Love, Possession & Power – Tales in Black & White by Devdutt Pattaniak & Anil Srinivasan

We welcomed Mr. Devdutt Pattanaik, our guest speaker , who took us on a demystified journey of Feminine Divinity, along with acclaimed Maestro Pianist, Mr Anil Srinivasan

They say, ‘When a woman rises in her glory, her energy is magnetic & her sense of possibility is contagious. She throws away all her masks & puts on her soul’- quoted Ms. Minal Jain

FICCI Ladies Organization, Jaipur chapter, represents a large group of Female entrepreneurs, and which effortlessly boasts of an infinite bank of talent, intellectual assets. It provides a dynamic platform where it’s members find themselves being exposed to a range of curated programs & profound interactions with talented Artists, Managers, Life Coaches etc.

FLO now sees convergence of so many energies, young & old, fresh & experienced, professionals & business leaders. It gives me immense satisfaction to note that our members are coming forward in large numbers to harness the potential of this great organization, to network & upgrade and contribute to so many skill development programs undertaken by FLO.

We shared with our guests, Events organized by FLO Jaipur  since April 2017,  covering subjects like Life Motivation with Lisa Ray, Success Stories with Mr. KabirBedi & Radhika Apte, a Culinary session with Mr Vicky Ratnani, a event on Self Branding with Mr. Anand Pillai & Ms. Tanvi Bhatt. We also had a session on Nutrition with Gul Panag &Pooja Makhija. This was followed by a well attended programme on Leadership & Peer Pressures conducted by Mr. Ashish Vidhyarthi. All these in addition to a host of CSR activities including Skill development programs & Health Awareness camps organized near Jaipur

The session commenced when Mr. Pattanaik said that we exchange stories to gain more knowledge and learn. Through stories we get to know about each other’s worlds. And he narrated the stories of various female divinities of different eras and walked us through those societies by his own lens along with beautiful amalgamation of music.
Black, White and Grey: Shades of Feminine Divine,” the first dialogue of parallel perspectives was struck with award-winning mythologist and writer, Devdutt Pattanaik.

Following Anil Srinivasan’s rendering of ‘Shri Chakra Raja’ that placed the feminine divine energy at the vertex of all thought triangles in the hall, Devdutt Pattanaik steered the audience towards the story of Sati/ Dakshayani. He dramatically articulated the distress of Sati caught between the husband who does not care and the father who cares only about himself, leading to throw herself into the ritualistic fire. She is later born again as Parvathi, who brings Shiva from ascetic seclusion to happy domestication.

First story – Shivji:

Mr. Devdutt started with his first story on Shivji. Who made shiva divine? The conflict between yagya and tapa. Dakshprajapati’s youngest daughter Sati fell in love with Shivji. However, her father did not approve of him as had no home and no work, so he did not want her to get married to Shivji. However, she went against her father and gets married to Shivji and walks out of her father’s house. Shivji was sitting on Kailash parbat while Daksh prajapatiwas was below doing “yagya”.

Sati is stuck between her father and her husband. She is balancing both by trying to make them talk to each other but they did not want to. In frustration, she jumps into the fire of the yagya because both were not ready to compromise. She was trying to make balance between both. This is the story of Sati.

Shiv is withdrawing from the world but Prajapati wants to control the world. When Sati burns herself Shivji gets very angry. He wanted to stop the yagya but all other goddess come to tell him that if there is no yagya there is no world. Shivji returns back to Kailashparbat.

Sati does not die, she takes birth in the form of Parvati. Parvati is much calmer and different than Sati. She sits infront of Shiv and does whatever Shivji does. She makes Shivjirealise that there is no use of the knowledge until he shares his knowledge with everyone. She is able to convince him to come down of Kailash parbat, which Sati always wanted to do .The story which starts with Sati ends with Parvati.

It is because of Parvati that Shiva comes from from Kailash to kashi – he becomes a householder…dances like natraj. Shiva was infinity but when he gets Avtarit – he has a role – a patra, a responsibility and rules to follow.

Mr. Devdutt added – “What is the use of music and stories if you are not telling to anyone. Knowledge expands only by sharing and talking about your stories”. The steep ascent of Siva to the Himalayas and his descent to Varanasi was reflected in the musical notations that resembled the form of the mountains, explained Anil Srinivasan. From the white of snow-clad mountains in the daylight to the dark forests at night, the audience was taken to the Raas of the Gopis around Krishna.

Second story – Krishna:

Mr. Pattanaik pointed out some interesting perspectives when it comes to Krishna. In the ‘Raas,’ a circle/chakra, Krishna, the centre, is equidistant from every Gopi. Each end of the spoke is different with respect to each other. Square is maryada and in a circle , there is no maryada and hence one need not be afraid.

There is no desire, no hunger, no fear – that israasleela. Moving forward, he delineated Radha, Rukmini and Satya bhama, rarely portrayed in the context of female goddesses, creating a beautiful contrast of characters around Krishna.
Anil Srinivasan said “The music of the rasa is specifically constructed in circles – it’s a circular pattern where there is no end”.

Third story – Ram and Sita:

Who made Ram divine? Sita – the Bhoomijanya

It’s the story of two love birds. Sati is the bird outside the cage whereas Ram is the bird inside the cage. Ramayana is a story of two lovers. Ram is from Raghukul and Rajgharna and under maryada. Sita loves him who is not bound.

Ram is bound under rules and laws but Sita makes choices of her own. She makes 5 choices:

1. Following Ram to the jungle.
2. Crossing Laxmanrekha to serve food to the saint
3. To send Hanuman back
4. Going to Ayodhya even when told by Ram not to
5. Going to the jungle and never returning back

In jungle, the stronger attacks the weaker and in a society; the stronger supports the weaker. This sometimes is called the dharamsankat.

Mr. Devdutt concluded by saying that one has to leave anger. Radha taught Krishna to leave anger and Krishna taught the same thing to Draupadi.

In the end, we have to let go and that is the essence of the stories of the puranas.
Anil Srinivasan played and later explained a cyclic structure in the music of the Raas. Anil Srinivasan and DevduttPattanaik predictably took turns and outdid each other. “The idea of Black and White (the colours of the Piano keys) put forward by Anil Srinivasan, grew to a beautiful format with DevduttPattanaik’s process-driven approach and commendable knowledge.