Just completed reading Asura by Anand Neelakantan, an interesting tale on Ravana’s perspective of the Ramayana epic. Ravana’s tale was all the more interesting to me as I’ve already reminisced about the near complete absence of this great King of Lanka in the Sri Lankan history. Devouring 500 pages in 4 days transmogrified me to much younger days, when I used to borrow many a novel from my uncle, who was a member of the prestigious Victoria Edward Hall library in my hometown. I had to finish the books quickly so that he can return them and borrow new ones, which in turn I could borrow (is that borrow2 or 2borrow!). Worked very well for me as those books and a weekly dose of Hollywood flicks shaped my linguistic and communication skills better than what was taught in school and college (I did have fantastic English and Tamil teachers, btw). Sadly, the focus of schools and colleges pretty much remains on studying and not learning, even today!
While writing the review of the book (read Swamy’s review of Asura here), my mind wandered off (just doing its job, that’s all), introspecting human nature and Life (my favorite subject of all time) as we know and live. And I ended up concluding that each one of us are part Asura and part Deva, irrespective of whether we like this hard hitting fact or not (which is the case with all hard hitting facts anyway). Interestingly, the thespian Kamal Haasan tried emphasizing the same thing in more than one of his movies like Thevar Magan (my favorite, not just for Kamal’s stellar transformational performance but also the great Sivaji Ganesan’s first and probably only opportunity to showcase his real acting prowess – ah man, what have the directors denied us all along!), Nayagan (fan favorite, Wow, what a performance!), Anbe Sivam (critics’ favorite – hard to believe it was directed by Sundar C!) and Aalavandan (everybody’s joke, despite his awesome take on playing the villain, which his other avatar as Director messed up big time). Well, before we transcend to the suspended reality of mythology and movies, let’s spend some time on dissecting the AsuraDeva mix of genes in us.
When the seed is sown, every one of them has the same, if not equal, chance to grow into something valuable, purposeful and memorable. The eternal rule remains the same for Flora, Fauna, Humans or the multitude of other beings whose existence we don’t even know about or incapable of perceiving in the realms beyond the physical.
Each flora seed can grow into a plant blossoming with vibrant flowers in myriad colors, attracting honeybees and butterflies that get drunk on pure honey and romance them for an endless supply of that elixir. In return, they also help seed more plants through pollination. Some seeds grow into plants that bear grains, fruits and vegetables, which other creatures consume for their survival. And a few other seeds grow into magnificent trees offering shelter to birds and other tree living creatures and shade to humans and other land beings.
The Gardener who shaped and nurtured the flora certainly has taste. And patience. But humans, needless to say, have neither. We will pluck the flowers from the plant and make garlands out of them to decorate our hair or favorite deity, as a daily offering along with Camphor, Sambrani and Agarbatti. How many times have we restrained ourselves from plucking them and spent time instead marveling at their vibrant colors, intricate shapes and delicate texture? While animals take only what they need from plants, we try to make them produce more by dumping chemical fertilizers because we always want more of everything. A lot more than what we really need. We also promptly saw the huge trees off to craft furniture, carve musical instruments and build houses!
Each fauna seed can emerge into a marvelous creature that’ll coexist peacefully with Mother Nature, living Life the way it is. From the mighty Lion to the exceptionally fast Cheetah to the chirpy Sparrow to the gentle giant Elephant to the mammoth Whale to the slippery Seal to the magnificent Peacock to the slithery Snake to the busy Ants to the majestic Eagle to the chatty Parrot to the cheerful Squirrel to the clever Crow to the agile Ape (oh, we’ve lost all that agility in the name of evolution brother) to the mesmerizing Cobra to the friendly Dog to the curious Cat to the spirited Rabbit to the motherly Cow and a million other known and unknown species, they all play the Game of Life by the law of Nature and go through the 3 stage cycle without needing a 5-Why analysis on Living Life!
Enter the all knowing all conquering human and instantly their absurdity of existence comes to the fore. Lions and Cheetahs are caged in zoos (a treatment meted out to convicted human criminals); Sparrows are chased away by towering skyscrapers and cellular transmission towers (all they need is a tiny box or hole); Elephants are chained in temples and murdered for their tusks (how would it feel when someone plucks out our gleaming white teeth for decoration); Whales and Seals are either hunted mercilessly or haunted by the slimy and lethal deposits dumped into their abode, the ocean; Peacocks are defeathered to be used as decoration (will we ever hang our hair and nails on the wall!); Apes are cut open or injected with chemicals in the name of evolution research (we’ve evolved into something monstrous that they’ll never want to be!); Cobras are captured repeatedly for extracting venom or beaten to death (how does one pray to yet kill the same thing!); Dogs are stoned and chased away or instructed to behave and win contests for their proud owners (which is the same we do with our children as well); Cats are associated with bad omen (bah, humbug!) and will be lucky to have even the 2nd of their 9 lives; Cows are milked and then slaughtered for meat (hard to imagine even the hard core criminal among the beef lovers having cannibalistic tendencies towards their mothers!). And invariably all fauna are cooked and eaten, by humans the world over!
The Creator who has given shape to the fauna from the endless beginning would never have imagined how his magnificent creations would someday end up as toys or playthings in the hands of his most puny and meek creation, that is truly, madly, deeply, hell bent on proclaiming that the only business of belief left is the mindless destruction of nature and it’s way of Life, which sadly is the polar opposite of how Life is supposed to be!
And do we even have to get started on ourselves? The less said the better, for obvious reasons. Right from (pro)creation, we want to live Life on our terms, i.e., the way we want to live and not the way it is meant to be. Children are selected and given birth (boys outnumber girls, despite the well known fact that only women can give birth, still) at the time of our choice (the birth star and sun or moon sign is critical for their success in Life – some idiots even go for fancy dates such as 11-11-11 or the up and coming 12-12-12, supposedly our judgment day and also happens to be the birthday of a Superstar, which is no different from getting a fancy number plate for their car by paying a premium). They’re enrolled in premier educational institutions (which is one of the most thriving businesses, in case you finally realize that your monochromatic job sucks and look for an alternate career) that are totally focused on the output (100% pass) than outcome (inherently good, intelligent citizens who can raise the standard of living for all – including themselves – and make this once great planet great again). They’re advised to pursue multiple co/extra-curricular activities that’ll improve their earning capacity or popularity (irrespective of whether the child actually has a natural affinity or aptitude for any of them). If they manage to grow up and find their footing in this planet despite all this nonsense, their natural attraction to the opposite sex will be opposed vehemently by the so called elders, citing social and economical status. And if and when they’re finally married and start their own family and mind their own business, the whole vicious cycle starts repeating itself for the next generation.
We don’t fare any better when it comes to stepping beyond ourselves as individuals and looking at how we are in the larger context of society or nation or planet or universe (merely imagining our existence at that magnitude will result in the Zen moment of realizing our insignificance in Nature’s scale and scheme). We compete, compare, consume, loot, rape, kill, dump waste, wage war, insult, grow jealous, get angry, curse, scream, cry, wallow in sorrow, complain, point fingers, fail to accept failure, crave for more, celebrate success than contribution, ignore wisdom while trying to acquire knowledge, don’t care or share, pity ourselves rather than believing in the self and live forever in darkness while light is just a window or doorway away and not at the end of the tunnel as it always presumed to be. All it takes is lifting the veil of the ignorance curtain to let the light of Life in, but since we’ve been taught ‘Ignorance is Bliss’, how would we even strive to know what true bliss is! Unfortunately, we never really understood the true meaning of simple but profound quotes such as ‘Old is Gold’! In reality, Gray hair doesn’t necessarily assure wisdom, for our choice is always to react and not re-act in Life!
Our biggest – and probably only – problem is that, despite having mountains of literature and mines full of scriptures that tell us in black and white about Life the way it is, we won’t listen! We are so focused on winning at all costs by driving our Life on the fast lane in the expressway to excellence that we’ve totally forgotten that Life on the slow lane is far more joyful, and can also help us realize that the Journey is the Destination and Joy Drops from exhilaration are far more valuable than tear drops from exhaustion. Our skulls are so thick and ego so swollen that we won’t spend even a single quiet moment to comprehend what many a Yogi, Guru, Mystic, Spiritual Master and Philosopher have tried telling us about Life, from time immemorial. They keep trying till this moment however, but we keep following them blindly without really listening to their message!
Human neither understands FINE isn’t Fine, nor knows that when Life recycles Time, the Present becomes the Past in the Future! And No, we can’t go on like this forever and still expect to evolve further. I realized the folly just in time before joining the ranks of the Forty+ fools and chose to communicate about the most precious four letter word – Life, the way it is – as often as I can, to open wide as many eyes I could, to the possibility Life offers to all, without any discrimination or disproportion. And my Master’s grace is the guiding light in this second – hopefully better – half of my Life journey, in which I write, therefore I am.
Our survival in the long run is so bleak that I would say we’ve about an 80-20 chance – Eighty for self-destruction and Twenty for self-realization! Wish you will listen and change for the better now, before it is too late. If we steadfastly refuse to change our ways even now – despite harsh reminders from nature in the form of a tantalizing Tsunami or rapidly melting Polar ice or even an uncontrollable Contagion – the difference of 11 and 12 won’t be 13, but zero. Even the cup-is-eternally-half-full compulsive optimist in me wouldn’t give us a chance of Fifty 50!
Love + Gratitude = @PrakashSwamy
Be Joyful & Spread the Cheer!
Swamystery 
//hard to believe it was directed by Sundar C// I read somewhere that some parts of the movie was directed by Priyadharshan.. and then he was later replaced by Sundar C.. all the four movies u have quoted are my fav.. and Anbe SIvam is the pick of the lot 🙂
THough i am fervent non vegetrian, i found it difficult to read thru the para where u had described animal slaughters 😦
//for our choice is always to react and not re-act in Life!// Loved these lines 🙂
//Eighty for self-destruction and Twenty for self-realization// True !!
Intriguing post Prakash.. made me think and take a look second look at the way i am leading my life.. Thanks for being the Gardener
Happy Day Prakash.. great insights.. studying vs learning – coudlnt agree more – of late monetessori method of education is trying to change that a bit- Macaulay method and our current system has made folks chase marks and education lost its sheen.