once upon a time, in a land far far away and near an ocean that was huge and the water drops mighty and the grass green and the monkey skittish and the sharks good-natured, there lived a man..who was named ravana.....he did not know then that all he had to do was sit in penance for a thousand years before the lord shiva appeared before him to grant him any boon, short of his own life...so our good ole ravana palmed off substantial boons, and screamed....and since that day the good lord shiva has gone into hiding, never to be seen gain........
now comes the sequel to this story...........our man in lanka picked mandodhari for a wife and innumerable concubines to keep her company (honest, that's what he is claimed to have said to her) and was rolling in the lap of luxury, with an aeroplane (pushpak, that was also, incidentally, not unlike the divine kamadhenu, the bestower of gifts) some tv that just needed to run on gangajal, and closed circuit television to keep track of his ever-fornicating asuras..........one fine day, our screamer had a dream........and what a dream it was.........
here's the final part of the trilogy.............
hiding from all, in a forest dense with musk deer and lush grass, the one who makes the universe scream saw a lady humming..............since ravana had ten heads and he could stare with 10 pairs, he had eyes only for the lady...out he flew in his pushpak and after some subtle arguments, persuaded our lady in panchavati to accompany him............but little did he know that her saas had given birth to a warrior par excellence....so out he went, along with his half-brother and tried to snatch her right back.........their efforts were not in vain and eventually ravana was slain.....and, rama, sita and lakshmana thought they would live happily ever after.......but little did they realise that in his next birth, ravana would be born as a dhobi and his conversation would be heard by rama...so, out went sita again, banished for no fault and finally swallowed by her maker.......and ravana had the last laugh..............
PS: Moral of the story: Trust in God, but keep your clothes pressed!
