to practice animal a sacrifices. This also has a sacred association with Bengal  Goddesses, especially Kali. Some families in Old Bengal used to hang it on the wall as a sacred symbol to ward off dangers.

*kali – was the most prominent Goddess of Bengal. Bengali mainstream population worshiped her seeking protection from the evil. But the dacoits and robbers, irrespective of their religion and caste, considered her to be Goddess of their clan. There are of course, different forms of Kali worshiped by different castes and clans, but above all, Kali was the Goddess obeyed by all Shakti-worshipers there.