Epic Lessons

On the occasion of Diwali, Shubha Vilas dwells upon some takeaways from the Ramayana.

The most treasured memory of my childhood is associated with my grandmother. Every single night she would put me to sleep while narrating the Ramayana. The epic slowly cast a spell on me, so much so that I would keenly look forward to story time to hear what my grandmother would say about the characters and situations from the tale. I had probably heard the Ramayana a few hundred times, repeatedly over and over again. But every time I heard it afresh, the excitement only grew.

The initial seed sowed by my grandmother grew into a huge tree by the time I turned 30, as I delved into an intense study of the epic. I developed a desire to retell the epic in an authentic but modern way. In my six-volume series, Ramayana: The Game of Life, I have attempted a gripping narrative of the story, along with life lessons that can be inculcated from it. When the first book in the series became a bestseller, I silently thanked my grandmother and dedicated the second book to her. Who says the wisdom of a simple old woman cannot change the destiny of the next generation?

I would like to share six lessons I imbibed from the story that forms the backdrop of Diwali, the festival of lights. It’s unfortunate that most people choose to float on the ritual of the festival rather than delve into its essence. Most of us celebrate festivals with mechanical enthusiasm rather than essence-based awareness. The question shouldn’t be whether we enjoyed the festival, but whether we were uplifted by it.