The Idea of Rama and the Battle of the Real Estate

As a person born and brought up in the "Hindu" way of life, Ram or Rama as the more educated once pronounce it , is not a mere figment of imagination but a representation of the collective conscience of a society - an utopian one at that. A tragic tale of suffering for the sake of "Dharma" which continues to meet a tragic fate in the battle of real estate obliterating all that Ram represented.  

The unadulterated stories or "myth" of Ram, during our childhood years mainly from grandma's stories and then probably reinforced by Ramanand Sagar (Minus the over dramatization and  primitive audio visual effects from today's standard)  ,  were primarily intended to focus on the virtues which Ram embodied as a role model of being the Man who is Supreme in Honor (Maryada Purushotam) . Any attempt to find fault on these virtues of selflessness, chivalry, conscientiously and obediently fulfilling one's duty , respect towards fellow human beings which Ram represents would have been beyond comprehension and only the fruit of a  dystopian mind. 

The new generations fetish to prove our evolution into improved versions  over our less polluting and perhaps polluted ancestors or the frustration of not having reached the Utopian society (Ram Rajya) despite of having worshiped him for so long perhaps explains the rise of the embittered souls . There are amplified and shrill voices first questioning Rams very existence and before ending the sentence also pointing out the fallacies in his life. Unfortunately for them " He does not exist but he is bad " hardly resonates with commoners.

Creating epistemological resonance to engender a degree of stability suiting their own narrative and survive on ontological dissonance to create friction and instability in the larger society gets amplified when propaganda of politics, religion starts getting propagated in the garb of intellectual discourse overpowering the societal need of harmony and peaceful coexistence. 

The reverence to the highest human values which Ram represents have met its fair share of  whataboutism by picking and choosing events from his life in bits and pieces. References are made to various written sources from different points of time with different contexts and  criticized in the current context thereby creating a heady cocktail of extremely potent but distasteful and hence irrelevant discourses rarely taken seriously by most. 

This exercise in futility is to gain entry among peer of intellectuals whose path to fame are largely dependent on disparaging and finding faults in the faiths of millions in the name of logic and reason. From being proclaimed as a figment of imagination of an "opiated" mass to be blamed for misogyny (The Agni Pariksha), domestic violence (Pregnant Sita being left alone in a Jungle), caste prejudices (Sahambukas killing) and constant discoveries of many more evils in his personality, Ram has definitely come a long way from the Grandmas tale of a valiant prince who sacrificed and epitomized all that was good and worth emulating . 

While this group has been trying to discredit Ram marking his actions with footnotes and end notes  picked up from various written references none of which claim to have been a first hand account , an alternative stream has played an equally devastating role in discrediting his name in the garb of safeguarding and guarding the legacy of Ram . Protecting Gods sounds ridiculous and would have been considered amusing if not for the disharmony with which Ram has become associated thanks to the actions of these protector of Gods .

These two streams both equally devastating and alien to the unadulterated idea of Ram need and feed on each other while maintaining the optics of being polar opposites. 

Religion with whatever etymological lens one wants to understand it , has played an important role in bringing the world to its present stage. For some while the present stage represents the best of human life in the dated history to others it may represent the final leg towards doomsday. One thing which remains a constant is the need for humanity to have a guiding light which for many remains Ram. 

Whether a person called Ram with all his divinity existed or is an idea and a myth created by mere humans can and should be debated not merely to disparage but also to understand the wisdom behind the idea. An idea which has led billions across centuries to spend miserable or opulent lives with only Ram and his virtues as guiding lights -   not followed but still respected . 

The attribution of breaking of a Mosque to Ram and hence the hatred against him sounds as absurd as did the breaking of the temple for constructing the mosque to the present day Muslims. But one cannot shy away that both would remain historical wrongs and one cannot wish away a historical wrong with a benefit of doubt given to the previous wrong just because it did not happen in front of us. Any structure as a reminder of historical wrongs could hardly remain a symbol of the so called "Ganga Jamuni Tehjeeb" propagated by some romantic with no sense of history or how societies work though claiming otherwise. 

The planned structure too would meet the same fate of being an eyesore of historical wrong. Both groups doing disservice to the concept of Ram - one in the garb of intellectual nit pickers while the other in the bhagwa uniform of the self proclaimed guardians for protecting Rams legacy have however ensured relevance for the next cycle of hate and violence in his name.

In the meantime , I still find solace and rejoice in the name of the Ram of my childhood stories .The one born and brought up much before any temple or mosque . The Maryada Purushotam who does not need to be carbon dated to establish his existence or needs a verification of his birth place . The Ram whose stories I would read to my children will not be with the intent of brainwashing against those who broke the Ram temple or in support of those who re constructed the temple. The story will be of The King who worked towards establishing a just society, The Man who suffered but did not give up , The Leader who commanded respect from both friends and foes and was much bigger than a few acres of land where he may have been born.