Rhythm Of Rituals

Devdutt Pattanaik contrasts linear stories with circular rituals and the effect they have on us

- Devdutt Pattanaik

As Ravi entered his cabin, he suddenly felt lost. What was he supposed to do next? He set up his laptop and went straight for the email inbox. Maybe there were emails there to respond. And, in the midst of responding to the emails, maybe he would find a purpose, a task that would make the rest of the day meaningful.

Ravi needs a structure in his life. A plan. But he does not know how to go about it. A business year has just got over, and until last week, the sales target was the destination, and the desire to reach it kept him going. Now the target has been reached, the year is over, and suddenly there is a vacuum. What seemed like a full stop now reveals itself to be merely a comma, a pause, as he waits for a new goal. Is that what life is all about — moving from one target to another target, one year-end to another yearend, one project to another project?

Ravi was raised on fairy tales like Cinderella, Snow White, and Rapunzel which always ended with ‘happily ever after’. But as the exhilaration of reaching last year’s target wanes, Ravi has realized that ‘happily ever after’ is a dream, a fantasy far from reality.

In frustration, his mind wandered to earlier that day as he was having breakfast. His wife drew his attention to traditional Indian narratives. Unlike European fairy tales, which had clear beginnings (once upon a time), and clear endings, (happily ever after), classical Indian fairy stories such as Suka-Saptati, Betal-Pachisi, Simhasan - Battisi, had endings that invariably curved back to the beginning. For example, Suka-Saptati always began with a traveling merchant’s wife preparing to step out and meet her lover, and always ended with her not leaving the house, distracted as she was by the story narrated by her husband’s pet parrot.