The MindSalsa

INDIA’S PROUD HERITAGE. BHARATA, AN EPITOME OF BROTHERLY LOYALTY. PART 1 KAIKEYI’S SCHEMING. Bharata, one of Sri Rama’s younger brothers, occupies a special position in Indian hearts and in the Indian Epic Ramayana. He was a person on whom greatness was thrust, so to say, by the machinations of his ambitious mother, Kaikeyi, but chose righteousness and brotherly love over personal ambition. As many amongst us know, as per the holy epic Ramayana, Bharata was the son of Kaikeyi... Youngest among three wives that the great King of Ayodhya (called Oudh at that time) Dasarath had. Sri Rama, son of Rajmata (Crown Queen) Kausalya was the eldest, Lakshman and Shatrugnan were the twin sons of the second wife, Sumitra. When Sri Rama, the eldest son and rightful ascendant to the throne of the ageing Dasaratha, came to Ayodhya with his lovely wife, Sita, the overjoyed king announced Rama as the heir to his throne and even announced the day of coronation. Needless to say, this wonderful

THE POWERFUL,POIGNANT STORY OF KANNAGI THE AWESOME FURY OF A WOMAN WRONGED. There is an old saying in English that “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” In the epic Indian story that follows, the protagonist is not scorned, but much worse- She suffers a terrible personal loss due to gross injustice meted out by a powerful Pandian king of the ancient Tamil kingdom whose capital was Madurai. This is an epic story about a chaste Tamil woman named Kannagi who wreaked revenge on a powerful king and the capital of his kingdom for unjustly executing her innocent husband. The entire city of Madurai had to pay dearly for the terrible mistake of their king. Kannagi features as the protagonist in a Tamil epic by name ‘Silappadhikaram’. The title implies that this is a story involving a ‘Chilambu’ or anklet. Kannagi, a lovely woman, is wedded to Kovalan, who is the son of a rich man. The couple lives happily in a town called Kaveripattinam, till a new woman named Madhavi enter

. HOW A DACOIT TRANSFORMED INTO A SAGE POET. PART 2… THE TRANSFORMATION OF DAKU RATNAKAR INTO SAGE VALMIKI. In part 1 of the amazing life story of Ratnakar, we saw him meeting the divine Sage Narada in the forest. Due to his dacoit tendencies and his sinful actions, he is unable to see the divinity in this sage and considers him as merely another Brahmin on his way through the forest. The nonchalance exhibited by the gentle looking sage irks this dangerous daku as he is used to victims groveling before him in terror, pleading that their lives be spared. When Ratnakar tried to frighten Narada, the sage merely smiled and asked him why he was accumulating this negative karma by indulging in looting and violence. Ratnakar is confused and irritated initially by this unusual query by the great personage. Ratnakar, however impatiently explained that he was doing all this for feeding his family. It was then that the Divine Sage smiled kindly at Ratnakar and asked him whether his fami

HOW A DACOIT TRANSFORMED INTO A SAGE POET. PART 1… RATNAKAR MEETS NARADA. Sage Valmiki is considered the foremost and the most ancient among the sage poets of ancient India. The venerable sage is best known for his immortal epic poem in Sanskrit, ‘Ramayanam’ consisting of 24000 verses, which gave the world the story of the Divine Avatar, Sri Rama. He is also known for, ‘The Yoga Vasishta’ which is a great philosophical work. However Valmiki had a very different life before he became a sage poet. Though born as Ratnakar to a sage called Prachatasa, he was lost in the jungle and later was rescued by a hunter who brought him up lovingly and trained him to be a hunter. Hunter Ratnakar later got married into a hunter family and sired quite a few children. But since Ratnakar found it difficult to sustain his family with his meager income, he soon fell into bad company and became a dacoit ( daku in Hindi). He started amassing ill-gotten wealth by waylaying and looting hapless travel

"How dare you!" thunders Greta Thunberg, addressing the monarchs of the nations. The roar of the teenage lioness is sadly lost in the loud din made by the powerful world leaders in their ritualistic, lip service meetings. While the assemblage of the mighty continue their usual babble about GDPs, trade deficits, economy, sanctions und so weiter, an angry Santa Claus is sending gifts of catastrophic climate attacks on humanity to drive some sense into them. The massive horse carriage carrying helpless humanity relentlessly to the very edge of the most dangerous precipice is occupied by us all. The blinkered horses are driven at racing speeds by the irresponsible powers that be, prodded on with whips of naked greed. Though the climate experts and many in the younger generation like Greta wail out in agony, it is heeded not by the people who need, emergently, to hear. The black forbidding abyss is near, very close. Once the galloping horses approach this dark hell, the

Thousands upon thousands of species Have sprung forth over time unknown, From the fertile uterus of the Creator Mother Enriching the jungles and oceans of Earth. But never indeed was the Mother so proud Of the myriads and varieties of Her Creation As of the two legged one that came forth In Her Union with the Creator Father. Though weaker on legs than most creations, And lacking the astute senses of many others, This one, the amazing creation called Man Overcame all disadvantages with his brain. As the Creators watched in awe and pride, Man surpassed even Their wildest dreams, Using his greatest gift- his unique intelligence To establish himself as the most powerful . Alas, Their pride soon turns into shame, They watch in shock and desperation As man displays a callous lack of respect, For his Creators and fellow creations. They look on in horror as man, with impunity And a stupidity unworthy of his benediction, Is hell bent on destroying his own environm

Mother Earth, the La Belle de Celeste was in a hurry. The Celestial Court was to convene an urgent session. Her loyal generals three, who had never asked for anything before, had requested Her Highness, Mother Earth, to convene this session. Though it was an extraordinary request, coming from Her mighty generals, the Mother knew what it was about. But She also knew She had to acquiesce, as Noblesse Oblige. Thus Her Royal Majesty, La Belle de Earth glided gracefully in, clad in flowing green robes and adorned by a rainbow. After She occupied Her Throne, She clapped Her elegant brown hands and said, “Summon them now." The three powerful Celestial Generals walked in, Agni the Fire, Vayu the Air and Varun the Water. They bowed to Her Highness and were guided to their seats after Mother Earth smiled in acknowledgement. “So what's troubling you three powerful gentlemen that you wanted to see me so urgently " " It's alas about your most favorit