Modern Sita and Ram

Sita 2023

"Enough is enough", Sita said to Ram. He had just come from spending the night listening to his subjects and had heard a comment made by a dhobi - a washerman - which made him visibly upset.  Sensing his state of mind, Sita asked what was wrong. But when she found out the source of his disturbed mood, she was furious. She lamented,  "Enough is enough. I have been your wife of many years, I have traveled with you to the forest, I have dealt with the wrath of Ravana, and I have slept in Ashok Vatika - a public park- for months. I even went through a burning fire to prove my purity and love for you. Tell me what have I not done for you?"

"Even in our palace in Ayodhya, I have three mothers-in-law to keep happy. Life is challenging. And now when you just hear a random comment by a dhobi, a common man, you are willing to let all of my sacrifices go and are thinking of sending me to a forest -especially when I am pregnant with the future king of this kingdom? Can you not stand up to him and say what you really know?"

She reminded him that as a husband, he also has a duty to his wife to defend and protect her against such baseless comments. That is what any strong husband would do, she reminded him. Ram was speechless. Partly because he knew that Sita, his beloved wife, was right. But how can he ignore the duty of being a King? What is his Dharma as a king? And what is his Dharma as a husband? He wished he had never gone on the mission to find out how his subjects felt. Sometimes ignorance is bliss, he recalled. But now it was too late.

In his disguise when he had mingled with the crowd at a street corner, that had gathered to enjoy the cool evening after a hot day, he had heard the washerman expressing his disapproval of Queen Sita. He had said that though he was happy and he loved his king Ram he had one problem with the King. "I am uncomfortable to see Queen Sita as a role model for the next generation. After staying in Lanka for months and spending many nights alone with Lanka's king Ravana. I doubt if she is still unstained and fit enough to be our queen that we, the people of Ayodhya, deserve".

Somewhat timidly he told Sita what he had heard the previous night. Sita did not want to hear any of this. She said that Ram - her husband - should have had her back and defended her at the least. She strongly refused Shri Ram's suggestion that maybe she should leave the palace and live in the Ashram of a Rishi.

She made it clear that if she goes so does he. Knowing fully well that he had no choice, Ram reluctantly told her that he would hand over his resignation this morning at the court. He will give them two weeks' notice and will look for a nice comfortable place to live with his pregnant wife. And that is what he did.

Away from Ayodhya, they bought a nice, small four-bedroom colonial home and lived happily together. They raised two beautiful boys Lav and Kusha and taught them how to stand up for themselves and have their wives' back, listen to their own conscience,  and not listen to others for the approval of their actions. Till retirement, Ram remained an outside consultant to the Kingdom of Ayodhya.