Like most expressions and events these days, 'Shri Ram', too, is hyper politicised. In that fray called politicking, the opponents of the BJP employ its (mis)uses to bash up their adversaries. Why get in to those deep-n-dark waters? Well, the recent Mangeshkar incident proves how half truths lacerated with emotional drama can be used to incite public emotions, and ignite hatreds.
On a pious occasion such as the Ram Navami, why get in to such ugly meanness-es? I at all remembered the politicisation of 'Shri Ram' because the Ram Temple at Ayodhya, it should be kept in mind, is a movement (as proven with/thorough extremely reliable sources by such committed scholars as Dr. Meenakshi Jain) that continued for centuries to culminate in 2024.
In other words, beyond petty party politics, Ram is a concept that has allured Indians, and many, many more beyond the bounds of the Indian territory. For generations, Shri Ram (right now I do not want to get in to that 'myth versus history' debate regarding the Ram Katha) has stood for all that is the best, the ideal, the perfect.
Shri Rama is the ideal son, the best brother, the most loving husband. Read Bhavbhuti's "Uttar Ram Charitra" to understand in a complex way the most debatable act in Shri Rama's otherwise impeccable persona. The play would convince you of his gentleness even in that apparently cruellest act.
An ideal king, Shri Ram is kindness personified even with animals, trees, the adivasi's. Countless examples thereof can be provided from the 'Valmiki Ramayana'. In such inclusivity lies his true divinity. Why, he even respects, treats with due reverence his enemy, Ravana!
In brief, Shri Ram is the moniker for a way of being, for a mode of existence that is all that is wise, just and gentle. In our era that is always on the automated self-destruction mode (what with the climate change, in close alliance with the imminent Third/Atomic War threatening our very existence), Shri Ram is an ideal that promises an eternal bond of togetherness, of communion with all the modes of creation, of peace and contentment.
Pratima@Both my parents revered Shri Ram. "RamRaksha" was Aai's utmost favourite stotra. As for Papa, his very name reflected such respect, and, in a way that I find most heart-warming, he always tried to live up to it.
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