Tayzwi
Should be reading more and writing less, but well...Sunday, July 17, 2005
Kamsi Kamsa
An ashareera vaani tells the magically endowed evil tyrant that his sister's eighteenth child, as yet unborn, will be his death.
He kills the first seventeen of them, and before he gets to the eighteenth, some heavenly spells aid the poor father and he saves our child-hero from the tyrant. I am yet to explore the Moses and the Red Sea connection here.
A second prophecy is revealed by the substitute eighteenth child that the real child-hero has been saved and death awaits Mr Evil Dude, after sometime though.
That time is judiciously used to give us a glimpse of the Leela. As our child-hero grows up, we see him like a normal troublesome kid, flirt with the neighborhood girls, fall in love with an older girl, attend schools, thwart all attempts at his life by the uber-villain, and eat pot-loads of butter.
Finally, our child-hero does kill Mr. Evil Dude.
Deja Vu?
He kills the first seventeen of them, and before he gets to the eighteenth, some heavenly spells aid the poor father and he saves our child-hero from the tyrant. I am yet to explore the Moses and the Red Sea connection here.
A second prophecy is revealed by the substitute eighteenth child that the real child-hero has been saved and death awaits Mr Evil Dude, after sometime though.
That time is judiciously used to give us a glimpse of the Leela. As our child-hero grows up, we see him like a normal troublesome kid, flirt with the neighborhood girls, fall in love with an older girl, attend schools, thwart all attempts at his life by the uber-villain, and eat pot-loads of butter.
Finally, our child-hero does kill Mr. Evil Dude.
Deja Vu?
Labels: books
posted by Tejaswi # 5:11 AM 
Comments:
<< Home
Mate,
Good and evil are not black and white terms. I find it annoying that our mythology is twisted and torn so badly to fit our black and white stereotypes. That doesnt mean we need to look at our mythology from the same perspective as we look at Harry Potter or Batman. By the way watched Batman yesterday. Only Jo bole so nihal can beat it in terms of lousy plot and lousy movie making. Coming back to mythology again, these stories carry a lot of symbolic value. These stories are traditionally looked at as victories of good over evil. Try looking at them as stories of struggle good has to undergo before it tastes success.
About Moses and the Red sea. While a good part of the Bible reflects semitic prehistory, some of the actual people and events are not historically corroborated. Partition of the red sea is one such event. Moses himself has not been mapped to a single historical figure. Nevertheless, he has been mapped to 3-4 potential historical figures. What we need to understand about miracles is that they are a tool in religion with a purpose in the society. It is not a good idea to look at them in the our so called scientific light. The miracles in Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition are fundamentally meant to emphasize the power/love of the God and of the Deliverer. Hindusim is a little more subtle when it comes to miracles. In Hindu miracles, we see a matrix like system running the show. And the major purpose of these miracles is to educate people on morals and actually enforce these morals in the society.
Here's how it works. Hinduism condemns, as a every other religion does, things like unilateral aggression, greed, uncontrolled sex et al. To make sure that people indulging in these activities are punished, stories (with probably history included) are written in which the good win over the evil. These stories convince a majority of people to take the side of good because it is the side which is gonna be victorious. And this majority, as a rule, wins over the minority who are not convinced and have not shunned the path of evil. In the end, we have a workable system that actually makes sure that good wins over evil. And this works much better than the ethical system marketed by people like Bertrand Russel and Ayn Rand, which is so open to debate. I don't mean disrespect for my favorite authors here. But theirs is a system of ethics that can work if and only if the entire world is populated with intellectuals.
Have written too much. By the way, have started my blog. The first post is up there. The second is almost ready. Take a look when you can.
Good and evil are not black and white terms. I find it annoying that our mythology is twisted and torn so badly to fit our black and white stereotypes. That doesnt mean we need to look at our mythology from the same perspective as we look at Harry Potter or Batman. By the way watched Batman yesterday. Only Jo bole so nihal can beat it in terms of lousy plot and lousy movie making. Coming back to mythology again, these stories carry a lot of symbolic value. These stories are traditionally looked at as victories of good over evil. Try looking at them as stories of struggle good has to undergo before it tastes success.
About Moses and the Red sea. While a good part of the Bible reflects semitic prehistory, some of the actual people and events are not historically corroborated. Partition of the red sea is one such event. Moses himself has not been mapped to a single historical figure. Nevertheless, he has been mapped to 3-4 potential historical figures. What we need to understand about miracles is that they are a tool in religion with a purpose in the society. It is not a good idea to look at them in the our so called scientific light. The miracles in Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition are fundamentally meant to emphasize the power/love of the God and of the Deliverer. Hindusim is a little more subtle when it comes to miracles. In Hindu miracles, we see a matrix like system running the show. And the major purpose of these miracles is to educate people on morals and actually enforce these morals in the society.
Here's how it works. Hinduism condemns, as a every other religion does, things like unilateral aggression, greed, uncontrolled sex et al. To make sure that people indulging in these activities are punished, stories (with probably history included) are written in which the good win over the evil. These stories convince a majority of people to take the side of good because it is the side which is gonna be victorious. And this majority, as a rule, wins over the minority who are not convinced and have not shunned the path of evil. In the end, we have a workable system that actually makes sure that good wins over evil. And this works much better than the ethical system marketed by people like Bertrand Russel and Ayn Rand, which is so open to debate. I don't mean disrespect for my favorite authors here. But theirs is a system of ethics that can work if and only if the entire world is populated with intellectuals.
Have written too much. By the way, have started my blog. The first post is up there. The second is almost ready. Take a look when you can.
Samba, I mostly agree with your views on mythology - But you do see that my point was to ridicule the idea of how easy it has become to make big money writing this.
There is also the opinion generation thing. I am not sure if I have my views clear on this, but with so many impressionable minds reading Harry Potter with so much passion, is everything ok?
There is also the opinion generation thing. I am not sure if I have my views clear on this, but with so many impressionable minds reading Harry Potter with so much passion, is everything ok?
Ah the opportunity :)
Legend fades to myth and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave birth to it comes again.
Between didn't get the deja-vu part. Which is the similar story/plot/?
Legend fades to myth and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave birth to it comes again.
Between didn't get the deja-vu part. Which is the similar story/plot/?
I didn't get what concept indicates a familiarity. If it is good v/s evil. Sure, at a very abstract level in the plot, there is always good and evil, and everything else is an implementation detail.
Didn't get the hindi movie allusion too. Haven't seen many, or just not my day I guess :)
Didn't get the hindi movie allusion too. Haven't seen many, or just not my day I guess :)
I haven't read Harry Potter, and so all this is based on some quick synopsis from a friend who has read it.
So, I hear that the super-villain has his soul hidden away in 7 different places, across 7 seas maybe, and more on Chandamama lines.
Also, there is a prophecy that tells everyone how Harry boy is going to kill the villain after so many years. Hearing this, the villain guy tries to kill our young hero, and is thwarted by the hero's parents, etc.
Of course, then there is the school adventure thing which makes way for the first 6 books till the main event happens. And so on...
It just hit me that its not any different from the tales of Krishna.
So what? you ask.
Answer: Nothing.
So, I hear that the super-villain has his soul hidden away in 7 different places, across 7 seas maybe, and more on Chandamama lines.
Also, there is a prophecy that tells everyone how Harry boy is going to kill the villain after so many years. Hearing this, the villain guy tries to kill our young hero, and is thwarted by the hero's parents, etc.
Of course, then there is the school adventure thing which makes way for the first 6 books till the main event happens. And so on...
It just hit me that its not any different from the tales of Krishna.
So what? you ask.
Answer: Nothing.
I didn't ask that. Okay, now clear, potential "deja vu experienced" :) => read H.P and tales of Krishna.
Had not thought abt Krishna...chk out http://sidane.blogspot.com/2006_12_01_archive.html...mainly abt "inspirations" from english lit.
Post a Comment
# posted by 
: 3:38 AM
: 3:38 AM<< Home
Archives
February 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 January 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 March 2008 June 2008 February 2009 June 2009 February 2010 November 2010
Quick index to blog-posts I like (from my personal website)
