Stories Made Simple

It was the same nightmare that awoke Kausalya in a fit of panic every night. She hears frantic knocking and banging on the door and the heart-wrenching pleas of a little girl calling out to her, "Mother! Mother! Open the door. I'm afraid." Kausalya is unable to move because her hands are tied. She is trapped in a closed box and is trying hard to wriggle out of the tight knot on her wrists. She wants to open the door, to console the little girl,  to tell her to wait, and that everything will be alright soon. But no voice comes out of her throat. She can feel herself screaming silently. The nightmare continues. The little girl is grown into a beautiful woman. She is a great warrior, adept at wielding the most dangerous and powerful weapons with ease. And yet, she stands outside the closed door pleading with her mother, "Why are you not opening the door? Why can't I come in? Why are you sending me away?" Again, Kausalya tries hard to speak. She wants to tell th

Torrential rains accompanied by incessant thunder and lightning threatened to tear apart Mathura that dark, ferocious night. River Yamuna was bursting at the seams as her banks overflowed. The entire city of Mathura stayed indoors.  No one dared to face the wrath of nature. The sounds of thunder drowned the screams of Devaki as she writhed in the agony of labour pains even as the prison chains rubbed against her skin turning it to a horrific scarlet colour. Finally, she gave birth to her eighth child. She passed out due to exhaustion without even glancing at her much-awaited child. Her harried husband, Vasudev, looked at his newborn son. His heart overflowed with love even as despair and hopelessness filled his mind with dread.  As Devaki passed out, miracles started to take place. Vasudev noticed the soldiers guarding the prison cell had all mysteriously swooned. The locks opened on their own. The chains that bound Vasudev's hands and feet came free.  A voice in his head commanded

Nandi had done it again! Parvati was furious. Despite warning him repeatedly, Nandi had left her work half-done and had run off behind Shiva who called him to go and watch a wrestling match.  From her bath, she had heard her husband’s voice as he called out to Nandi who didn't even bother to check with her before leaving. He had mutely (and perhaps, happily too) followed Shiva. The worst thing was the feeling of desolation she experienced each time something like this happened. She felt alone and uncared for.  Parvati's orders and commands always took second place to those of Shiva in Kailash. Shiva's bidding was considered more prominent than hers. Then, why did Shiva carry on the pretence of being an ‘ardhanarishwara’ giving equal importance to man and woman? He preached, "There is no Shiva without Shakti," to everyone. Parvati had many names and one of them was Shakti.  But when she approached him to resolve the inequality meted out to her by Nandi and everyone