Being She – The decided-not-to-see side of Sita

Sita – A name derived from Sanskrit word meaning “furrow” (a trench in ground by a plow) was given by King Janaka who found Sita as a baby while ploughing land for yagam and decided to adopt her. Hence Sita is considered to be child of the Mother Earth (Bhuma Devi).

Now, if we ask our friends to choose between Rama/Krishna, Sita/Radha, I believe that most of the people will choose Krishna over Rama and Radha over Sita. The reasons are obvious as Ramayana being the tale of misery and all we know was Rama suffered with Sita during exile. Happened in Treta Yuga, Rama being the Maryadha Purushan, who followed the rules perfectly, suffered silently at many points in his life. Following rules is very difficult and we all will accept nodding our head. Now being wife of a rule follower, imagine how difficult that would be.

Sita was not an ordinary woman. Janaka raised her to have independent thoughts and self responsible for her life. Some say that she even killed a demon with thousand heads during her early life. But then why did not she kill Ravana? Why did she live so faithful to Rama even after so many sufferings? Why was she ready to burn herself to prove? Why did she deny returning to the kingdom?  Why did she silently survive everything when all Rama could do was follow rules?

Because Sita was the child of Mother Earth, a symbol of patience and tolerance. If she was able to kill a demon she could have easily slayed Ravana all by herself. Instead she decided to let Rama do his role. (Same with Hanuman, who decided not to kill Ravana hence burnt the city)She let him be the dutiful ideal Son. She let him be the people serving ideal King. She let him be the faithful ideal Husband. And she let him be the God himself. She downplayed herself to establish Rama as God. 

But we decided not to see this side of hers. A woman who killed a demon, followed her dharma, endured the sufferings in Ayodhya, declined to return as Queen, raised her kids alone in forest can never be considered a weak, dependant, always-crying-for-help and wanna-be-saved woman. She was not a victim. She was not a person who was rescued. She was not a person who blindly followed her husband. Sita was a person full of love, knowledge and persistence. She demonstrated love, care and affection during her days with Rama. She demonstrated strength, endurance and tolerance during her exile and abduction. She demonstrated the pleasure of motherhood even as a single woman. 

All this was possible because it was a matter of choice. 

There is never a better measure of what a person is than what he does when he's absolutely free to choose. - William M. Bulger

No law stated that Sita should not save herself. No law stated that she should abide by Rama at that point of Yuga where women enjoyed free will to some extent. She decided to make Rama, the ideal Rama, because of her love towards him. And Rama did not demand this from Sita. He earned this love and respect from her. It’s a story of this beautiful relationship which Rama and Sita shares. Sita made the Ideal Rama. Rama respected the invaluable Sita. Hence they both lived faithfully. It was not a matter of law but a matter of choice. 

Finally Sita tells that

- By nature, a woman is very much capable of taking care of herself and her family. 

- Love is not a matter of law but is a matter of choice.

References:

http://devdutt.com/articles/indian-mythology/female-as-alpha.html

Jonathan Livingston Seagull

First, to know something about seagulls, they move around in flocks and their purpose is live to eat and stay alive. They don’t bother about flying and the only reason they fly is to eat.

This is the story of a seagull named Jonathan Livingston written by Richard Bach. As mentioned, a seagull’s point in life is simple, Collect Food and Nothing else. Any other activity is considered wrong and out of ordinary by them. But Jonathan is not content with this. He does not comprehend on why they would limit themselves to one activity. So very much against the wish of this parents and his flock, he spends his day practicing his passion, the art of flying. 

The important point, Richard states is that, Jonathan doesn’t do this to create havoc or grief to others or to cause a rebellion. He just does it because he loves to do it and it makes him happy. He loves to fly and loves to gain more knowledge and learn more than just gathering food. But still he doesn’t understand why he should not do something he loves to do.

The book is broken into three parts, starts where he gets frustrated by the conformity and starts enjoying the pure joy in flying and also the learning he gets with those heights. He realizes that conformity is not the way to live a life. Also struggles in not being able to share these revelations to his flock. Then he reaches a more spiritual plane where he joins some other enlightened seagulls. There he strives towards becoming perfect and learns how to love. Finally he returns to the flock and shares his insights and encourages other gulls. 

You have the freedom to be yourself, your true self, here and nothing can stand in your way.

Throughout his journey, he learns to be his true self, follow his passion, ignore what other people think about it and also love and forgive others. He learns that he must strive for perfection in his passion and that is the reason for our living.

It’s a deceptively simple story with many interpretations for different levels of readers. Richard Bach conveys the crux through this story in a clear, simple and brief manner. The world won't be beautiful if everything is painted in grey. It makes us wonder the great people who lived beyond our dreams and also wonder about the limitless human potential. It’s a recommended book for everyone, but if one is pondering about deep-inside passion and wondering about big changes in life, this book definitely gives the confidence needed.