Interesting post...My opinion on the first two questions on the Ramayana:
The two actions taken by Ram(as mentioned in the Ramayan) prove two things.
1) We were a chauvinistic society even 4000 years back
2)The Ramayana was written by a man in a man's world.If it had been written by a woman,then Sita would have fought Ravana tooth and nail rather than just cry for help.And of course,Sita would have asked him to take a walk in the park if he had asked her for Agnipariskha..But Valmiki was a man and so the story had to be different.
Agreed. It is like narrating a fairy tale story to a little girl of 21st century.
"So the Princess sat at the window and waited for her prince charming to come on his white horse and rescue her," says the mom.
"But why mama?" asks the girl.
"What do you mean why? Prince has to come and rescue her, right? Take her away to live happily ever after!"
"But why should she wait for him to rescue her? If I were the princess, I wouldn't wait. I would slay the dragon myself and get out of the castle," comes the confident reply from the little girl.
As for Dev dixit breaking vows,I believe that if they are divorced/separated he can live his life his way.I don't endorse this behaviour,but I believe every person has aright to lve his life his way(as long as he doesn't hurt others)It is obvious that his flirtatious ways are becoming difficult for the audience to digest.
I have no issues with his flirting or even bedding another female. He has the right, he wants it and he is doing it. His life. His choice. But yes, I didn't like him flirting with the teacher in front of an impressionable six year old. Maybe they wanted to show it as a funny scene but I didn't feel like smiling.
Let us take a simple example. I come from a tambrahm family.I know that around 70-100 years back,in tambrahm culture eating in hotels was considered a near sin(almost equal to visiting prostitutes).But today it is the done thing everywhere,including tam brahm communities.100 years back,singing carnatic music or dancing was the profession of devdasis.It was not considered respectable.Nowadays being a classical music singer or dancer is,by itself,a respectable profession.See the 180 degree turn taken by society.A divorced man(maybe even woman) having a relationship with others(with their consent) is not completely acceptable today.But 30 years later,it will be the norm
I agree. For me - What is good for the goose is good for the gander.
There is almost zero introspection from both Dev and Sona. And also completely zero introspection from Iswahri and Bijoy.None of the characters have inherently learnt or changed.And they are all responsible for the failure of this marriage.Sona may have committed fewer mistakes than Dev,but she is not all white and Dev is not all black.
No one keeps a scorecard in a marriage. No marriage would stand on its feet if that happened. Did Sona make mistakes? Yes. Did Bijoy? Of course yes. He was no less than Ishwari in some scenes. Started to grate on my nerves at one point. Is Dev black? No. He is grey and so is Sona. But the problem here is he sees himself as the sole victim.
I have written my views on the separation as Dev would see it here...
http://www.india-forums.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=4789323
Will check out. Thanks for the link. 😃