Precursory Note on Draupadi:
Draupadi was the daughter of king Drupad
reigning over Southern Panchal. Southern Panchal was a fictional territory and
different from the Vedic Age state of Panchal. Southern Panchal was situated in
present day Uttar Pradesh province of India, spanning from the Ganges in the
north to the Chambal River in the south, to the Nimsar forests in the east and
to Delhi (National Capital Territory), Haryana and Madhya Pradesh provinces to
the west.
Arjun, the third Pandav of Hastinapur,
(Hastinapur was situated around current Delhi region) won the archery
competition at Draupadi's swayambar. Swayambar is an event
attended by potential grooms invited by the bride's family and, often,
presented with a challenge of wit, wisdom and strength about weapons. In this
event the bride used to choose her mate from the invitees. The most preferable
choice used to be the winner of the challenge of swayambar.
Etymologically, swayambar is made of two roots, swayam meaning
self and bar meaning to accept.
Draupadi chose the winner Arjun, though, at that
time, Arjun and his two half-brothers, Yudhisthir and Bhim and twin
stepbrothers, Nakul and Sahadev were in exile along with his mother Kunti,
devoid of throne or territory under their reign, rather surviving on alms of mendicancy.
On Kunti's order Draupadi entered into a polyandrous relationship with all five
brothers, having Arjun and his half-brothers and stepbrothers for her five
husbands together, simultaneously. This instance of polyandry can be
interpreted either as liberation or as exploitation.
In a game of royal gambling Yudhisthir lost
Draupadi to his cousins, Kauravs, after losing his throne, his earthly
possessions, his brothers and himself. Duhshason, the second Kaurav, dragged
Draupadi to the royal court by her hair, from her resting chamber. In the court
they tried to forcibly take away Darupadi’s clothing, calling her a prostitute
for having five husbands instead of one. Lord Krishna, being Draupadi’s friend,
saved her honor by wrapping her continuously in clothing. Vyasdev, the poet of
the Mahabharat, described that Draupadi’s humiliation was extraordinary since
she was menstruating when this event of molestation by Duhshason occurred.
Draupadi kept her hair untied till Bhim tied
Draupadi’s hair with his own hands wet in Duhshason’s blood after Bhim avenged
Duhshason in the Kurukshetra war.
From: The Mahabharat
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Mother and Son
Mother was startled, “What!? Is there a dearth of girls in your
college?”
He winked, “None’s willing to play Draupadi. They don’t support
the event of vastraharan. It’s an epic example of molestation of a woman
in hands of in-laws.”
Mother interrupted, “Is that what you think?”
He quipped “Yes.”
Then he further explained, “Yet, unlike the girls in the college,
I don’t blame Vyasdev of misogyny. The ancient poet merely depicted his
contemporary society. The girls have hung posters about it and has been
marching all day protesting the Mahabharat and our play.”
Mother sighed; then, commented, “Overly politicized.”
Further she asked, “When is the play?”
He replied exuberantly, “Next week. Wednesday. That’s the
foundation day of college.”
Mother suggested, “I’d like to do your make-up”
He blushed, “Ma! I’m in college now. My friends will laugh at me.”
Mother bargained, “Can I come and watch the play?”
He agreed reluctantly.
Following days his mother kept on showing him all the sarees.
She begged him with each Silk and brocade saree, “Look at this. This one
will do. I know. What do you say?”
He made faces and said, “Nay.”
On one of these days, after some hour-long exercises with the sarees,
he confided, “Ma, your sarees are beautiful. But I don’t need them for
the time being. The foundation day play has been sponsored by the college
authority. So, we’ve rented wardrobe for all the actors.”
His mother quit the display in disappointment.
The whole weekend he remained busy at the rehearsal. Following
Monday was the day of the dress rehearsal. It was his opportunity to make Ma
happy. He borrowed a silk saree woven moderately with brocade. Ma became
elated. She always wanted to have a daughter. Her husband died when her son was
only five-month-old. She never had another child.
In a passion for raising a daughter, she used to dress her son
like girls sometimes, till he protested, after attending puberty, during his
entire adolescence. She used to be ecstatic thinking of her son meddling with her
lipsticks and sarees, though she never had any hint of her son
conflicting with the gender of his birth. She was proud of their mutually
transparent lives.
She was taken aback by the scene of her son suddenly trying her sarees,
probably due to prevailing debates about gender and sexuality. She, for a
zillionth of a second, surmised that her son might not be willing to see
himself as a male anymore and he might have been learning to become a woman.
After her son spoke about the drama to be held on the college
foundation day, her confusions waned away. Moreover, she felt happy that he had
been chosen to play Draupadi and she could see him as an adult female in
a fully public view.
During the dress rehearsal, the son’s look as a woman reminded the
mother of her youth. She loved her son wearing her saree, in make-up
borrowed from her. As the scene of vastraharan started, small brick bats
started to be flown to the stage. A group of females started shouting from a
dark unidentifiable corner of the hall, “Don’t touch her pallu.”
The stage manager appeared to be naturally persuasive. She begged
everyone to watch the complete show before opposing it. The protestors paid no
heed. In basaltic determination, they invigorated the ruckus. It appeared to
the mother that the protestors were beyond reason and, hence, were not capable
of relinquishing hitherto planned sequence of their activities.
Worried, Ma ran along the isles to rescue her son. Reaching
backstage, she found that a meeting was going on, about the safety and the
security of the performance and the performers on the foundation day of the
college. It zeroed upon putting requisition for enhanced police presence during
the show.
On the foundation day, she could not believe from the appearance
of Draupadi that it was her son. The play ended successfully amidst
applause and standing ovation for the performers. The son received an award for
his portrayal of Draupadi.
The mother returned home and readied her treat for the son. He was
about to return after attending the success party.
Yet, the night rolled gradually towards getting very late.
A phone call around midnight from a police station informed Ma
that her son was hospitalized. At the hospital mother found that her son was
raped reportedly by a group of vigilantes about protecting the sacredness of
the epic. All Ma found that her son was bleeding, enduring pain.
The son murmured in his final breath to his Ma, “The girls from the college avenged my audacity of being instrumental for enacting the epic molestation. They punished me for I, being a straight male, dared exhibiting a woman’s humiliation. Ma, all I tried was to live through Draupadi’s agony, to honor a woman’s resilience overcoming atrocities. I tried to celebrate spirit of Draupadi.”
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Word count: 820 (eight hundred twenty) words [including hyphenated words, else 826 (eight hundred twenty-six) words]
FCA
Ghostverse became congested. Ghostpedia reported the reason being a virus.
Anxious about its remnant family, Bhootiya searched Ghostverse neighborhoods. Its attempt to communicate with the Universe failed due to frequency and wavelength mismatch.
By this endeavor Bhootiya broke Ghostcode. It was ousted from Ghostverse and remained hung permanently at Nonverse.
It would have been easier
If I could stride
Along the tide
Hatred inside clenched fists
Voice syncing loud
With the vibes of the crowd
Marching along the streets
Yet I dare speak my mind
Though unheard
Mauled by the herd
Seeking revenge, unkind,
Unjust, parochial as congregation
Driven by a notional fad
Moving in a suicidal motion
Under a spell, in a trance
Of kinsmanship
In brinkmanship
In pursuit of harvesting chance.
Still I chose to stand alone, aside
Abiding by adversity
Withstanding atrocity
Refuting refuge in amassed cowardice.
You can call it my grave mistake
Yet I chose to fight
The current's aggregate might
Even putting my existence at stake.
*****Durga Puja is the autumn festival of West Bengal coinciding with Navratri festival of North India. Durga slayed Mahisasur and, hence, became a symbol of power and strength. Mahisasur was an ambitious asur, son of Rambha, an Asur king, from a buffalo. Mahisasur was tired and disgusted of being beaten by the Gods of heaven. He went through penance for Lord Brahma's blessings. Lord Brahma awarded Mahisasur that Mahisasur would never be defeated by any man or God. Empowered with Lord Brahma's boon, Mahisasur put humanity to his Asur clan's servitude and then he ransacked the heaven, dethorned Indra, king of the Gods and the heaven, ousted all Gods from the heaven to exile. Autocratic anarchy of Mahisasur made humans seek help from Gods who were rendered helpless themselves. Then, on Lord Brahma's counsel, Gods empowered Parvati, a woman, wife of Lord Shiv and the mother of Lord Shiv's four children, with their weapons and other objects. In a nine nightlong battle, Durga slayed Mahisasur and restored rule of law on the earth and the heaven.
Originally, Durga used to be worshiped during the spring. Seeking Durga's blessing, Sree Ramchandra of the epic Ramayan, worshiped Durga during autumn, before going to battle with Ravan. Since then Durga worship has been celebrated with grandeur during the autumn, instead of spring.
