On 4th of May, three women were thrashed by a mob in the Muzaffarpur district in Bihar. Their heads were shaved and they were forced to drink urine on the suspicion of them being witches. None from the Dakama village (where the incident took place) came forward to protect those women from the evil mob, nor did anyone dare to file a complaint against the shameful act with the police. It was after the circulation of a video on social media that the incident attracted the attention of the police and forced them to intervene and take necessary action.
The incident was immensely painful, but it was not surprising for me, as I have come across such incidences while growing up. It seems like our society has culminated to a point where such events have become the ‘new normal’. Besides, the present pandemic has brought immense pain to millions of people, starving thousands to death and whatnot.
Meanwhile, the central government’s TV channels have been showcasing series based on Indian mythology that, in its very essence, talks about the triumph of dharma over adharma, and justice over injustice. This time, two characters have inspired me the most among all — Kumbhakarna from The Ramayana and Vikarna from The Mahabharata.
When Ravana woke up his gigantic younger brother Kumbhakarna and asked him to join the battle against the advancing army, the latter asked the reason why Lanka is at war. When Ravana told him about what led Rama to invade Lanka, Kumbhakarna confronted his brother for his wrongdoing. However, being a faithful brother, he fought on Ravana’s side till his last breath.
The story of the younger brother of Duryodhana, Vikarna, is lesser-known. Popularly known as the ‘wise Kaurava’, he is said to be the one who spoke against the notorious dice game and ill-treatment of Draupadi. While everyone else, including the elders, were sitting quietly in disgust, Vikarna chose to speak up and protest. However, at the end, alike Kumbhakarna, he chose to fight against the Pandavas.
While remaining faithful to their camps, they questioned the authority of their actions without worrying about the repercussions. When no one dared to question the mighty Ravana or the Kauravas, both Kumbhakarna and Vikarna stood up to what was right. Contemporary times are much worst than that of the referred context. At that time, we only had one Ravana and 100 Kauravas, but today, they lie among millions of Indians and perhaps, in the majority as well — sometimes in the form of intolerance, sometimes violence.
But, if we all can be Kumbhakarna and Vikarna in our capacities when required, we can together change the society for once and all. However mighty the King be, a single gadfly has the potential to make the king fall off his shining white horse. While being critical and raising questions against the status quo, we must remain precautious that our actions do not invoke violence. The beauty of our society is that we have never witnessed revolutions that resulted in bloodbaths. We’ve only observed passive revolutions that may have taken a few decades, but have brought concrete changes.
Remember, they killed Socrates but were unable to kill his ideas. Love is the answer, not hate!