Miscellaneous

“What is here is found elsewhere. What is not here is nowhere.” – Mahabharata

With these words from the epic, Gurcharan Das starts the prelude to his book “The Difficulty of Being Good”, which I had the opportunity to read over the past few days. An output from what he terms as his ‘academic holiday’, this fairly scholarly piece of work by the former CEO of Procter and Gamble and columnist, is a thorough and in-depth examination into the main characters in the Mahabharata, their stories and their moral dilemmas, their relevance and application in today’s day and age, a search for the meaning of dharma, and the eventual conclusion that ‘Dharma is Subtle’.

Review

The book is fairly heavy reading even for regular readers of non-fiction, but is worth the effort. It has loads of wisdom on every page, and content that will take time for even the most patient readers to absorb. Not exactly following the story line of the Mahabharata, the book takes one character at a time and analyzes the major events that happen with the character, and then tries to answer the age-old question “What is dharma?” In the process, it provides the reader a wonderful insight into the human traits of the key characters.

Characters

The author argues that while envy drives Duryodhana and he is largely an ‘evil’ character; for someone who is convinced that the throne belongs to him and whose goal is to win, Duryodhana’s singular drive and endless discontent may be something that one can learn from.

In his analysis of the ‘pravritti-oriented’ Draupadi and her courage, there are some really interesting insights from her conversations with the ‘nivritti-oriented’ Yudhishthira on ‘Why be Good?’ and the various explanations for it. A significant part of the book also focuses on the ‘un-hero’ Yudhishthira and his search for ‘dharma’, and how he undergoes a transformation from being a passive, non-violent, strictly moral prince to a more pragmatic, active and balanced righteous king, on realising the inherent conflicts between being a ruler and being good.

While noting that Bheeshma is perhaps the most ideal character in the Mahabharata and that his striking trait is selflessness, the author also questions whether selflessness is always good, especially if, like in Bheeshma’s case, it actually led to the Mahabharata. If he had not taken the pledge, perhaps things would have been smooth with Bheeshma taking the throne.

The author also goes on to explain the status anxiety faced by Karna, its relevance in today’s society, and why he is the ‘most lamented’ character in the epic; as well as the despair faced by Arjuna when he refused to take arms. The author finally takes a detailed look at Krishna and his guile and how it was singularly responsible for the Pandava victory, specially due to its use in the death of all the Kaurava commanders-in-chief – namely Bheeshma, Drona, Karna and Duryodhana. He analyses the character of Krishna both as a human and as God, and eventually concludes that the only justification for his actions is that He is God.

Synopsis

All through the book the author constantly provides contemporary parallels to the epic’s events, and tries to answer the question on whether it is possible to be good and still achieve your goals, and why it is so difficult. These examples range from personal dilemmas in day to day life, positions that corporates and administrators are likely to find themselves in, decisions regarding law and policy makers as well as international issues.

Eventually the conclusion is a highly profound piece of writing some of which I quote below:

“Good behaviour is not rewarded generously in the epic; the virtuous suffer banishment and deprivation, while the wicked flourish in their palaces. Nor does the epic seem to explain why ‘good’ persons, who had a strong and persuasive case to make war, could win only by unfair means? And if so, how can we still call them ‘good’? It has told us that dharma is hidden in a cave, but even if it is found, it is so subtle that it slips from our grasp.”

“There is no single definition of dharma, it is matter of a fine balance  and dharma is subtle. Dharma is supposed to uphold a certain cosmic balance and it is expected to help us balance the plural ends of life – desire, material well being and righteousness – when they come into conflict. However, dharma does not do a very good job at it.”

Overall, a wonderful read, if one has the inclination and patience to absorb it.

Avada Kedavra said Voldemort for the last time yesterday, and in the final battle, when the curse rebounded, it signified the last victory of Harry over his evil bete noire. The audience applauded heartily for the final time, and as my son and I left the cinema hall, he was left with an empty feeling that this was indeed the end.

My son was just born when the first hints of Potter-mania hit the world, and to that extent, we have been late entrants into the Potter club – only perhaps for a year or so. But in that year, Harry, Ron and Hermoine along with Dumbledore, Snape and the entire professor-hood of Hogwarts, plus Voldemort and his Death-eaters had well and truly taken over our household. In a relatively short period of a year, reading all the seven books one by one, some of them twice, and then watching each of the first seven moves at least twice, my son had become a walking encyclopedia on Potter and his gang. And doing what only a 10 year old Potter fan can do, he had successfully converted his parents, both his sets of grand parents and perhaps most of his friends in to die hard Potter fans too.

It was then that I realised how much of a void the end of this last movie is likely to create in a generation of children (and their parents) that grew up on Harry Potter. Right from mesmerising children with the initiation in the early couple of movies (which most people watched agape) to almost frightening their parents in the last two Deathly Hallows, the rivalry of good and evil in a world of magic cast its spell on a generation of children. The last few months our home has been full of children making wands from broken twigs playing ‘Expelliarmus’ with each other, riding on imaginary broomsticks playing quidditch with their snitches taking roles of Harry, Ron and Draco, and calling their parents ‘Muggles’. As the early playfulness of the three friends quickly matured into an intense plot of rivalry, the games suitably changed with the early characters of schoolmates being replaced with Dumbledore, Snape and Voldemort and his deatheaters.

But beyond the now familiar spells, characters and the world of magic that Rowling and the movies based on her books took us into, there are some amazing subtle hints of wisdom that she threw at children – through the words of some amazing characters, specially Dumbledore and sometime Sirius Black and Severus Snape.  Like when Dumbledore tells Harry in the Chamber of Secrets: “It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” Or tells him in the Prisoner of Azkaban: “Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.” Or when Sirius Black advises Harry in the Goblet of Fire: “If you want to know what a man’s like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.” And finally the one that I heard Dumbledore say yesterday in the Deathly Hallows when Harry asks him whether this is real or it is happening in his head: “Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?”

For mere ‘muggles’ who have not quite experienced this magic, it has always been a puzzle what the fuss is all about. But for those who have had this potion, it is always a case of the charms taking over. Finally it all ends – as far as the books and the movies are concerned. But it will continue to stay with this generation forever. Perhaps by some spell of magic, it may get a rebirth too. So till we meet again on platform number 9 and a 3/4, this is indeed the end of magic as we know it.