Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Rich snobby guy + Poor innocent girl + Minor complications = Best seller!!!

"I think the tale of Shakuntala is highly overrated."
"But it was one of the most noted works in the history of Sanskrit literature. Not to mention the most famous poet/author of all time-Kalidasa."
"True. Still, I believe it is overrated. The story itself is a famous legend and here comes a guy who narrates in his perspective making the King look like a bad guy. Seriously, one would think King Dushyanta as a liar-who-got-a-girl-pregnant-and-walked-away-on-her."
"But that's exactly what he did!"
"That's exactly what Kalidasa said in his works. No one really knows what really happened thousands of years ago. There are bits and pieces of facts lying here and there in various sources. All he did was compiled it, edited it and drew an outline. Wherever there were blanks, he filled it with too many details of the lady, valor of king and nature and used a flowery language. If you ask me, it is must be the absolute commercial pulp fiction ever written. And the most popular plot for a story to boot."
"You can't really talk like this about the most famous and most read literature by any student in Sanskrit or any Indian Language. Calling it that????"
"The King is made to look like a loser and a spineless man who cannot accept the woman with whom he had an affair. Look at the era in which he ruled. Those were the days when kings stuck to their oaths and vows till the very end. And Dushyanta was no ordinary man. He was an emperor who ruled most parts of India that time. I believe there was more than that."
"But there is this curse on Shakuntala which made Dushyanta to forget all about her! That can’t be untrue."
"Maybe. But I believe he was more scared of a scandal."
"A scandal???"
"Think about it. We are talking about an age where Gods visited earth as often as we visit our backyard. And some mortals visited Gods' abode too. Dushyanta was a popular king. He was wise, just and treated his subjects fairly. Even history accounts for that. Also he was the future of Hastinapur. Men tend to make these kinds of guys as their role model. It’s just not this century where popular rock stars, politicians, dynamic businessmen are considered as role models. Those days the Kings, queens, soldiers, princes took that spot. And Dushyanata belonged to the most famous and oldest clan of monarchy with roots that dates back to some eons. The oldest among this clan were some Gods. The scandal could cost everything that was earned over the centuries. He knew that people could tolerate a tyrant king, an evil king or an unjust king. But he knew that things with his people would never be the same as he would have lost the credibility of his character if this ever came out. You can tolerate people looking at you with fear, awe or boredom with your eyes. But never an eye that is judging you. That’s why he didn’t accept Shakuntala when she visited him in the castle."
"It’s logical, but...."
"It’s not a literature material. People would not read it. They need something to talk about, grieve about, bitch about and in the end be happy about. Logical, analytical explanations wouldn't leave you wanting to read literature again. It would just be a simple story of a simple boy and a simple girl with usual complications of life."
"But you see a simple boy becomes a spineless coward because of his passion. The simple girl becomes the victim because of her innocence and vulnerability. And the usual complications of life become the turning point of the entire history. Shakuntala and Dushyanta's son was Bharata, the name our country carries. No matter what the reasons behind their actions were, Kalidasa kept their names alive even after so many millennia."
"So your point being...."
"He made a stupid story damn popular."

Posted by Sookie :: Tuesday, November 21, 2006 :: 5 Comments:

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