August 6-7 Episodes - Some Thoughts

1. Sita finally got a new dress. I was beginning to wonder if Anusuya had already visited Sita and gifted her divine clothes/jewelry that were always going to be fresh and new. During the exile, Sita needed that as they did not have resources to buy stuff and in jungle there are no stores where you can buy clothes when they get torn. But needing them in Janak's palace is the first. Anyway, CVs decided to part with some money and finally Sita got a new dress. Rubina did look quite pretty in the new dress.

2. Ram and Sita were window shopping and did not buy anything. I was wondering if Ram would buy that Shankh (conch) for Sita as a first gift. But more than likely, he did not have money. Then I thought that Sita must be shopping for bridal trousseau. But she too did not buy anything. I was feeling sorry for shopkeepers who must have anticipated a big sale and did not get a dime. Anyway, it was a good place for both to meet even though Ram started acting as Shiv of Sati era where he decided that Sita was a distraction in fulfilling his duty. I thought that happened only at the end when he found Sita and duty towards his subjects incompatible. Poor Sita. She was dejected just when she had got a sign from Mahadev by him showering those flowers on her. Can we have a Sita and Mahadev scene where Mahadev can assure Sita that Ram is just following "Rulebook of Romance between Soulmates" written by Mahadev.

3. Just when I was thinking that CVs have forgotten about Urmila, they finally brought her back from the trip to Kailash? (doesn't everyone go to Kailash whenever they have free time?). So Urmila is a lively force of nature character. I am liking this interpretation of Urmila where both Sita and Urmila are foil to each other. One has a calm personality and another one is hyper. But I am wondering about fights between Urmila and Lakshman. Lakshman was quite hot tempered and Urmila seems to delight in breaking things. What if she starts breaking his arrows?

Aside: Urmila is quite a neglected character in Ramayan despite being Lakshman's wife as all have always talked about Sita's sufferings, but not of Urmila's sacrifice and sufferings too. Maithili Sharan Gupt (Hindi poet) is the one who wrote about feelings of two neglected characters - Yasodhara (Buddha's wife) and Urmila (Lakshman's wife). So it is good to see that Mahadev creatives have sketched their own interpretation of Urmila.

6. Talking of watching everything, Mahadev is getting exasperated with Raavan's tantrums. Raavan is acting like a kid where he is angry with Mahadev for rejecting his invitations to visit Lanka, but then showing up uninvited to take Mandodari's side and that too in a era where multiple marriages especially among royals were common. He has a right to be angry. He is the one who did all that tapasya (penance) and donated his nine heads to Shiv. Mandodari who hasn't done a single thing for Shiv is instead getting all the benefits. So now he is declaring that he is no more Shiv's devotee. As if Mahadev cares. He already has too many unwanted devotees and they just end up making unreasonable demands. Now that Vishnu is on earth, Mahadev is finally having a break from all this - giving boons to asurs (demons) and fighting them.

7. Now that brings me to Mandodari. I am liking this "answer back" to Raavan Mandodari. Now she wouldn't have protested his another marriage (afterall this is not the first time), but still she was the one who did question him repeatedly after the kidnapping. I do agree with ones who are questioning this visit of Raavan to Sita's swayamvar. How is he going to be surprised later on to hear about Sita's beauty (from Sarupnakha) when he has already seen her? Ok, ignoring that for now. Mandodari has to hold her ground against both husband and son who is another character.

8. Now who is this grandfather? Is he the maternal grandfather Sumali (demon king) or the paternal grandfather Pulatsya (one of Saptrishi). If Somali is being shown, then he would have supported Raavan, whereas Pulatsya would have opposed him. But Pulatsya would not be living with Raavan.

9. Surya called Meghnad bonkers. Well, he is that for sure. Not only he is supporting getting a new stepmother, he is not even thinking that he should go to Sita's swayamvar instead of supporting his father's visit. He is similar in age to Sita and yet has no plans to even look at the most beautiful princess of that era. What a crazy character? But I was floored when the actor started playing Meghnad started calling Samiksha (Mandodari) "mother". He looks even older than Raavan and he is the son?

10. The friendly scene between Anjani/Parvati with Ganesh and Kartikaye was good. But Anjani has not provided any snacks for them. They have come from Kailash to South and not even water was offered. Instead, Anjani started bragging about her son. Then Parvati too joined in about food habits of her sons. Anyway, baby Hanuman was a cutie. I am wondering about Hanuman's age where he is shown to be younger than Ram (unless all the stories are in flashback). But I am happy about seeing kid Hanuman's antics. I have two animated versions of Hanuman (one is by Anurag Kashyap and that one is hilarious) and I liked little Hanuman in both versions. Also, this way they can show Indra whose insecurity is always fun to watch. Indra is always fretting about somebody or the other and then do idiotic things. He is his own worst enemy.

11. Finally, Indra is back. I haven't seen older episodes. But some members have talked about Nahush being the king at the moment and his story being left in the middle. I am always confused about Mahadev's CVs timelines even from past episodes. This time, it is no exception. For now, it is good that at least Indra is back. He was also one of the important characters of Ramayan.

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And little Hanuman loved his antics --but surprised Indra did not know who that balak was

I liked the whirlwind called Urmila. Anyway, I have always liked Urmila in Ramayan and have always considered her to be the most neglected character in Ramayan. I am actually missing the hot tempered Laxman. Wonder when will they show that Lakshman to us. But I am completely disliking their one dimensional caricatured Ravan.

Sita has partially got a new dress. I think that she is still wearing the same blouse. So Ram is trying to convince himself that the dhanush is more important than Sita. 😉. The market scene was very amusing with all the wind chimes and everything and I liked it. Rubina had a priceless expression on her face when Ram's expression changed from that of smiling to one of seriousness.

Thanks Shivmala.

Yeah, Lakshman can go to Ram to get his bow fixed and to Sita to complain about her sister's antics. Ram is not going to ask her about explanations. First of all, he likes to stay away from arguments. He is the one who pacified Parshuram after Parshuram and Lakshman started arguing. Then he would have a soft spot for Urmila - her being Sita's sister.

Kid Hanuman's antics are always funny. So it is good they included flashbacks of little Hanuman (hope they are flashbacks because Hanuman is supposed to be either of same age as Ram or little older). Indra is a self-centered God. He only thinks about ones who may be danger to his position as the King of Devtaas. So more than likely he only noticed Hanuman when he reaced for the sun.