Summer Girl-Part III

[Apologies for the long gap between parts II and III. The only justification I have is a writers block. :P ]

Paridhi woke up with a start, disoriented, and with her heart beating frantically. For a few minutes, she wasn't sure as to what woke her up. Then, as it suddenly came back to her, she shook off her covers violently and ran towards the locked door that separated her room from Kabir's. There had been a loud crash from his room and the sound had woken her. As she fumbled with the lock in vain, she could hear Kabir cursing faintly in the other room. A few frantic attempts later, she gave up and called out his name through the door. "Kabir! Kabir, can you hear me? What was that noise? Are you alright?" Suddenly, the room went completely silent. All Paridhi could hear was the sea raging  nearby. There was no answer. "Kabir!", she called again. She could hear him pacing in the next room, but, there was still no reply. Just when she had given up all hopes of him answering, a quiet voice called out, "I am fine. Everything is okay. Go back to sleep." But there was something in his voice that wasn't quite convincing. Paridhi sighed. Kabir had always been like that. Even as a child, the truth about this thoughts had to be cajoled out of him and Paridhi had always proved to be quite inept at the act of cajoling. It had always been Anushka who could convince him to spill his secrets. But Anushka was no longer there and years' worth of friendship prevented Paridhi from abandoning Kabir when something was patently wrong. She sagged against the door and called out again, "I am not going anywhere till you tell me what's wrong, Kabir". "Go away, Paridhi. I don't want to talk to anybody right now. And definitely not to you!" Stunned and perplexed, Paridhi stared at the locked door. What in the world had she done to merit that response? "Kabir?", she called out softly. There was no response. A agonized pacing continued in the adjacent room. And then, it suddenly stopped. Paridhi could feel Kabir hovering near the door from the other side. After some time, his shoes scraped the floor as he sat down on the other side of the door.

A heartbeat later, Paridhi asked again. "Kabir, what's wrong?". "You", said the quiet voice from the other room.

Karnamania

[I have no clue if I have actually managed to convey what I wanted to convey through this piece. So please feel free to comment if some part doesn't make sense.]

I am going to deviate a little, a lot actually, from what I have been writing about and focus on something I have been pretty much obsessed with for the past few days. It's not an actual person, or well, he might have been an actual person at some point in time. But I stumbled upon a book written on his life and then yet another book and then an actual television series, all of which fed my obsession about his character which has finally culminated in me trying to put to writing my thoughts about him. Let me not keep you guys waiting any longer- the man I am talking about is 'Karna'. Yes, the famous anti-hero (hero?) from the Indian epic, Mahabharata, Karna.

Now, I am definitely not the first person who has been deeply fascinated by his character. But what is it about him that inexplicably draws people to him inspite of the epic otherwise brimming with ostensible heroes. It is only logical that the first person who comes to mind when one thinks about Karna is Arjuna, the hero (anti-hero? He was the reason, even if not intentionally and definitely not explicitly, for Eklavya losing his thumb and Karna's repeated humiliation.) of the epic-both brilliant archers, both born of the same mother and yet destined to hate each other till the hatred ultimately consumes one. Arjuna was the blessed one, even gods went out of their way to help him and Karna was the cursed one, cursed three times over for actions done in good faith- Arjuna, the ostensible egomaniac, and Karna, with the chronic low self esteem-Arjuna, on the side of virtue, and Karna, the virtuous one, for yes, there is a difference between the two. In a nutshell, with everything favouring Arjuna, why has Karna's character been the fountainhead of extensive literature, and extensive speculation? Is it because he is the eternal tragic hero-a man of noble origins and strong principles who was destined to suffer in life with death being the only liberator and the horrible romance associated with such a situation? Or is it because he, inspite of siding with the 'evil' was the only one who did not indulge in treachery and unnecessary unkindness? Detractors will immediately point at his role in Draupadi's 'vastraharan' or his participation in the brutal murder of Arjuna's 16 year old son Abhimanyu. This, I think, forms the very crux of the epic that is Mahabharata-the fact that all of it's characters are grey.

What, then, is special about Karna? I have always thought that the characters of Karna and Arjuna are both startlingly similar. It is not difficult to envisage a situation where, if, the life situations of Karna and Arjuna are reversed, they would act in the exact same way. The fact that we have a very clear image of how Karna's life would have been had he been rightfully recognized by Kunti makes the magnitude of his misfortunes even more stark. And therein, I believe, lies the draw to Karna's character as empathy for Karna is ultimately our way of dealing with our own life situations, of consoling ourselves by putting the blame of our failures on the wrongdoing of others. But wasn't that also the ultimate reason for Karna's downfall? Didn't his staunch belief that all his misfortunes were the consequences of other peoples actions ultimately prevent him from taking responsibility for his own transgressions? Questions to which there can be so many possible answers all of which serve to compound the one undeniable truth-One person's story is never only his own-and therein lies the paradox for Karna, saintly as he is, is not faultless and that is what strikes a chord with all his admirers.