Thursday, January 15

Story Time

Hiya!

I’m
eating walnuts again... Need to brush up on the latent smartness.

Read in the
Pune Mirror yesterday that a 41-year old pregnant woman died, but was kept artificially alive so that her her baby could be saved. Jeez! Some technology...

Hows the congestion scene where you stay? Pune is the abode of all roadblocks.
Traffic jams near KP (Koregaon Park) and KNP (Kamala Nehru Park) are no big deal. But guess WHERE I encountered a gridlock today.

At Symbiosis (SIBM and the Arts/Commerce college) on S. B. Road.
(Yes, that's where. No, I'm not kidding you.)
An old man stopped in the middle of the highway straddling his rickety Kinetic. Why? Coz he felt it convenient to pause centre-street at peak time traffic to make an enquiry with two pretty girls.

Old men I tell you... And to top that, he gave dirty looks to those that
honked at his stupid act! Definitely more irritating than another aged fellow I saw last week trying to chat up two young lasses at an ICICI ATM. At least he wasn’t holding up the thoroughfare!
Men shall always be men... (I’m not claiming all old women are sweet and adorable like my adopted ICICI grandma). But... whatever.
So, the news is that I finished the first volume of Menon’s Mahabharata. The Virata Parva had some brilliant stories about the life of the Pandavas and Panchali in King Virata’s kingdom.
A glimpse? They took up new names and professions so that they would not be discovered – Yudi as Kanka the gambler (no baba, he won’t lose again! He learnt the tricks of the game, so he now is an expert at it), Bheema as Ballava the cook (he is fond of both eating and cooking, so suits him fine), Arjuna as Brihanalla the eunuch and dance-teacher
(cursed by Urvashi, remember?), and Nakul-Sahadeva as caretakers of horses and cattle, and Draupadi as Malini, a sairindhiri (queen’s assistant).

The end of this section is especially enchanting. I read spellbound as Arjuna fought instead of Uttara Kumara (Virata’s baby boy) against the Kuru army when the latter steal Virata’s cattle (a ploy to reveal the Pandavas in order to send them back to the wilderness). The noble Arjuna greets his elders before he starts the attack by sending arrows at their feet, and leaves in the same fashion without hurting anyone, only after he has regained his host king’s possessions.

I got goose bumps as I read the next chapter... Enraged that Kanka praised the eunuch and not the rajkumar, Virata threw his ivory dice at Yudi. This action drew blood and Yudi made sure none fell on the floor. As Malini helped him clean up, she told Virata that for every drop of his blood that fell on the earth, there would be no rain for a year! Besides, there was someone (Arjuna) who had sworn that he would kill the person who made Yudi bleed. Wowww....

The section ends with Abhimanyu’s wedding to Uttara, Arjuna’s disciple and Virata’s princess. I’m now on the next section in the second volume – the Udyog Parva. The best story till now in this has been the scene at Krishna’s palace, when Duryodhana and Arjuna arrive (in that order) to ask Krishna for his support in the impending war.

As kshatriya dharma goes, the one who asks first gets his wish. Though Dury reached before Arjy, Krishna feigned sleep and opened his eyes only when Arjy was directly in front of him. And to settle matters, he gave them a choice – He on one side without a weapon, and his entire army on the other. Obviously, Arjy chose the Dark One, and Dury was also pleased at this, since an unarmed Krishna was no alarm to him.

Know what Balarama said at this? “Poor Duryodhana! The only choice Krishna gave him was his death...”

Not
abusing would certainly be part of the dharmic teachings today, as would doing your duties conscientiously and sincerely. And first and foremost, being the best person you could ever be; at work, at home, outside and everywhere else. (I have a feeling this awareness would considerably be eased if you read common misconceptions and contemporary lessons)

(I'm a mighty one to talk about all this
psychological banter, given that I myself yesterday confessed about my covert procrastinating streak.)

Ahem...
See ya tomorrow!
Princess

2 comments:

vishal said...

wazaa anuja?SO U ON..EARLY morning....n hws d traffic on f.c..yo!keep writing...n yeah..thnks fr d comments...n keep reading the gita...
stay cool angel
vishal

Princess said...

Oh ya, evenings at F.C. Road is a nightmare... It's as if the entire city is out on the street. And hey, look like everybody eats out on weekends. Every restaurant has "waiting"... Grrr...

By da way, I'm reading the MAHABHARATA... Not the Gita...

Thanks anyway. Chow!

Shadow

He looked at her like she was the air he breathed, Without, he would collapse.  He lived to see her smile, Her dimples, his prized possessio...