Reading Notes: Ghatotkacha

Ladoo (Wikipedia Commons)

You're probably wondering why I used a picture of food for this Amar Chitra Katha. Well, I will explain. There is a movie called Mayabazar which actually follows the tale of Abhimanyu and Vatsala's wedding. In this movie, Ghatotkacha pretends to be Vatsala after he takes her away to Abhimanyu. There is a scene in the movie when Ghatotkacha sees a room full of food for the wedding and decides to go inside and eat the food. However, he is too lazy to eat the food with his hands so he uses his magic to literally swallow the food without ever picking it up with his hands. He also makes himself enormous so that he can eat more food at once. The funny part is that there are a couple courtiers watching all of this happen from the window and they are all confused as to what is happening. As soon as Ghatotkacha is done eating, he uses magic to bring food back into all the plates and turns back into Vatsala. One of the most iconic parts of this film is a part in which Ghatotkacha has ladoos (the sweet depicted in the picture above) flying into his mouth. When I would watch this movie growing up, I used to always be scared of Ghatotkacha because of his appearance. However, reading this Amar Chitra Katha and the various stories on the side made me realize that he was one of the good guys all along and wanted Vatsala and Abhimanyu to live happily ever after.

Reading Notes: Ancestors of Rama

Crown (Wikipedia)

Reading the stories about Rama's ancestors was quite interesting. Considering the fact that Rama himself was a king, so his ancestors were obviously royalty was a thought that crossed my mind while reading this story. I think a common theme when thinking of royalty is the fact that there is usually some element of violence, either a play for the highest position, revenge, or some sort of war. No matter the culture, story, country, etc. I seriously think that royalty will always be perceived in the same light. I think the other interesting part was at the end with Indumati's swayamvara. Not only is it semi-foreshadowing to Rama and Sita, but I also think it's a parallel with the beginning of the Mahabaratha. This comic gave readers a lot of background to the characters of the Ramayana, which is something that is inherent to the beginning of the Mahabaratha. I know when I first started reading the Mahabaratha, I had to draw out a family tree on a dry erase board so that I could better visualize the familial relations. While Rama's ancestors are not quite as confusing, I still thought that this Amar Chitra Katha was really fun to read.