A word before reading this short story: Thi.Janaki Raman has taken poetic licence in this short story to recreate an imagination to explain the reason behind the curse on Ravanan why he would not touch women without their consent. Those who know Ramayana might understand what it is. He abducted Sita along with the land (as per the version of Kamba Ramayana) where she was standing, without touching her. Till his death he did not touch her. Interpretations could be many. The reason creatively imagined in this short story is logical and beautiful.
……
Ravanan’s
Love (ராவணன் காதல்)
'Is it a lightning?'
The lightning flashed amidst the clouds thickly gathered in
folds.
'Is it lightning? Lightning in the white clouds?' Ravanan looked at him intently.
The lightning was coming by walk—she was a woman. Her body
was shining like a conflagration of lights. The green sari illuminated with the
velvetiness and pastiness of a tender stalk was fluttering untidily. She was
walking, not being able to adjust it. No eyes of space of emptiness! No more
life! No need to feel ashamed.
Ravanan looked at her astonishingly with his eyes wide open.
It was looking like a fully blossomed coral jasmine walking. Enviably taller,
well-toned shoulders; it seemed that the hem of her sari would slither down
from the shoulders, descending her neck.
Her height only arrested his attention first. Not only her
height! ...All parts of her body were developed proportionately to her height.
He intently gazed at her from head to toe. Curls of her locks, slide of her
shoulder, curve of her eyes, bend of her elbow, arch of her back, twirl of her
waist, softness of her knees, and slide of her high heels—it was a body made of
slides, twirls, and softness. The Creator made her with all the known curves
and tenderness available in the bright materials. For Ravanan, she appeared
like a manifestation of God’s best possible imagination, an embodiment of femininity.
She was an ultimate attempt of God who tried to recreate beauty. As far as
beauty was concerned, her build seemed to be the final word for Ravanan. Her
beauty seemed to be an unattainable feeling indescribable in words, just like
the truth, which is beyond even the tenets of the Vedas.
Stunned, stood the king of Sri Lanka, looking at her fully
gifted body.
Her appearance even fit the word used to describe a
well-built male.
Her well-grown and lustrous body evoked a suspicion whether
she belonged to the breed of Asura. But her body was shining with light and
radiance of crystals. Her appearance with the dominant divine daintiness among
the Five Elements could be found only in Apsaras.
Ravanan was spellbound.
'She is meant only for the bravest. She is meant only for the
one who is courageous, high-spirited, and an embodiment of masculinity'.
Ravanan reassessed his appearance once more through the
mirror of his mind. He saw his hill-like body. He saw his courage, which cowed
the Devas. He saw his divine lustre attained through the unrelenting penance,
which brought him the control of the Three Worlds.
The next moment, his majestic bulk obstructed her way. She
got frightened.
“Be not afraid, who are you? “
“..........................”
“Be not afraid; tell me. Who are you?”
“Punjigasthalai”
“Are you an Apsara?”
“Yes.”
“Hadn’t Brahma created any other beauty after he created
you?”
“Who are you?”
“Who am I! Who else can have the power of penance to roam
around this space of the universe with his earthly body, except Ravanan?”
“Oh...you are the King of Sri Lanka!”
“King of Three Worlds... Why do you run? Stop there. For what
do you run? What is the use of running anyway?”
There was no use in running anyway. She stopped. He looked at
her eyebrows raised due to fear, frightful eyes, and palms holding each other.
Curved and shaped Hands, long and sharp fingers, a row of
narrowing nails showering sparkles—Ravanan came closer.
“Where are you going?”
“To Brahma.”
“Why? To see whether he has created yet another beauty like
you? Do not worry. All his talent has come to an end with you.”
“I got to go.”
“Why are you so frightened? You carry an appearance and build
of a courageous lady, and this fear does not suit you.”
“I got to go.”
“Why?”
“I am on my way to pay my respects to Brahma. Leave me
now.”
“Are you going to pay respect to him? Or he is going to pay
respects to you?”
“What insane are you speaking?” The words of an ordinary
lecher have given her this courage.
“Do we not taste the grapes cultivated by us? Do we not eat
food cooked by us? We do not put them aside by not tasting them just because
they are our creation.”
“This abundance of absurdity comes out of Ravaneswaran’s
mouth? Doesn't it” ?
It was true anyway. He did not speak all these with his
sense. He was standing, inebriated, in front of her, looking at the curvature
of her ankle. The body was under fire. Eyes got dull with lust. Sense became
senseless.
“I do agree that my sense has got rotten. What should I
do?”
“Please leave me now.”
“I stopped you just to leave you or what?— It seems that I
won’t be able to leave you even if I like. How was it possible to blend both
these softness and roughness together? Brahma, the Great, is indeed a conjuror.
“Is it possible to blend gold and flower? But such an impossible task of art
has become possible in your parts. This riddle still perplexes me.”
His eyes pierced her like an arrow. She pulled the hem and
covered her breasts.
“Why are you troubling me when I am on my way to conducting
puja?”
“Do you really have to go?”
“Yes.”
“You have taken me in your control. My love is tangling now
without any support.”
“It sounds silly.”
“What.”
“Your love has become a fully grown plant from seed and
sprouted in no time?”
“I understand what you say. You say love is the similarity
and unification of minds.”
“For two hearts to understand each other, they need time.
Otherwise there is no meaning in the word ‘love.’”
“It sounds amusing.”
“What?”
“If love is the similarity of minds, I can love my brother
Kumbakarnan, who is always snoring. There will be no need for only men and
women to fall in love with each other. Has Brahma created men and women just
for this similarity of minds?”
“How can a man and a woman live together if they don’t like
each other?”
“Even if they love, why should they live together? A man and
a woman should only live together, or what? It is the carnal desire that binds
men and women and makes them lovers. If love is not about the body, the
distinction between male and female should not have been made. Brahma would
have gotten satisfied after creating a sexless being by combining the body with
life. Then what is the necessity of your feminine grace, elongated ascending
eyes, beautiful body with curves and slides, striking nostrils, broad chest of
men, well-built shoulders, and courageous appearance? In order to fall in love
with a beautiful body, which is beyond words and can only be felt, you don’t
require time.” After seeing your beauty, I am besotted. If so, are
introduction, friendship, and time essential to falling in love?”
“Your licentious words pierce my ears. I have not fallen for
you. Leave me.”
“My lust has got its leash of life. My intentions have to be
fulfilled.”
“My intentions only have to be fulfilled. My hatred should
only be justified.”
“Everyone won’t get their intentions fulfilled.” She started
running. But the hands that conquered the Devas got hold of her hands. The next
moment, the emptiness of space became her only dress. Her fully blossomed,
beautiful, lengthy body, which looked like a rare breed of horse, was lying on
his hands. Her endless beauty had brought him down. For him, even the
resistance offered by her body seemed to be a beauty resembling rain and storm.
She wriggled as if she had fallen into the fire. The courage that once won the
three worlds had won her now.
Punjigasthalai went to Brahma and cried helplessly. Ravanan
was standing in front of Brahma like a criminal. But not with the bowing head. Even
if I am broken into two pieces, let it be. But never bow my head in front of
anyone—his natural sense of arrogance ruled him.
“Grandpa, why did you call me?”
“Performance of penance is something beyond the capability of
ordinary mortals. The penance you performed was the best among the penances. By
performing penance amidst five types of fire, you have acquired all the rare
powers. You have got control of all three worlds. I called you as I was
immensely sad after hearing that the senses of this kind of unparalleled saint
had gotten rotten.”
“My senses have not gotten bad!”
“You could show your courage you gained through the
impossible penance only to a poor lady. Is it?”
“Is it related to Punjigasthalai?”
“Yes.”
“Why have you created Apsaras? Is it just to entertain
Devas?”
“Only for Devas.”
“Why so?”
“They have become Devas due to their good deeds.”
“So this pleasure is the only gift for their good deeds. I
have become the God of Three Worlds due to the power of my penance. Hence, I
too have rights over her. If considered in the right manner, I can only own
her. These Devas are eunuchs. Brave blokes who just run away with fear and
their dresses coming out once they see me! People of Indra who have become “Nabumsagan.”
They are here to prove the proverb “subjects are just like their king.”
For these kinds of men, will the absence of Apsaras be a matter to be worried
about?”
“I didn’t call you upon here to hear your opinion about
Devas. Is it true that you molested her?”
“Yes. It is true.”
“Why did you do this disgraceful act?”
“For why? What kind of question is this?” Is it not a highly
laughable question? Moreover, was it a disgraceful act or what?”
“Is what you had done not a disgraceful act?”
“How could it be a disgrace, Grandpa? The unparalleled beauty
of Punjigasthalai has shown me what ecstasy is. It enslaved the bravest of the
brave. Is it not a resolute proof of the heights your art of creation has
attained?”
“Is it the way a saint-like person behaves?”
“What could my penance do in this case? Penance offers power
and strengthens masculinity. Can it stop the mind or what?”
“Was it not true that Punjigasthalai did not love you?”
“I loved her. The beauty of this whole universe has descended
upon her body. I was smitten by it. It is true that I molested her. But how
could you say that it is wrong?”
“Was it not wrong? Do you say it is the right act?”
“Based on which justification do you conclude it is wrong? I
simply could not understand. What I have done is a simple natural act of
instinct. The way I got infatuated with her beauty was completely natural. It
was an obsession not owned by me at all. It was the temptation of the beauty
itself. According to the rule of nature, it was a right act anyway.”
“Is even possessing her against her wishes also a right
act?”
“Grandpa, beauty is created to feel it. It cannot be given to
Devas alone. Beauty is common to every living organism. As far as
Punjigasthalai is concerned, I too have the same right that Devas have. If you
think that what I had done is wrong, you should have given me the power
simultaneously to control my mind from falling for the beauty you created.”
“So is it my mistake that I created her?”
“Almost true...you are responsible for it. My penance did not
help me to control my mind. This trouble would not have occurred if I had not
been perturbed by the beauty beyond the power of my penance.
“How could your penance help you? Controlling the mind is not
the purpose of penance. Controlling the mind itself is penance. Standing
without disturbance for half a Nazhikai (unit of time) amidst all the
temptations is a thousand times bigger penance than standing amidst the five
types of fire. The way you justify your actions in the name of nature is
nothing but absurdity. Life has been given to you with the independent faculty
of discriminating good and bad. Conquering nature is the way of life.”
“But my penance did not help me in winning the nature.”
“Your penance belongs to an inferior quality.”
“But you have offered me the array of boons only for those
inferior quality of penances.”
“You are still standing at the place where you have started.
What is the use of talking about it again and again? If the creator gives
everything, then what else will remain for the created? Your misplaced sense
has made you argumentative. Animals will only justify that molestation is a
natural instinct. The purpose of your noble birth has been defiled herewith.
You accept that you could not control your mind. If you, hereafter, touch any
other woman without her consent with the intention of molesting her, your head
will burst into a hundred pieces. Now you may go.”
The curse descended upon him with the voice of thunder.
The accused smiled.
“Grandpa, you have cursed me in haste. If you give the power
of controlling the mind, your creation would end up in a mess. What to do?
Artistes cannot perform anything at the assessment of reason. It is not
surprising to see that even the Creator himself is a fool. He went away with a
smile.
***
