yet again ... getting lost ... then enjoying self-discovery ...

A young friend at school gave a wonderful parting gift,  As a project he had to talk with an adult, ask her / him to tell a story from her / his life, and write it down, like a book, with illustrations and all,  When he approached me I wondered for a bit on what to talk about - a story that would be a interesting for him as well, I needed to stay away from complicating and ensure that it enthused him enough to write about it,    Initially my mind wandered to my days in Agraa and Baghmara, but then I settled for time in Banaras, the Ramleela,  We talked a few times, it was fun to engage with him on the event, (locally referred to as the mela, the Ramleela at  Ramnagar  takes place over a month and at different spots across Ramnagar, there is no use  of electricity despite the large numbers it attracts),  It is special for me for multiple reasons, but it is a also kind of event he has never been a part of, this made our interactions all th...

As Babri threatens to raise its ugly head again and  Sabrimala threatens to be another Babri -  -   Few weeks ago the Babri Masjid was again in the news; action at the Supreme Court. At the same time many parts of our country were celebrating Ramleela. Some of us fought in the court over his birth place while many celebrated his life. Not many appeared to have made the connection. The legal aspect has been discussed enough. Let us try to look at the Ramleela beyond the clichéd images of joy at burning a large figure bearing ten heads and the loud news channels. The images, like most which is clichéd, did not do justice to the Ramleela while the television appeared to have an aversion to a lot that is positive. First the books. Ramleela is primarily based on Tulsidas’ Ramcharit Manas an epic referred to by British scholars and administrators as the ‘ defining work of Indian culture ’. Philip Lutgendorf in the introduction to his translatio...

Title: Ramnagar Kit Ramleela - How Ramcharitmanas is brought to life at one of the oldest ‘melas’in Varanasi Published : First Post on 13th November, 2018, here .  Thanks: Team at FirstPost and of course friends and colleagues for joining on the trips. Ram, Lakshman and Shatrughan are not well. They have suffered from diarrhoea and are admitted to a hospital – the newspaper reported. The lines referred to the actors playing the trio in Ramleela and were part of a daily column being run for the entire duration of the event. Yes, we are talking about the Ramleela at Ramnagar, Varanasi which goes on for about a month and one which till today takes help of neither the tube lights and bulbs nor audio systems. This was only the 4 th occasion in its 183 year history that the Ramleela took a break. Ram falling sick on account of polluted water might as well be a statement on our times and place, but for now, let us have a look at the past.   Legend has it that the ...