Questions and Answers
1955 Words
Mounika entered the activity room waiting for the girls. It had been a week since she had given the girls those questions to think over and answer. She had prepared a slide with the questions so that the girls could look at the questions and try to answer them. She was a bit anxious to find out what they thought about the questions; she knew that the girls were intelligent enough to try and answer them. The girls entered the room in a line. She looked at the eager and serious faces of the girls as they sat with a look of – Awe? Respect? Sympathy? Determination? Well, she would get the answers soon enough. She remembered the words of the Principal, Mr. Parasuram, in the hospital. “Every person is born for a purpose in life. What you have gone through is horrible and tragic. No one can undo what happened. None of us can bring your mother back; nor can we promise to keep you safe for ever. I am practical man, Miss Mounika. Every person has a scary past – a past that every person wants to forget. But what makes a person different is what he/she has learnt from the past. A person who takes positive lessons makes a positive impact while a person who takes it negatively leads to anarchy. Take your time and think – what do you want to do with your life? Wallow in self pity or fight to make a difference? Choice is yours to make. Heaven or hell are made by the actions of people – not gods or devils. So, who are you Miss Mounika? What do you want to be? While you are here recuperating, I suggest that you read the history of our Empire. you may find some answers.
She had done exactly that! Read books on the history of the empire starting from the first king Raja Ugra Vaibhava Raya. As she read she found her gloomy thoughts wash away replaced by determination to make her situation better. She had realized that god had given her a chance to make a change – to teach young minds who would bring in the change. She was meant to be that torch bearer – the pathfinder who lead the people to a brighter place. She was to become that proverbial candle that burns itself to show the path to others. She had then started to take her medication seriously and had recovered in record time; though the doctors here seemed to expect it. Obviously they were used to such miracles.
Releasing the breath she had been holding, Mounika walked to the screen where the questions were displayed.
One – Why did Rudrama Devi grow up a Rudra Deva? Why Couldn’t she be Rudrama Devi? Was it justifiable?
Two – Why did the people reject Rudrama Devi when her true identity was revealed? Why did they feel males could rule better? What do you learn from this?
Three – How did Rudrama Devi prove everyone wrong? How did she achieve it? Was she alone in her endeavours? Who helped her and why do you think they helped her? Was this a case of hero saving the lady? Why or why not?
Four – If you were Rudrama Devi, what would you have done? What problems would you face and how would you solve them?
Five – Do you see any similarity between the situation in the present day and the situation in the days of Rudrama Devi? What are they? What would you do to try and change that?
“Shubhodayam, class!”
“Shubhodayam, ma’am!”
“Did you try and think about the questions I gave you last week?”
“Yes, ma’am!”
“Shall we discuss the questions then?”
“Yes ma’am!”
“Shailu, read the first question please.”
“Why did Rudrama Devi grow up as Rudra Deva? Why Couldn’t she be Rudrama Devi? Was it justifiable?”
“Let us discuss the first part of the question. Why did Rudrama Devi grow up as Rudra Deva? Who will respond first?” All hands shot up. Mounika selected a girl in the last row. “Yes, Manasa.”
“Ma’am, she was born in a misogynist society like ours. Women were considered ineligible to rule. Men had an inferiority complex that women would dominate them if they were allowed to rule. So they came up with several silly reasons to keep the women confined to the palace and the kitchen. They had brainwashed the women so much that even the women felt they were inferior to men. This led to the monopoly of men in the matters of administration. It was very difficult even for broad minded and rational men to break this stereotype. Her father Ganapatideva was forced to bring her up as a boy Rudradeva for the stability and safety of the kingdom. So he taught all kinds of skills to her.”
“Very good, Manasa. Can you tell us why she couldn’t grow up as Rudrama Devi?”
“Ma’am, people, especially nobles and rulers of vassal kingdoms allied to the Kakatiya Empire hated to be under the rule of a woman. They were too egoistic to accept a woman’s rule barring a few like Veerabhadra who later married Rudrama Devi and assisted her in quelling revolts and stabilizing the empire. So, in the absence of a male heir, there would have been quarrels among the vassal kingdoms for the throne and the empire would have disintegrated. So she had to pose as a male till she was strong enough to consolidate her rule.”
“Was it justified?”
“It seems that was justified, though I don’t agree ma’am. If she was so powerful, why would she need the help of men anyway? She could have taken the help of women, no? Women are also capable of fighting. She could have created an army of women!”
“Then who would have taken care of the children? And the prepared the food? And taken care of the homes?”
“Why should only women do these things, ma’am? We can use men! What will they do? Sit like donkeys? Let them do all these things!”
“Have you seen men do these things efficiently?”
“No, ma’am! They are hopeless! We have to do these things ourselves. Double work for us women!”
“Exactly! So what is the alternative?”
“Use men to fight!”
“Yes. Which is what Queen Rudrama Devi did. She recruited loyal men willing to accept her leadership and consolidated her empire. So, to bring a change she needed the support of men. So, what does this discussion tell us?”
“That men and women have to work together to bring a change in society ma’am.”
“But, ma’am, what do we do about our society? Men are behaving like pigs. We can’t expect them to support us!”
“Who is our Principal? A man or a woman?”
“A man, ma’am!”
“Can you trust him?”
“Of course ma’am! He is great man ma’am, like King Ugra Narasimha Raya!”
“So, what does that tell us?”
“That not all men are bad. Ma’am.”
“This brings us to the next question. Why did the people reject Rudrama Devi when her true identity was revealed? Why did they feel males could rule better? What do you learn from this? Who can answer this?” All hands shot up. Mounika selected a girl from the first row. “Yes, Lavanya.”
“I think it was p********a ma’am. They were told these things from childhood itself. So much that they started believing it. Rani Rudrama Devi must be really great to break this stereotype, no? ma’am?”
“Yes, Lavanya. She was really a great lady. So what do you understand from this part of the great lady’s history?”
“Ma’am, women can break stereotypes ma’am!”
“Women can bring a change ma’am!”
“Women can be great rulers ma’am!”
“If you tell a lie repeatedly, people will think it is true, ma’am!”
“p********a can change minds and thoughts of people ma’am!”
“Yes! So who will read and answer the next question?” Mounika scanned the eager faces of the girls and picked one in the middle row. “Sambhavi.”
“Ma’am, How did Rudrama Devi prove everyone wrong? How did she achieve it? Was she alone in her endeavours? Who helped her and why do you think they helped her? Was this a case of hero saving the lady? Why or why not?
Ma’am, Rudrama Devi was a great administrator like our own queen Ahalya Devi. She proved her skill in battle, politics, strategy and what not. She introduced many schemes that solved many of the problems plaguing the people. She also put down many revolts against her rule successfully and defended the kingdom against invasions. Her rule is called the second golden age.
She achieved all this with the help of loyal allies like Chalukya Veerabhadra and others. She proved through her actions that she was an able ruler and won the love, respect and loyalty of her subjects. She was not alone in her efforts but was assisted by a lot of people. They helped her since they thought she was a good ruler and only she could save them from the problems they were facing. They had also seen how the nobles kept fighting for the throne instead of securing the kingdom. So they wanted a change and supported her.
It was not a case of a hero saving a damsel in distress as most of the strategies had been worked out by her and agreed upon by her loyal supporters. It was her skill and her shrewd political acumen that helped establish her rule. Though she took the help of powerful men, it was done due to respect for her rather than a pity or a patronizing attitude.”
“So, girls tell me. What do you think the queen did to make people loyal to her?”
“Ma’am, she must have used p********a ma’am, like the nobles.”
“She must have given the people lot of money ma’am.”
“She must have given lot of favours to her loyal followers ma’am.”
“Pizza, ma’am.”
“i***t, there were no pizza’s in those days. Right no, ma’am?”
“Then what did they eat? Same as us? Wow! That must be boring.”
“Well, if you had only the same food available to you to fill your stomach or to starve, what would you do?”
“We will eat the same food ma’am. Sorry, ma’am. the people must be really helpless if they had such limited means. Which shows how great Rani Rudrama was if she managed to change this. No wonder people followed her!”
“This brings us to the next question - if you were Rudrama Devi, what would you have done? What problems would you face and how would you solve them?” Mounika kept giving a chance to girls to put forth their ideas; the girls came up with some thought provoking ideas, some of which were impractical considering their age and inexperience. But what was really worth mentioning was the way the girls responded to the questions and discussed them with enthusiasm. It was lovely to see the girls brainstorm for new ideas and try to come up with reasonable and valid solutions.
- Writer
