Of Gods and boons...

I have always believed that teaching mythology is an indispensible part of spreading culture. The lives of people of yore (or fictitious yore) are meant to kindle a sense of righteousness and all that. Stories have been passed from one generation to the next mostly by word of mouth.

So the other day, I sat my dance students down for a discussion on the clever acts as well as follies of the various characters in mythology. Assuming (and of course, this was my biggest mistake) that they were familiar with the main characters at least, I plunged into a story that told of penance, boons and curses, and of course, a happy ending.

I mistook the looks on the faces of my dear children for wonderment and happily blabbed on. I was delighted when one student raised her hand as I completed the story. Wondering which character she was going to question or analyze, I urged her to ask her question.

“Aunty”, she hesitated, “who are these Devas you speak of?”

Suffice to say my heart sunk to the bottomless pit of the black hole called shock. The story couldn’t have made any sense without that basic info! Seeing a reflection of the state of disbelief on my face, the student hurriedly added, “I know all the other characters you mentioned.”

Deciding not to take that proclamation at face value, I asked, “Ok, dear. According to you, who is Indra?”

A giggle escaped another student, and she raised her hand. I nodded, hoping that the giggle simply meant that the answer was too simple.

“My gardener!” the student replied, following which the entire class burst out into peals of laughter.

I, meanwhile, was stuck in an isolated divide between horror and amusement. Taking a few deep breaths, I decided to prove a point. I pointedly looked at the student who had invited her gardener into our midst, and asked, “Who is Zeus?” She looked at me like I had lost it and replied, “The God of Thunder and lightning, of course!”

Now where was the of course in that? I explained to her that the Indian counterpart of Zeus was Indra. A collective sing-song ‘Oh!’ was all I heard in response. I went on to explain that Indra was the king of the Demigods known as Devas, and that they acted as ministers, if you please, for the Gods. They had functions and often misused their powers, leading to various situations that needed corrections by the Gods themselves.

A sudden gasp from one of the students stunned me out of my narration. I turned to her, and she merely smiled. I smiled back, a question in my eyes. Clearing her throat, she said, “NOW the story makes sense!” My smile grew wider – I had aided in her path down mythology lane.

The enlightened student continued, “What was Indra thinking when he cursed that sage (she referred to a portion of the story)?”

With a straight face, I answered, “I am not sure. I wasn’t there.” This, of course, set the class into another bout of laughter. Soon, they were role playing their favourite characters, offering blessings, boons and even curses freely.

And I went on, determined to demystify the plots and subplots of the epic tales of our land.