Siya Ke Ram- Can Ramayana be presented from a woman's POV

It has been my long standing wish to see Ramayana from a woman's perspective( you can call me feminist 😆😆 and I am proud to be one) because I have always felt the portrayal of Sita as a weak woman is at the root of many evils.

And it is also one book where the role of husband is sidelined against role of a son and brother. In other words wrong interpretation of this book and its characters have reeked patriarchy in India.

To keep the promise his father gave to Kaikeyi, Ram went to jungle. But what about the promise he gave to Sita in front of the sacred fire. What about his promise as a king to protect the weak. Both these aspects were thrown into air when Ram without telling Sita send her to jungle with Lakshman. The dharma of sending out a pregnant wife and a pregnant subject of Ayodhya has left an undeniable mark on me. And Sita was never at fault in that situation. Yes Lakshman Rekha is suggested as a remedy to what happened to Sita. But she was duped. She went to give alms to a sanyasi. How was she supposed to know it was Ravan. Another say it is because of the words she used for Lakshman. Put yourself in her shoes as a wife. You hear your husband's loud cry for help calling your brother in law. What will you do. Don't you panic and if your brother in law not listening to you, wont you shout at him. A mistake that can happen to any woman, how can it be a woman's fault, how can that incident affect her purity. That banishment of Sita I have always felt at the root of calling crimes like rape a mistake of boys. Carelessness of girls. The crime where the perpetuator should be punished, the victim gets punished. All this goes to the mute suffering of Sita the abandonment. Because she suffered, every woman should suffer. The assumption woman is born to suffer even for the mistake of man comes from this abandonment and Sita's stand.

Now leave Sita, come to Urmila. Lakshman is an excellent brother, but what about the wife he married. How she should have felt when her husband leaves her for 14 years to accompany his brother. To do his brother's duty. The young wife lead a lonely life and no one asked about her. Because she was expected to do that. Her husband's first duty was towards family, not towards her. And in the end what does Lakshman get for all the selfless sacrifice he has given. To uphold his word Ram sacrifices Lakshman. No wonder in the textbook I studied in 9th named Urmila, Urmila tells in the end the waters of Sarayu runs from the tears of women of Ayodhya.

Basically my expectation from Siya Ke Ram is how the CVs are going to address these raging issues. As a woman I am not expecting a butchering of Ram's character, what I am looking at is how Sita took it, was she as mute as she made out to be, is there a much better justification for Rams action than what the popular culture believes or understands.

Because I have great respect for both Ram and Sita. Even greater respect for Lakshman , Urmila and Bharath. And as an ardent lover of Ramayana the eternal love story of Ram and Sita I want the show to address my concerns. Rather than the divine, I want to see the characters as humans, their actions and their justifications.

Because Ramayana and Mahabharatha are our culture, our legacy and a treasure house of knowledge which can really help us lead a good life in right way.

Frankly speaking whatever is being promoted and shown on TV is nothing new , we just have to look into the epics whose writers valmiki and vyasa have given enough credit to their epic heroines

Wonderful points. I loved reading your post.😊

Indeed we need a woman's POV to read Ramayana. This epic has been quite questionable in terms handling of women.

Sita, Urmila, Ahilya, Shoorpanaka, Mandodari, Kaushalya, Sumitra, Kaikeyi, Shanta...list goes on.

You have made a valid point about the 'carelessness' of the girls or the girls who 'brought' this on herself for being a certain way. Ramayana and Mahabharata wars were (dis)credited to Sita and Draupadi. Why not Ravana and Shakuni? Woman becomes impure because she was kidnapped?

Sita: she stood by Rama though thick and thin. She went with him to forest for 14 years without complaint. But she was cast aside while she was pregnant.

Urmila: She was abandoned by her husband for 14 years. He chose his brother over her. Why was she not allowed to go with them to forest?

Ahilya: She was punished for Indra's mistake and was made stone. Why?

Shoorpanaka: She just expressed her interest in Lakshmana/Rama. Why was she humiliated instead of letting her down gently? Her nose and ears were cut off by Lakshmana.

Mandodari: Her husband kidnapped another woman, instigated by his sister. He caused the downfall of all. Yet she was the one who lost her husband and children and her entire family.

Dashrath's wives: He married Sumitra and Kaikeyi for Sons, ignoring his daughter and first wife.

Shanta: A princess abandoned by her father for sons.

While I know and empathize with the other side of these stories too, I really hope that these women are explored more in this serial.

Love

Kshithi

Hello,

Regarding blaming Sita or Draupadi, glad to know your take. 😊

What I was referring was instances in some odd movies or some dialogues or some other platforms where they refer women as the cause for all the problems, siting Sita or Draupadi. That is something I have personally seen or witnessed. But I do know not all do this and I do know that Valmiki or Vyasa or Rama Or Krishna, none of them has expressed these views. I am only taking about some part of social elements.

Interesting Story about Shoorpanaka. I have read a version where she was not this bad, but once her nose and ears were cut off, she got mad. She then complained to Ravan and asked him to kidnap her.

Of course, there are so many versions of the same stories and different takes. I am glad that we can hear few of them in this forum.😃

Love

Kshithi

I do not have much knowledge on ramayan But I have known that many ramayan's that we have seen on TV sita has been shown as a weak women,who was waiting for her hudband to come and take her back.

I have always felt we need to know the story from Others POV.

I agree that the story dosent change but A different POV gives a new dimension to the story.

Ram going to exile and all was something I have never understood.

Like you mentioned about Urmilla she suffered,although it must have been shown that she suported her husband's decision to leave but she must have suffered.

I dont think such selfless persons ever existed.

The thing that I never liked about ramayan was sita going through a Agnipariksha to prove that she is pure,And I want to see how This show shows that part of ramayan.