The other day I finished my
dinner and I sat on the couch wanting to read something. My wife was flicking
channels in the television and she hit upon the famous epic Ramayan.
So, I decided to a spare a few minutes
to check out how they are narrating the good old Ramayan in today’s era. I wasn’t
surprised to note that what they showed on the television was so different from
what I had learnt about Ramayan as a kid. These guys showed new twists and
turns, new stories added with more drama and pomp. We can’t question the
authenticity of this version, as there have always been different versions of
the epic from time immemorial through different authors, languages and
narratives.
And soon, we got into a debate
touching upon the different versions of Ramayan.
One of the concepts which had totally
different connotations was on the topic of Kaikeyi.
And I decided to dig deeper. As
we all know and have heard famously or infamously – Kaikeyi, poisoned in the
mind by her accomplice Manthara - was instrumental in ousting the noble Ram to
the forest and that she demanded the throne for her son Bharat. So, she became the
initial villain in the story.
However, in every version of the
epic, it was always mentioned that Kaikeyi was the most charming and intelligent
of all the Queens of King Dasharat. She was known for her valor and had infact
saved the King’s life too in a war. She was known to be adept in astrology as
well. And she was the most fond of Ram and initially she was the most excited
when it was announced that Ram would be the Crown Prince.
So what changed and how did it
change?
I came across a very different
and an interesting version of the epic and point of view. It goes like this.
Kaikeyi with her prowess in
astrology was of the opinion that it was not the best time for Ram to be
coronated and that whoever would be the king at that time could have a threat
for his life. She felt Ram should be safe for the betterment of humanity for a
long time. And therefore she was ready to sacrifice her own son Bharat and so
she claimed that her son Bharat be named the crowned price. She also had the
vision that Ram had more important tasks to be fulfilled through his sojourn in
the jungles. She had apparently felt that if she had not enforced that veto
power of hers through her boon, her pleas wouldn’t be heard by the King
Dasharat. Rest is history.
Today, Kaikeyi is considered the
epitome of selfishness and vile. To the extent that her own fond son disowned
her!
The purpose of this note is not
to narrate a different take of the story. Nor is it to defend Kaikeyi. From the
above version, it appears that Kaikeyi’s intentions were noble and she had the
best intentions for Ram and the Kingdom and for mankind.
Yet the world branded her in the
totally opposite way.
Haven’t we all faced situations
where in we have felt that we are being misunderstood for something we have not
mentioned or intended. Haven’t we felt victimised in our own minds? If not us
directly, we know of some people who have been targeted for no fault of theirs
or have become a part of a larger collateral damage. And such situations are
quite common in the corporate arena where one person gets earmarked or becomes
a scapegoat.
Yeah, it’s all about perceptions.
There might be Kaikeyis amongst us in many forms. Perhaps they are for the
good.
