The Image

 Even if most people might not have read the actual Ramayana, or  even its translation, most all people in India are absolutely aware of a cute story about Shri Rama as a child. I suppose, many mothers, grandmothers, aunts for generations have told the following story to their own sweet bundles of joy.

According to this folktale, Shri Rama's mother, Kaushlya, is feeding dinner to her precious son. To distract his attention so that he would eat fast, she shows him the full moon in the sky. The little boy is fascinated with the lovely sight. He wants it. We all know how sweet and yet tough are a child's sulks. 

None knows how to deal with this innocent demand. As per the story both Papa and Aai used to tell us, Sage Vasishtha comes up with an idea. He gets a big bowl of limpid water, and the reflection of the full moon in the water is as charming as the real one. The kid loves it.

Now why am I telling this story in this blog? Is that your question? Sure my readers are not my yesteryear little nephews. Well, I thought of this tale because, in my opinion, it shows not merely the child like innocence of Shri Ram. It humanises the deity. It presents him as highly imaginative and creative. 

Well, I am not hugely impressed with the hullabaloo that the political and religious establishment, particularly of the Opposition variety, is up to. The entire history and the related vociferous debates, especially after December 6, 1992, are horribly complicated, partisan and opinionated. I lack the historical and archaeological acumen to analyse them in any detail. I, moreover, respect the Supreme Court, and its decisions. The TV debates kind of screaming and screeching  are not my cuppa!

I was more interested in knowing how the image of Shri Rama as a child would be presented. Well, in the cultural landscape of India, we have multiple imaginings of Shri Krishna as a baby, as a naughty kid, as a child. In fact, most devotees love this facet of his 'avatar'. As for Shri Rama, except for a few folktales such as the one mentioned above, his childhood is not much valorised. In fact, Sage Vasishtha gives him the huge responsibility of guarding the 'yadnyakund', the  holy altar, quite early in his life. 

I was, hence, eager to know how Shri Ram would be presented as a child. Well, the image that has started making rounds of the wapp groups and the Google/the internet is indeed sweet. It captures the childhood innocence, the sweet cuteness of a baby boy, the purity of  pristine straightforwardness. Yet, after all, he is to be presented as a deity, too. The arch around the image fulfils this function with depictions of  the 'dashavatar', that is, the ten reincarnations,  with images of Hanuman, and of the eagle as Lord Visnu's vehicle, and so on.

In brief, political storms would rage. The sea of devotion would overflow, and faster/fiercer than River Sharayu in spate. Yet the image would sanctify the ideal, the perfection that the Ramkatha, the epic Ramayana, envisions!

Pratima@ Positive vibes only! Radiating a clean vision from within illuminates boring banality! Pure joy born of genuine optimism is the real solution!