This generation's epic

I come from a generation that survived on the antics of Suppandi, Shikari Shambu, Kalia the Crow and of course Tantri the Mantri. These guys are the much loved characters from the Tinkle Comic series that would be delivered every fortnight to my house.

Along with this I used to get another comic called the Amar Chitra Katha. Not as popular as Tinkle, ACK was a far more enriching experience. Its stories were about mythology and history; they introduced children to great men and women who have had such a vast impact on our lives. They told folk tales and other such stories. But in my opinion the best thing they did was publish the Mahabharat. True, it was a highly abridged version (probably 10% of the real thing), but in comic form it was easy to read.

Thanks to this, as a child I had the pleasure of first reading the Mahabharat; the greatest narration ever written. I don’t know too many people who have read even this abridged version. I find this sad, because this epic holds within it’s words lessons and truths of life that no philosopher could teach. It speaks of dharma – not religion but the way of life.

I remained fascinated with it all my life. As I grew older Doordarshan started showing the Ramayan on TV. Sadly I didn’t follow it. But when they started showing the Mahabharat, you couldn’t pry me away from the TV for anything.

Then a few months ago my father introduced me to a writer (Ashok Banker) who has re-written the Ramayan. I am finally getting a chance to know the story of a human, a prince, a son, a brother, a husband who is now, many millennia later, considered a God.

What’s wonderful is that it is not a one-sided perspective. It is un-biased and refreshing. The language is simple yet eloquent and the flow is smooth.

Dad read the first book and promptly went out and bought the remaining 3 available. When I got my hands on them, I went through all four in a matter of 8 days. Book 5 is finally available in India and I have been reading it the last few days. I just finished it actually! Now the wait for book 6! Part of me wishes I had waited so that I could have read them all together back to back as a whole.

I have a few friends who share my love for reading. So it is natural when they ask me “what you reading?” Suffice to say, most of them were surprised when I mentioned the Ramayan. In spite of being so impressed with the books I didn’t recommend these books to anybody. I frankly never imagined that these friends, some who are much younger than me, would really be interested.

I did give book 1 to a friend who trusts my judgment impeccably where books are concerned. Imagine my pleasure when he called and said he had finished it and wanted to borrow book 2.

A few weeks ago another friend came over to borrow something to read, and asked me about book 1. He was intrigued because of my praising. And then 2 days ago, another friend called me to ask if he could borrow it. I am amazed and thrilled! I know that my interests have always been varied enough for me to enjoy many things. But I didn’t expect this from my friends.

What makes today’s youth get interested in reading historical epics? These aren’t your every day action books, they aren’t love stories, there are no international conspiracies; in fact there is nothing in them that falls into the mould of a best seller.

It seems that this generation isn’t as shallow as one imagined. We are open to the values that these epics remind us of. We are curious to read tales of those we have been taught to revere. And it took the skillful way these books are written to allow this opportunity. If only history was taught like this in school, I am sure we would have all benefited.

FYI… Mr. Banker is now working on a rendition of the Mahabharat. I can’t wait!