Author Devdutt Pattanaik wants parents to teach their children about the past, says D Chakraborty
Devdutt Pattanaik, mythologist, author and communicator, who has gained fame for demystifying ancient wisdom, epics and folk fables, doesn’t believe in the digital route to understanding our past. He believes that the abundance of information available now is merely obfuscating the real significance of these metaphorical stories. “I think parents should share such stories with their children who rely on them as a credible source of knowledge and tell them their purpose and significance. An abundance of information is available on the internet but what the mother can tell the child is more authentic, felt and understandable than what is available in the cyber sphere. Parents would also feel responsible as communicators and gauge the right meaning.”
It is ultimately for the parents to decide, how they want their children to understand the past. “One can tell stories to children in whichever way is deemed fit by the parent. There is no hard and fast guideline in the case of Ramayana and Mahabharata,” he says.
Pattanaik explains myths as a popular manifestation of practical wisdom. “Mythology refers to variously collected myths about groups of people or to the study of myths. These are the stories people tell to explain nature, history and customs. It is a way of looking at life,” says the author. Mythology is a complex area of study and nobody really understands it in its totality, he feels. As Pattanaik correctly puts it, “One can read the stories from the books but nobody understands the importance or the impact of the stories. Mythology is a subject by itself.”
Pattanaik presents Devlok with Devdutt Pattanaik, a popular show on Epic channel. He says, “I don’t know what the viewers expect from my show but I just tell the stories and they seem to like it. It feeds the curiosity about our culture and have probably gained ground because before this no one has narrated the stories in this way. I am just presenting it in a systematic and organised way. And it’s sad that in a country with such a huge population, no one has till date explained the importance and significance of mythological stories. What theories are available, what designs are available, what symbolism do they representIJ These shouldn’t be learnt by rote as part of the curriculum. We have to invest time to figure out what is a good way of connecting with our roots and learning from them.” But are people interested in the pastIJ In the quickly changing and evolving country that is India, understanding or for that matter even knowing about one’s past is no longer considered important. But Pattanaik does not judge anyone who has neither the desire to know about his or her origins nor harbour any curiosity about it. He says, “It’s okay not to know your roots and travel rootless. Everything is an option. You should live whichever way you want to. One day when you feel the need to know your origin, then you can simply dig out for answers.”
Talking about authenticity of the stories and including mythology as a subject in schools, Pattanaik says, “Very often people can be seen reading the Hanuman Chalisa on our way to work but rarely do they understand its significance. People read it when they are scared, frightened, nervous, panicked, agitated, alarmed or worried. It is designed to give us strength in a very musical way. It’s a stress buster. So I am trying to go beyond the immediate assurance and find out what is there in the stories. It’s important to answer why we do puja, why do we have several rituals or what is their significanceIJ Catering to these questions is very important instead of leaving it as a ritual of the generations gone by,” says he.