Foreword

While sitting today and reading a book “ Asura “  , something struck me a very valid and a consumable point . During certain discussions everyone has a quote on their lips “Every coin has two faces. “Then why to see the negative of this great man who according to my view had never done anything wrong, he had been a messiah for the weak and the needy. And my skepticism began from the days of Dusshera itself when my mind asked me only this simple question,”what has he done to offend the good? “The answer was there always he did good and a lot of us deny it, he was a messiah for a lot of men and women of an era the Varna hated and thought to be impure.” To tell you all how all this struck me I’ll start from scratch .
One fine day I was sitting and pondering over the few good things that had happened in the yugas earlier than the Kalyug and started thinking of Ravan , the man thought to be the greatest villain of all times and trust me he was me too . So I thought of researching all on him to find a reason . Obviously my low performing brain was of no match for this man’s greatness and then rang the bell of my door. Distorted and disturbed in my thoughts , I rose up to see who was on the door so late . To my astonishment, I found a man with a so called B R Chopra based armor around him his breast plate was shining but something was very different about his face, his face wasn’t that of a lame artist but shone with knowledge and wisdom . My brain was fried, but still I asked him , Yes what do you want . He said , Are you Shivaji  ?? I was amazed , shocked and surprised .  Who was he ? This man couldn’t have  known anything about me because I haven’t ever met him. I said a yes and then he said I am Ravana . I was just amazed the way he said this. He was calm and composed and I thought of slamming my door and running back to dial 100 for the cops . He asked me ” Won’t you invite me son ??” I just thought for a moment this man stole the wife of an incarnation of Lord Vishnu a god thought to be our preserver, tortured many saints and did so many evil but still for humanity’s sake I invited him inside. He asked for a cup of tea and some water and I offered him the same with some snacks .
While he was having the same,he asked me a very substantial question which I could have never imagined “Why did the world symbolize me with evil” ? . I was amazed to witness the audacity of this man yet scared of his stature. Still I mustered some courage and replied him –“ you stole a man’s wife which is adharma and then kept her without her will which is again against the laws of men . You attacked so many saints and committed brutalities that only some insane person would do, this is the reason the world takes you the face of evil .
He smiled at me and I was again amazed at that ,mysterious smile he said , ” what was my fault , My sister was attacked , my brothers were brutally killed and then I was mocked by the saints . The world took me as an evil because I stole someone’s wife but what about my sister who was raped and then his nose slashed and breasts chopped and sent to me just to let me know that some haughty prince of Ayodhya and his insane brother did this , Is it an act of man hood or do you call it godly ??? There is a lot of difference between Rakshasas and the Asuras , the Asuras are the people from hell but the Rakshasas were human beings and to be precise nomads who sang and spread the word about the lords and the gods but when we were prosecuted for no reason we picked up arms and were considered rebels. I was a Brahmin myself, as a son of Vishrawa I was supposed to be scholar too and I did become but I found the society unjust . The Brahmins had just made themselves supreme and they had no competition, the kings and their sons were of equal status like the Brahmins but the rest of the system was a farce in which the oppressed was more oppressed and felt miserable. I felt terrible and raised my voice. My brother Kumbhkarana loved me so did my sister Shurpanakha , Vibhishana too was a great man and all of us decided to fight against this system and tried to make it even and just for  the commonwealth .
And so my struggle began after years and years of fighting ,I impressed the great clan of Brahma and he gave me wishes or vardanas to me as well as my siblings . We asked but again a plot was hatched by the devas as they were called to sabotage it . Kumbhkarana wanted Education (Vidya ) and was made to drink the waters of Saraswati a mystical river and also said to be the wife of the first king of the clan “ Brahma “  , the creator . He went into a state of coma but then he woke up in every six months to have a good meal . I was just amazed to hear all that but I did not know the majority of it , He asked me that if he could stay for a day or two I agreed on the fact that he will tell me one and all of that time . He promised and asked for a mat because he wanted to sleep. I got him the mat where he slept and took rest . While sleeping I just wandered over his words and thought of writing all down and took out a pen and started writing it . Now I was little bit confused that was Ravana really so evil , He was reading my mind and answered my questions for the night . Was he a hero and just that he opposed the society ,he was banished and discarded  . Was he really working towards a society believing in equality in which education was to be given to all . The questions went deep and got me into a fix . I just hoped that I will get my replies the next night .