Unmatchable Whispers...

Karna, the unmatchable...

It was my dad who first told me about Karna. “Be like Arjuna”, he said. “Be honest, be brave, and be bold enough to face the truth”, he continued, after our bedtime story session. But that was Karna, I argued. The bold, the brave, and the enigmatic was not Arjuna, but the one and only Karna. It was at that moment, I realised that I was falling in love... In love with the matchless, inexplicable villain of our great epic!!!

If ever I get an opportunity to have a rendezvous with any of those imaginary characters I fantasy, I would, any day, any time, choose Karna... Abandoned by his own mother, mortified by his gurus, disgraced by his peers, the valiant warrior was always tormented and abashed.  His eyes would have reflected the humiliations he had gone through.  When he was about to prove that he was much much better than Arjuna in archery, his heart would have been crushed beyond repair when the so called gurus insulted him and sent him back.  When Draupadi ridiculed him in front of many, how terrible it would have been for him to retreat with his swollen pride!! If she had chosen him, her life would have been a million times better. He would have treasured her preciously. He would never ever have allowed anything or anyone to hurt her even a little.

Temptations and obstacles failed to terrify this majestic hero. Whatever happened, he stood by his word till he breathed his last. If he had set his mind, he could have become the unrivalled emperor. He was supreme to all in arms and weaponry. He could have got whatever he had wanted. But he never cheated. He was never shrewd. He never lied. He never played any dirty games. He never begged anyone to spare him. Still he was labelled as the villain.

No one saw the pain in his eyes. No one saw how he hung his head down in shame many a times. No one bothered to wipe out that tear drop which refused to come out from his eyes.... What did he do to deserve such hatred? Was it because of his loyalty to the one and only person who had loved him and spared him from his humiliation? Was it because when many pleaded with him for Arjuna’s life, he agreed not to kill him? Was it because he gave away his armors and hoops to Indra knowing well that he was inviting his own death? If he was wrong, then what about Arjuna killing him when he was helpless without his chariot and weapons? What about all the other slaughters of Bheeshma, Jayadrada, Duryodana and Drona? Is this Dharma?

 If this is Dharma, then, My Karna, you don’t belong in this world. But Karna, you can be proud of yourself. You are majestic, par excellence. You tower before others with your unrivalled personality. You are you, my dear.. The one and only enigmatic, unmatchable KARNA ...................................................