SHRUTI GOPAL'S PEFORMANCE OF SHUPRPANAKHI

Shruti Gopal, a Bharatnatyam dancer performed an interpretation on the story of Shurpanakhi. According to the interpretation, Shurpanakhi is a dark-skinned woman from Lanka who falls in love with Lakshmana. However on approaching him, instead of just rejecting her, he disfigures her by cutting of her nose and ears. Distraught and angry, she approaches Ravana, her brother for help. The performance ends with Shurpanakhi accepting herself and becoming the persona of Shantamurthi, a picture of internal and external stillness.

This performance challenges the existing notions of beauty of women that we have in every society. Shurpanakhi struggles with insecurity and doubts whether she will be accepted by the male she is in love with. She despises her identity as a Rakshasi which shows how she hates parts of herself. She is desperate to fit in and be loved and thereby, changes her body to that effect. Her new self conforms to the standards of beauty that the society has stipulated. However, when she she approaches her object of interest with her proposal she is rejected in an extremely brutal manner - Lakshmana cuts off her noes and years. She is punished for transcending her gender roles - a man should be the one to approach a woman he is interested in and not the other way around. This idea suppresses female sexuality and her freedom. By disfiguring Shurpanakhi, Lakshmana has made her an outcast - ostracized by everybody she meets because they cannot look at her disfigured face. This makes her hate herself even more and question her decisions. Lakshmana's actions are an extreme and brutal reaction to something that should have been normal. Ultimately, cast off by society, she finds acceptance in nature which does not care for her disfigurement. Nature accepts us for who we are. This is a contrasting image to the picture of nature as painted as brutal and dangerous. In this version, it is the "civilized culture" which is dangerous. 

Shurpanakhi represents every woman who is struggling to accept her body. It is a desperate struggle for women trying to fit it. If they are not trying to fit in - they have to fight body shaming, name calling and many times, rejection. 

QUESTIONS ABOUT LIFE AND DEATH

ODE: IMITATIONS OF IMMORTALITY

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

The poem "Ode: Imitations of immortality is written by a Romantic poet, William Wordsworth. One of the ideas in the poem is how due to our imaginative creativity, the shapes and colours of humanity can be found in nature. Our surroundings can produce thoughts too deep for tears because they can embody the different aspects of human life. For example, a butterfly can induce philosophical thoughts about the fleeting human life and how it needs to be lived to the fullest. Wordsworth believes this is because of human imagination and creativity. Another perspective on his would be that we are so selfish and self-centered that we can make anything and everything about us. We philosophize but it is still all about human life, if not about our personal lives. However, it is also true that our philosophical mind enables us to understand and relate to nature in a deeper way, even if it on more human terms. We have to appreciate human imagination and creativity and its endless possibilities. 

Another idea in the poem is that human life on earth is just a shadow of an earlier, purer existence - the abode of the soul. Our life is just a process of forgetting that existence, its just a dream. This is an idea which is also seen in a kannada song "Kaanada kadalige" sung by C.Ashwath. Both of these poems describe a yearning for an unattainable or forgotten destination. This destination is unattainable only in the physical realm and forgotten by the body, but remembered by the soul. These songs were written years apart and come from two different cultures, but the yearning is the same. Are not we all searching for something indescribable, something that we ourselves don't know that we need? Do we fill our lives with material things, relationships and goals to fill a void we don't know we have? I am reminded of a quote by Shakespeare "All the world's a stage, all the men and women merely players". Maybe we are acting out a play, to pass the time until we reach this unattainable, forgotten destination.

VICARIOUS EXPERIENCE OF FREEDOM

JONATHON LIVINGSTON SEAGULL

RICHARD BACH

Jonathon Livingston Seagull is about freedom and breaking your limits, something every person connects to. For someone whose freedom is a privilege, it is an exhilarating read. Just imagine experiencing the highest level of freedom, without any boundaries and learning through that experience, but that freedom for Jonathon comes at a cost. He is ostracized from the flock, from the only home he is known since birth. For me too, experiencing a similar kind of freedom comes at a cost of breaking rules and expectations of society and family. I fear the unknown as I have never known what it is like to live without society's constraints, for better or worse. How does one find themselves when lost within these rules?

Even though the flock exiles him, he returns with love and kindness to teach them and show them a better way of living. To return to a flock which humiliated him takes a lot of courage, love and self-awareness shows his transcendence towards enlightenment. It is hard to imagine someone giving so self-lessly. Even when we witness it, we tend to look for ulterior motives. We look for the bad in altruism just to not feel inferior and prove to ourselves that everybody is selfish.

Jonathon Livingston Seagull has unmatched passion for learning and teaching. To be driven by that passion alone, it is highly relatable. The pursuit of knowledge, to enjoy the process of learning, it is an indescribable feeling. The thrill that runs through you as you read the sentences creates a craving for more which is like an addiction in itself.  For me, this character is not a person, but an ideology, a way of learning and thinking. Is this an utopia or something that can be made a reality? For a fact, I know that there are people who are trying to change the education system to a way in which every student can enjoy the process of learning. Let's hope this trend catches on...

"Freedom is nothing more than a chance to be better"
                                                                                     - Albert Camus

MUSING OF A TEENAGER

THE DIARY OF A YOUNG GIRL

ANNE FRANK

I recently read the diary of a young girl and it was so engrossing, I was in denial over the death of Anne Frank. As I read the book, I felt as if I was living with Anne Frank and her family in the Annex, sharing their hope and fear. Their deaths, though I knew were inevitable came as an unbelievable shock. I had become Anne's confidante, sharing her life for 2 years and then suddenly, she is gone. What happened to her in those concentration camps is a story I will never know.

Even assuming that she might have been biased, frequently we observe the maturity and wisdom of an old soul shining through in her writing. Her writing resonates within me and I identify some features of mine in her. She shows tremendous self awareness at her age which gives us a reality check o how her circumstances have forced her into early maturation.

I am fortunate to have not witnessed a war. I did not expect to relate to Anne who is brave and courageous to have withstood all that she did. She did not let the negatives in her life break her. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger is a line that fits Anne perfectly.Until the very end, she is longing for love, care and somebody who understands her. Isn't this what we all crave, no matter the circumstances. At this stage of my life, I wonder will I ever meet that one person with whom my soul resonates, the one person who will understand the depths of my character?

The war is an ugly time but to experience its ugliness firsthand, its unthinkable. We sit in our homes obsessing over her material problems. When I read this book, the illusion of all that struck me. Our possessions, as we call it are temporary. We never know our future, let alone that all of these might be taken away from us in an instant. We are in a state of constant denial of death, always living as if we are sure of the future. In psychology, I have read that it is unhealthy to frequently use defense mechanisms such as denial. So are we helping ourselves by denying death or are we drifting further away from truth as we live this illusion of life?

"We live in a fantasy world, a word of illusion. The great task in life is to find reality"

-Iris Murdoch        

WHAT TO HOLD ON TO AND WHAT TO LET GO

THE ROYAL TREATMENT

MARY JANICE DAVIDSON

A fast paced romantic comedy which will either bring tears of laughter or make you pull out your hair in annoyance. Set in the royal palace of Alaska (if it wasn't owned by Russia and was ruled by a king), it steps away from the cliche of the hard working girl falling for the arrogant and handsome prince. When the outspoken and obnoxious New Yorker decides to marry the penguin obsessed prince, it seems to be the perfect recipe for a disaster. In midst of this chaos is one of the younger princes who only spouts Haikus and one in particular stands out:

Don't blame the Windsors

For trapped in their tradition 

They are prisoners too..

The meaning behind these lines have led to discussions, debates and wars throughout time. It means that people trapped in tradition cannot or probably, will not move towards progress. Tradition honors the past, holding us down to our roots. Our roots are the foundation of our identity. On the other hand, society is constantly moving towards progress and that cant be stopped. So how we find the balance between the both, personally and socially?
For me, finding a balance is through understanding of what I am moving towards. I believe that traditions should be preserved if they continue to be relevant in today's society. Holding those firmly in place, I would accept progressive ideas. Though it is understandable that people find it hard to let go of their past, I believe it is essential to do that if you have to live your life and not just exist. This does not mean you don't look back on your past at all but rather, you learn from your mistakes and others' so that your past doesn't haunt you in your future.

"The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you can see."
-- Winston Churchill