Hey Ram!

I am the namesake of one of the most popular characters in Indian Mythology- Sreeram of Ramayana. Ramayana is one Indian epic which every child born in India is made familiar to at a very young age considering the fact that the characters of Ramayana epitomise the various virtues of life. More so, in the case of Sreeram, who was honest, truthful, devoted, and committed to his principles, his family and his country at large. No wonder, pages and pages of literature have been devoted to this mythological character and movies after movies have been made based on Sreeram. The most popular interpretation of Ramayan in my time is that classic serial by Ramanand Sagar which was telecast on Doordarshan in the mid to late 80's when the entire country used to come to a stand still. I had read somewhere that the serial holds the record for being the one that has been shown in most countries across the World and dubbed to the maximum languages. Sreeram has enjoyed a very long run as one of the most reverred mythological characters in the World and his biggest achievement has been the construction of the Ram Setu from Rameshwaram to Sri Lanka, with the help of the monkey troupe led by Sugreeva. Yes, the same Ram Setu which is in the news now a days for all the wrong reasons. Honestly, I really don't care whether or not the Sethu Samudhram project is commissioned and I am not fully aware of the benefits or difficulties of the said project. All I know is that there is a lot of mud slinging happening between a whole lot of people occupying positions that matter in the country. What pains me immensely are the remarks that are being made about Sreeram. Ever since the Ayodhya episode, Sreeram's name has been tarnished and the BJP and the RSS have been doing whatever they can to save the reputation of their beloved mythological hero. However, the controversies surrounding the Sethu Samudhram project have surpassed the Ayodhya episode in tarnishing Sreeram's reputation even leading to questions on his existence. I am a Hindu, but definitely not a fanatic, nor am I trying to make a political statement by writing about Sreeram on my blog. But, my heart really goes out to the real "Sreeram" who after millions of years of his existence (apparently, that is) is being drawn into all kinds of scandals and unwanted discussions. Probably, my feelings for the hero is thanks to the fact that I am his namesake. But, I know one thing for sure. If he was alive today, he would have definitely cried "Hey Ram!!" responding to all the negative publicity coming his way!