RAMAYAN DURING PANDEMIC: ANALOGY BETWEEN THE LIFE OF THE UNCELBRATED URMILA OF RAMAYAN AND OUR UNACCLAIMED ASHAs [ACCREDITED SOCIAL HEALTH ACTIVISTS] [republished]
When the year 2020 began, no man on this earth could foretell that terms like ‘pandemic’, ‘lockdown’, ‘contagious’ would become the new norms. Likewise, none could foresee that a rerun of Ramayan and Mahabharata, by the good old Doordarshan, would smash viewership records worldwide. Ramayan, immortal story of duty and devotion, garnered maximum viewership during the pandemic and with that often parallels were drawn between warriors of Ramayan and Covid warriors. The most important comparison was between Hanuman and the doctors and nurses of our country, both epitomising self-less service beyond the call of duty. Yes Hanuman was pivotal to Ramayan but there were many gracious albeit hidden characters in Ramayana who despite their remarkable sacrifice were relegated and ignored. One such character is Urmila, referred to by Rabindranath Tagore as one of the forgotten heroines (Upekshita) of our past. Though her sacrifice was incomparable, only a few lines are attributed to her in the...