O Maya Sita Reflection

Transcript:

In a four-minute multimodal reflection, you will explore how and why cultural values are maintained and changed in your composition.

he Sanskrit Epic, Ramanaya dates back from 500 BCE to 100 BCE. In this Epic, we have our Prince Rama and his journey of rescuing his wife Sita from her captor Ravana.

One part of Rama’s journey is after Rama has successfully saved Sita from her captor, he questions and accuses Sita of being unfaithful to him. To this, Sita is humiliated. Rama signals to his friend to set up a pyre and if Sita is faithful, she would survive the flames and if not, an unfortunate fate would come of her.

O Maya Sita! Adapts this trial of faith Sita undergoes in the Ramanaya through a contemporary feminist perspective that is left unfiltered by the . This piece challenges the usual perspective and lens that Sita is shown through. She has forever been esteemed as the ideal woman that all other women should aspire to be and all men should worship. And throughout the years this reputation of Sita seems almost ironic to the religion. It is explained and represented by men. This is how the piece challenges Ramanaya as the original does not consider the depths of the character that is Sita. O Maya Sita is almost the product of her surroundings. She is raw and almost “freed” from the expectations placed upon her by her devotees and husband.

Throughout O Maya Sita! Fire and being ablaze are ongoing motifs that channel Sita’s frustrations.

In “Showering the soles with kisses.” where bowing one’s head and touching another’s feet is considered an utmost sign of worship in the Hindu religion. This is a homage to how Rama should treat Sita, yet in the Ramanaya, treats her like a quest or adventure rather than a person. Rama holds Sita on an unobtainable pedestal hence her prestigious reputation. In the Ramanaya, Rama would never utter such words, due to his pride, which was often portrayed as valiance. This highlights a part of Rama that many would not have considered, due to the misogyny clouding the tale.

The utilisation of taboo words such as “phallic, breast, whore and flesh” adds a rather jarring effect to the poem. A dissonance of sorts. The Ramanaya hints toward Sita being unfaithful yet disregards the use of vulgar language attached to the extremities of her and Rama’s actions and accusations.

Sita was known to be a devoted wife, a devoted woman to her husband, she was a woman that did not complain. Simply endured. And this was passed as an ideal quality. Women are able to agree that remaining passive to keep others satisfied can result in feminine rage. A rage specifically destined for a woman that has reached her limit of misogyny endured. So the personification of devotion and its cruel nature emphasises the expectations placed upon Sita were unhealthy and unachievable perfection.

The assonance of when Sita becomes one with the flower and begins to hallucinate alters the story of the trial entirely. Sita was meant to walk out of the fire unharmed, ad back with Rama. yet, in this tale, Rama does not get such an easy fate. The gods hear Sita out and her favourite flower from the Ramanaya is personified and sets Sita free or into delusion. Depending on the interpretation of the text.

The entire poem is structured from the different perspectives of how Sita is viewed. The constant juxtaposition of her internal monologue and the other perspectives highlights Her disconnectedness from her devotees and husband.

This adaptation of Sita sets a whole other perspective on the Ramaya as it challenges the preexisting notions of women and ideas of femininity in Hinduism.

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Side note: During the composition of my poem, I had Mitski's "Liquid Smooth" playing for 3 consecutive hours as background music. A lovely influence to my work.