Jai Hanuman!

 In the Hindu iconography, there are deities that are extremely lovable. Children adore them. Hanuman from the Ramayana is one such ideal character. Most kids tend to like him a lot, right?

If we explore his persona, most interesting it is. In my opinion, he is a wonderful combo of the hard and the soft power. For sure, he is the very name of physical prowess. Why, he can lift an entire mountain! Equally gentle, however, he is. Look at his adoration of Rama who resides in his heart. 

As a follower, he is total dedication incarnate. Yet he knows his limits, too. When he located Seeta in Ravana's Lanka, he could have easily carried her back. He, however, reveres her and respects her commitment. He completes his assignment, conveying Lord Rama's message, most conscientiously, but without getting in to any overdrive. 

Personally I like his curious nature. Remember how, as a kid, he tends to grab the early morning sun as a unique fruit? It is not merely an adventure. It is an attempt to internalise the unknown as well. No wonder, he is a "chiranjivi", one who would live forever as great is his desire for knowledge. Hence he is found in the Mahabharata as nestling on Arjuna's pennant.

Children love his comedy especially  in burning the Lanka. The more the demons try to ill-treat him, the more they ill-treat themselves. In my opinion, however, there is a message in this act. I suppose, this is the way a "special correspondent" would behave, right? If ill-treated, just give the enemy a taste of his/her own poison, and thus a proof of the prowess of one's own side. 

He is close to nature. He can cross a sea, he can carry a mountain, but without harming even the smallest squirrel, right? May be, he should be thus the reigning deity, the harbinger of sustainable development, I suppose. In other words, he seems to harness nature to man's advantage, but without destroying either, unlike the 'progress' these days. Nothing can hinder him, nor does he harm anyone or anything!

Last but not the least, in my opinion, he can prove Darwin's theory most interestingly, right? However, the way we have 'progressed', forget Lord Hanuman, every flea-infested, scrawny monkey would be ashamed of such descendents!

Pratima@My youngest nephew used to call up Aai each time Hanuman would get shown on the t.v. He had to narrate the whole story yet again to her. Real defender of the childhood innocence and faith hence this Rama devotee is!