Paradise leaves you shocked. Why
did Sita kill Rama in the end? What was Prasanna Vithanage trying to say. Frustrated
, you drop the thread. Maybe, he
meant a political satire exploring the volatile dynamics between dominant Sinhalese
and minority Tamilians, amidst current economic crisis. Aptly titled Paradise –
a ‘burning’ Lanka without diesel(!) where, as sergeant Bandara remarks - a
human life becomes meaningful only during elections.But the references haunt you
still, multiple sightings of Sambar Deer (Maricha), Amritha herself identifying,
very early on, with Sita, even playfully asking ‘what if Ravana wakes from
his slumber and kidnaps her?’, to which Keshav replies “it would wake
the Rama in him’. Littered with subtle reminders, like, driver Andrew
taking a ‘visibly joyous’ Amritha (after another deer spotting) to the majestic
mountains where Ravana landed with ‘her’ in Lanka for the first time; the
hanuman temple and river where Sita saw sunlight for first time; and finally,
the ‘exact spot’ where Sita had to undergo the humiliating ordeal - ‘AgniPariksha’.
Amrita’s observations make you wary. She
reprimands Andrew, ‘Sita was never weak, for, in a Jain version of Ramayana,
it was Sita who killed Ravana while Rama was her charioteer’. She educates him
further, ‘there are over 300 versions of Ramayana’.
Most of us have difficulty understanding
Prasanna’s version. That’s because we all had a sort-of cultural reset with Ramanand
Sagar's TV serial version (1987) – a state approved, homogenized view that
expunged all the diversities that evolved before it. Read ‘
The Ramayana
Syndrome’ by Romila Thapar, in her book “The Future in the Past”, to
peel away the onion. The original epic - Ramayana
by Valmiki, in 5 Kandas (chapters), was a reasonably balanced story on moral dilemmas
and practices of its times. As authorship changed from bards to brahmanas to monks
and regional storytellers, influences and interests fueled innovation. The north
Indian Hindi speaking Vaishnavas made the script ‘sacred’ by making Rama Vishnu’s
avatar for didactic purposes. However, Uttara Kanda (final chapter) got added,
as a deeper reflection on complexities of Dharma (Sita’s banishment and Shambuka)
or to appease changing patronage. The Buddhists usurped Rama (Dasaratha
Jataka) as a previous incarnation of Buddha and Sita, a sister to Rama! The
Jains (Paumacharya) gave Lanka and Ravana more sympathetic treatment
with Rama and Lakshman as Jaina munis and Sita, a nun! Tamil’s Kampa
Ramayan also treats Ravana as a tragic hero. Catakantaravana-katai
in fact depicts Sita slaying Ravana with Rama as her charioteer. Kannada
& South-East Asia treats Sita as the daughter of Ravana! Sri Lanka
also has its own versions like Janakiharana and Buddhist interpretations.
Thus, Ramayana does not belong to
any one moment in history. Amritha echoes this in the film “the story has been
appropriated by multiple groups and interpreted according to their needs”.It is in this context; we need to
evaluate Prasanna’s modern reading of Ramayana.
An Indian couple (not Tamilians!)
visiting Lanka. Initially, Lanka charms and lures the couple in, like Maricha (sambar
deer) but eventually (becomes Ravana) stealing their valuables. Our modern purushottma
(Keshav) is an evolved man now, oozing self-confidence, easily disappointed (with
wife’s writing efforts), often insensitive (with Andrew, hotel staff, Lanka in
general - shithole), quick to find fault (did you close the window?). His enthusiasm
to kill a magnificent creature (deer) and his dubious stance that results in an
innocent estate worker’s (modern shambuka?) death, starts to drive a rift. And,
without herself knowing, Lanka’s ‘ramayana-infused’ cultural lore, starts to
shake Amritha’s moorings. ‘Centuries-old’ shame (questioning her virtue) awakens
within her educated female collective consciousness. Unconsciously distressed,
she starts to identify herself more as victimized Sita, a potential identity disorder.
Her growing disapproval of Keshav’s (Rama in her eyes, now) actions resulted in
further neurosis. Finally, under ensuing chaos (police station and hotel under attack),
the guilt, shame and seething anger makes her a Durga (like Nagavalli in
classic Manichitrathazhu - a psychotic episode, in modern parlance). She
sees Rama as the murderer - the primary reason for current chaos. Blows his
brains out and shouts in despair.
The ensuing police investigations and conclusion gives us one more version of Ramayana to rejoice! An urban myth rather.
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