Ramayana and Mahabharata,

both renowned, undisputed epics are stories about the victory of right over wrong, the restoration of dharma i.e. righteousness guided by an avatar of Lord Vishnu and kingdoms being ruled by the rightful heirs of the monarchy.

As a child, these tales were narrated to me in such a way that I grew up thinking that both were stories about men fighting other men for the wrong deeds committed by men to become the most virtuous of all men.

So basically in my head, they were stories about men.

Funny. 

Ironic too.

Since it was Kaikeyi who got Rama exiled to the forests, for fourteen long years, marking the beginning of a series of events that are now collectively called the Ramayana; and it was Draupadi’s pledge to seek vengeance for the shame she felt during the infamous cheerharan that marked the unfolding of the greatest war ever fought- the Mahabharata.

Women were independent characters who had an identity of their own. None of them were “supporting characters” in both these tales.

Do I have to enlist the numerous other women that played a significant role in both these tales, making them the undisputed, globally recognized epics that they are today?

Satyavati?

Amba? 

Kunti?

Hidimba? 

Shanta? 

Mandodari? 

Sita?

Ahalya?

I could go on, I have done my research well over the years.

So,

why?

Why is it that women are always seen to be “supporting characters”?

Why are there only talks about their beauty, but not their valor?

Why are they remembered as someone’s wife or someone’s daughter but not by the actions and characteristics of their own?

Why?

I read somewhere- “If history wasn’t told the way it was, my girls would have grown up to believe in themselves more than anyone or anything.”

Perhaps it is time we retell the history, retell those folklores, retell these epics so that our girls know their lineage, their true power, their real goddess selves and act with respect to that. Because Sita was not a “supporting character”, neither was Gandhari.

Women are not just “supporting characters”, they are not just beautiful, or are to be known as someone’s wife. They are strong, savage, self-sufficient, and unbreakable individuals who need to be given the credit for their valour, knowledge, struggles and the unending pool of love they carry in their hearts.