Sushant Singh Rajput — Another Ekalavya
India is mourning the death of Sushant Singh Rajput (Sushant). There is a lot of enigma around the circumstances under which he died. Although Sushant cannot be brought back, his death reminds us of our history and the negative consequences of power. Indian history tells us time and again, through various stories, that knowledge is superior to power and a society without democracy will eventually fail. In this article, I will revisit once such story — the story of Ekalavya in Mahaabhaarath.
The epic Mahaabhaarath took place in India more than five thousand years ago. “Mahaa” in Sanskrit means “big”. The epic is about events that led to one of the biggest wars fought in India in a place called “Kurukshetra”. The war was between two groups of cousin brothers in the “Kuru” dynasty– the “Paandavas” and “Kauravaas”. Dronaacharyaa was a revered teacher of the Kuru’s and poised himself as the greatest teacher on earth. Dronaacharyaa had promised Arjuna, one of the five Paandava brothers, that he will make him the greatest archer on earth. In the forest where Dronacharyaa was teaching the Kuru princes’, lived another young and brilliant boy named Ekalavya. Ekalavya was the son of a forest dweller. He deeply admired Dronaachaaryaa and wanted to learn archery from him. Dronaachaaryaa, however refused to teach Ekalavya as he did not belong to a royal family and asked Ekalavya to teach himself with faith in his teacher. With the faith in Dronaachaaryaa, Ekalavya did not give up, taught himself and became an excellent archer, superior to Arjunaa. When Dronaachaaryaa saw Ekalavya’s skills, he became insecure about his reputation as a teacher and decided to destroy Ekalavya. He asked for his right thumb as guru dakshinaa (payment to a teacher) knowing that he cannot hold an arrow with strength without his right thumb.
Ekalavya had all the qualities of a perfect student, but he did not seek the right teacher. Even after the cruel guru dakshinaa that Dronaachaaryaa demanded, Ekalavya did not lose his respect for his guru. Dronaachaaryaa, however, set an awfully bad example for his students, without realizing that his students will carry the same moral principles in their life. Dronaachaarya’s teachings could never benefit to unite the Kuru’s. It only separated them, and a massive war broke over superiority and power and our nation were destroyed. This was the great war of “Kurukshetra” in one of the most famous epics of India, Mahaabhaarath.
Sushant, just like Ekalavya, was prevented from becoming one of the great actors in India. The Dronaachaaryaa’s of the Bollywood industry had great powers, could influence success, and dictate what is good. Just like Dronaachaarya destroyed Ekalavya and prevented the world from having two great archers instead of one, the god fathers in the film industry have destroyed great actors like Sushant.
Do you think power dictates success in Bollowood industry? Let us look at a few examples. In “Bajirao Mastaani”, Priyanka Chopra’s role was a tough one and her performance was phenomenal. However, Deepika won the “best actress” title. The struggle and success of Kangana Ranaut to bring an exemplary movie like “Manikaarnika” was undermined. Following are some examples of totally insensitive movies. In “Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhaniyaa”, a boy bribes a girl to pass exams and later falls in love with her. In the movie “Kabir Singh”, a college professor is a drug addict, chain smoker, and a man with extreme rage. He picks out a girl in the middle of a class and tries to commit suicide when he does not marry her. In “Dus Kahaaniyaan”, there is a willful attempt to mock a staunch brahmin. There is a subtle attempt by powerful people to undermine our own value system and influence the viewers of these movies.
If we live in a democracy, why do we get influenced by people in power? It is the classic problem of lack of knowledge among viewers. Movies are no different from any other form of art and expression, like classical music and dance. Classical musicians and dancers are held to the highest standards by putting them through rigorous tests by people who possess knowledge. Also, the people who go for classical music and dance concerts possess knowledgeable about the art and know what to appreciate. This lack of knowledge in the movie viewers is the reason why good actors and good movies go unnoticed and we celebrate shell movies.
Just as the story of Ekalavya, Sushant’s death has reminded us the negative consequences of power. It is time we learn from our history and not celebrate Dronaachaaryaa’s who kill the innocent like Ekalavya or Sushant. In a real democracy, power should be kept in check. We should be proud of our rich culture and appreciate real talent in movies just as any other art. We should have people with knowledge, not power, make decisions about what is great.
