Bollywood has always been fascinated by love stories of rich girl meets poor boy. Countless movies have been made on the premise, and many of them have gone on to become box office hits. However, a fact unknown to many, even the writers themselves, is that these bodies of fiction have been inspired by an ultimate love story, which happened millions of years ago.
Part 1
Once upon a time, many years ago, there was a young lad who dwelled in the valleys and peaks of a mountain with his tribe He was a maverick. A non-conformist to popular beliefs and norms, he lived his life on his own terms. Young, handsome and dynamic, he was the ultimate rebel. Although a vagabond, he was also extremely intelligent and caring, which made him a favorite of his tribesmen
Like most youth of his age do to while away time, he used to spend hours hanging out with friends, trekked across the mountains, enjoyed an occasional drink or a drag of hashish.
Living a care free life that he was, there wasn’t any semblance of him getting married and settling down. But destiny had a different plan, and made him fall in love with a girl.
While he was rustic and rugged, she was a complete opposite. Born to a rich businessman who ran almost an empire near the foothills of the mountains, she had everything a girl could ever dream of. Dainty and beautiful, she was the apple of her daddy’s eye, and he ensured she always got the best.
Years went by, and as the girl turned into a beautiful young woman, it was but natural that her father wished that his daughter gets married into a suitable family. Rich, handsome, high social status were some of the specifications put forth during groom hunting.
The beautiful girl had no real attraction towards fame and fortune, but was attracted to our man from the mountains. Cupid struck, and before they knew, they were madly in love with each other.
As expected, their marriage was strongly opposed to by her father, though her sister and mother were a little more supportive. The rich businessman felt enraged and insulted that his daughter chose to marry someone visibly uncouth, poor and clearly not very successful in life.
Notwithstanding her father’s opposition, the girl got married to her love, and left her father’s palatial home to come and stay in a modest house of her husband.
Days and months rolled by, and they were happily settled in their married life.
Then came the news one day.
Her father had organized a grand celebration, a get together of sorts. Invitations had been sent out to every eminent and distinguished person from near and far. Thousands of commoners were to be a part of the celebration and the feast too.
“Why didn’t father invite me and my husband?” the girl wondered. “Maybe I should not expect an invitation. It is my family’s function, and you don’t send a formal invitation to your own kin”, she told herself.
“I think we should visit my father’s place to attend the function”, she said to her husband. “I am not sure if we should go uninvited. No, leave it”, he replied. She got angry. “Why should we need an invitation from our own people? If you are not coming with me, I will go alone”. “As you wish dear”, he smiled and replied calmly.” But don’t go alone. I will ask a few of my friends to give you company”
The day of the event arrived and what a sight it was!! Tens and thousands of people had come from faraway lands. Businessmen, politicians, their wives and their kids. People were decked up in their best attire, the alcohol flew freely and the food was aplenty. Everyone seemed very happy to be a part of such a grand ceremony.
Our girl walked into the celebration hall, feeling timid and shy. She had lost touch of moving around in social circles like these. The very manner in which she had interacted with people earlier, and the same manner in which they were talking to each other now, felt so fake and selfish. This was very different from the social gatherings in her new life, and she felt terribly awkward and out of place. She looked at her husband’s friends, and their condition was no different.
She gazed around and saw her sisters with their husbands and went up to them. Although they were happy to meet her, the discomfort was evident. She then went to meet her mother, who was delighted to meet her daughter after many days. Then she went to meet her father and all hell broke loose.
“And with whose permission or invitation are you here?”, her father snorted in anger and disdain. The poor girl felt nervous at being asked something like this by her own father, that too in public.
“Father, it is our family function. Why should I need an invitation from my family?” she said meekly.
“Yes exactly. You don’t need an invitation to meet your family. But what makes you think we are your family? I disowned you the day you married that destitute and a fool. I can clearly see how shabbily you have come to live”, the father started hurling abuses at his own daughter and son-in-law.
“Father, please stop. You can insult me if you wish to. But not my husband. I love him and will not hear a word against him”, she said, as she finally picked up her confidence.
“Of course I will insult him. He is worthy of every insult ever thought of”. The girl’s father had no intention of stopping, and kept on with the abuses.
Finally, the girl could take it no more. She felt responsible for the insults that were thrown at her husband. Not able to bear the shame and the humiliation, she decided to end her life.
There was a stunned silence as people saw her kill herself. Nobody dared to move to save her. Her father was a powerful and a well-connected man, and it was in their best interests to stay in his good books.
The news reached the mountains in no time. The man was first struck with grief, and then felt a burning rage inside. He came down from the mountain with his friends and stormed into the celebration hall. He was maddened with grief and anger, and asked his friends to destroy everything and kill everyone in sight. Then he saw the lifeless body of his wife, slumped down on his knees and wept.
Part 2
Years went by, and the man had accepted his loss. The loss of his love had left him detached from the world around him, and spent hours in isolation.
His friends were concerned. “I think it is time for you to start a new life”, the man’s closest friend said to him once. “No my friend, I can never love another woman, and her memories are enough for me”. The man denied the idea of getting married again.
His friend was persistent though, and called in a match maker. “I have a girl who is perfect for him”, the match maker said to the man’s friend as they watched him stare into nothingness.” She will ignite his lost spirit again”, he said.
The match maker came down from the mountain and visited the house of another eminent personality in the region, who was a land lord. “I have found a perfect match for your daughter”, he told his host. “But isn’t he a widower? Why should my daughter marry a widower?” asked the visibly disturbed father.
The father called his daughter and asked for her opinion. “I know what happened with him, and I know he has decided that he will never marry again. But I also know that I love him, and one day, I will win his love”, the daughter resolved.
Thus began a period of trials and tribulations. The young woman used all her charms to woo the man. He was unperturbed and distant. After months of trying, she sought the help of a local counsellor and his wife. “I will handle it, he will fall in love with you and will marry you”, assured the counsellor. In the days that followed, the counsellor tried every trick in his book to make our man fall in love with the young girl.
At one point, he disturbed and irritated him to the extent that the man almost killed him. That was also the time the girl finally won over him, not through her charms, but through her devotion and dedication towards his love. He apologized to the counsellor, thanked the match maker and his friends, and sought the permission of the girl’s father to marry his daughter.
The story doesn’t end here. A few years later, they were blessed with two beautiful kids.
One grew up to be a chubby boy. He was mischievous, yet very adorable, and was loved by all. He was highly intelligent too. The second boy was short tempered, very shy of girls, and wanted to become an army man.
Like all parents, our man and his wife were worried for their kids. However, the kids grew up, eventually married and had their own family. This was truly the beginning of ‘they lived happily ever after’ phase of our couple.
It is not very difficult to guess who I was talking about all this while. For the benefit of the readers who have not been able to guess already, let us add a dash of mythology to our fable and deify the characters.
Our man from the mountains is none other than Lord Shiva from the great Himalayas. His best friend is Nandi, and his group of friends are his followers or ‘Gana’ as they are known.
The rich, arrogant businessman, and the father of the girl is King Daksha Prajapati, whose kingdom or empire was at the foot hills of the Himalayas. His daughter, who falls in love with Lord Shiva is Goddess Sati.
The grand celebration and get together was the ‘yagna’ that Daksha had organized, for which he deliberately did not invite his daughter and Lord Shiva.
The suicide of his daughter at the celebration hall is the self-immolation of Goddess Sati, unable to bear the insults thrown at her husband, Lord Shiva.
Lord Shiva’s friends, who caused destruction after Goddess Sati killed herself are Veer Bhadra and Bhadra Kali.
The match maker who persuaded Lord Shiva to marry again is Rishi Narada. The Land Lord that Rishi Narada went to with Lord Shiva’s proposal, is King Himavat, the owner of the Himalayas, after whom the mountain was named. His daughter is Goddess Parvati, or one of the mountains (Parvat).
The counsellor who tried to help her and was beaten up is Kama, the god of desire. Lord Shiva had killed him by opening his third eye, and later brought him back to life at the behest of Goddess Parvati.
The chubby, potbellied, intelligent kid is Lord Ganesha or Ganpati. The shy, hot headed boy, interested in warfare is Lord Kartikeya.
Part 3
It is interesting to see how our earliest gods were always depicted as followers of the natural order. They were shown as possessors of super human powers, and as house holders at the same time. Humanity along with the divinity that was attached to them, actually brought the gods closer to their devotees, because they felt their god was just like them. Possibly this is why real devotees always love and respect their deities, but are never scared of them.
My next road trip will take me on yet another temple run, this time across Maharashtra where I will delve deeper in the legend of Lord Shiva. Watch out this space for the travel story.
The Motorcycle Diaries 