Weekend from Home (WFH) thoughts….The differences

While ‘sankramana’ in Sanskrit means ‘commencement of a movement’ , sankranti means the ‘transit of the sun from one zodiac sign…Dhanu rashi to another zodiac sign which is Makara rashi. In other words from Sagitarrius to Capricorn. This northward journey of the sun (Uttarayan) is what calls for celebration as winter recedes during this time, the cold passes away and there is hope and joy in the hearts of mankind as these are also harvest days. Hence Makara Sankranti is the first festival that one waits for in the month of January.

Weekend from home during this festival as you take a quiet look down the corridor, has the lady of the house, wearing a mask, face covered, quickly spreading the rangoli on the floor and the door goes shut in an instant. Covid terror indeed that looms stronger over households than the festive spirit. No skirts plying across homes, no distribution of sweets or savouries nor do we get invited to any house to a meal in the last two years since COVID has its unsolicited presence amongst mankind…….

Looking beyond the festivity, takes us to the story of the Sun and his son Shani. During this movement (sankramana) the Sun is said to visit the house of his son, Shani, who is the lord of the zodiac sign Capricorn or Makara. The story of the Sun and his son is a story of animosity between the father and the son. The Sun was married to Sangya and bore him two children: Yam and Yami. Not being able to withstand the heat of her husband, she comes out with a solution of leaving her shadow, Chaya with the Sun. The Sun lived happily with Chaya not knowing who she really was. When Chaya conceived Shani, the story reads as to how she went into acute fasting during her pregnancy and hence Shani was born dark in colour. The father was shocked to see the black colour of his son and refused to acknowledge him as his son. Thus stemmed the animosity between the father and the sun, which was resolved by the intervention of Lord Shiva granting Shani a boon and making him the most powerful of the planets. Inspite of all the differences between the father and son, the Sun visits his son’s house during Makara Sankranthi, thus representing the fact that this time is when we end all negativities and begin a new relationship.

This takes us back to the other father-son relationships in Indian mythology and other mythologies like the Greek mythology for instance. Greek mythology has the relationship between Kronos and his children, wherein he feels threatened by the birth of his sons and so kills each of them till Zeus kills his father and becomes King. Oedipus is also rejected by his father, Lalus and kills him. The ideals of fatherhood were not met with by Indian mythical heroes and gods as well. Lord Shiva’s story tells us about how he beheaded Ganesha, who was created by Parvati, only because he refused him entry to the abode of Parvati when she was bathing. The ‘Mahabharata’ reads the story of the lesser known Iravan, born to Arjuna and the Naga princess Ulupi. Arjuna is aware that Iravan is far more stronger a warrior and thus does not hesitate to agree when Iravan is sacrificed to the Goddess Kali during the battle with the Kauravas. Bhishma, the strongest hero of the ‘Mahabharata’ and the strong grandsire of the Kuru family was rejected by his father Shantanu. Bhishma was the eighth son of Ganga and Shantanu and was the crowned prince of the kingdom of Hastinapur.s He was made to vow lifelong celibacy only to fulfil his father’s desire to marry Satyavati. So was the case with Ghatotkacha the son of Bhima. Ghatotkacha was the son of Bhima and Hidimbi and was stronger than Bhima as a warrior, but died during the war as an unsung hero. Hiranyakashipu who hated Lord Vishnu, does not hesitate to destroy his son Prahlad who worshipped Lord Narasimha, while Dushyant even refuses to accept his son Bharat and Rama does not hesitate to battle Luv and Kush or be present when Sita gives birth to them.

A complicated emotional labyrinth indeed wherein the fathers have nothing but apathy towards their sons. However, we also note that these sons emerge with a stronger sense of identity of their own. Negative unexpressed feelings impact the father-son intimate relationship and there is so much anger and hurt. Reminded of Kafka who wrote about his father in “Letter to My Father”…’What was always incomprehensible to me was your total lack of feeling for the suffering and shame you could inflict on me with your words and judgments’. That despite all the animosity the father is welcomed by the son in his house is where the happiness lies and thus begins an auspicious time of the year in our lives……