The Palace of Reality

By Bhuvakshi Singh

Ample book reviews are available online of the novel, "The Palace of Illusion" by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni but the phases the author went through are indeed quite personal and unique. Henceforth, the readers are duty bound to view this piece from the spectacles of the author but extending further on the piece lies on the imagination of the reader. 

Mahabharat, the epic folklore of ancient India is not just a mere property dispute between the coparceners of the Kurus Hindu Undivided Family but a stack of life lessons that are very relevant to date. The congruence of Draupadi’s life to an average woman of Kaliyug is strikingly high. The entire court of Duryodhana was filled with expert sages of Dharma, valorous warrior: Bheeshma, the righteous King: Dhritarashtra, and five Pandu Putra, yet the shrieks of de-draped Draupadi daunt anyone who reads Mahabharat. The law was present then, law is present now, However, the author believes that had cheer-haran been placed in the times of democratic India, Draupadi wouldn’t have needed to resort to the devastation of humankind at Kurukshetra, if not the war had been prevented. 

Cheerharan is a set that was caused by an onion layer of reasons. The mockery of Karna’s caste or satirization of Duryodhan dominoed to disrobing the haughty Draupadi seems the fit case for revenge rightly served. However, none of these incidents qualify, even meagerly, to justify the act of outraging Draupadi’s modesty in a court filled with men known to be well known for “Dharma" or righteousness.  

The holy trinity of fair, reasonable and just laws springs from the infamous Maneka Gandhi case. This test of holy trinity when applied would simply nullify the act of Dushasana abetted by every other witness, to disrobe Draupadi as ultra vires her constitutional and fundamental rights under Article 21 of the Constitution. The slanderous statements made could only book Draupadi for a civil suit of defamation under section 19 of Code of Civil Procedure, but not to strip her of her clothes but her human dignity as well.

 “Why should Draupadi be treated any differently? Take her clothes, too”

-Karna 

It is the time of woke citizens with flooding petitions for human rights. The black letter law does instill realism in the basic structure theory. Nonetheless, unfortunately, the entire series of events of this epic, if replayed, may not have much deviation.  For example, polyandry still be practiced scarcely or the love story of a higher caste lady with a mere chariot son Karan would have raised objections from the society. The change of history only lies at the point where Draupadi knocks the door of the judiciary for a penalty on those who caused her humiliation. 

As Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Neena Bansal Krishna held,

“It is no more res integra that such reckless, defamatory, humiliating and unsubstantiated allegations by one spouse, which has the impact of publicly tarnishing the image of the other spouse, is nothing but acts of extreme cruelty.” 

So, surely divorcing the husbands could have been the first course of action she could have resorted to for it was her husbands who bet their wife as she was nothing more than a sack of potatoes for them. 

“If perchance a man lost himself, he no longer had any jurisdiction over his wife.”

-Draupadi

Factually, it was her brother-in-law who de-draped her. This makes Dussasana charged under outraging the modesty of women under section 354 IPC, section 354B IPC for disrobing the woman, and a violation of Article 21 of the Constitution. 

Now that we have certainly established the rule of law and proper infrastructure, contemporary times must be a golden era for women to thrive. Right? Alas, this land of zootopia is still yet imagined and not lived. Written law based on human rights and equality principles is a huge leap but the gaps it leaves are deeper than the Mariana Trench. If the disadvantage of the law of being reactionary, and not preventive, to any heinous act is overlooked, still the biggest democracy, with the longest constitution and 839 central laws is not adequate. The laws are next to negligible existing, indicating signs of poor implementation, if not poor manufacture of laws. 

The congruence of modern-day Draupadi is reflected in instances of more than what our news and print media reports. This Epic of mythological imagination came into being when Jayalalitha was disrobed in the State Assembly in the state of Tamil Nadu.

 "You are talking about Kaurava Sabha, you are talking about Draupadi, has DMK forgotten Jayalalithaa?”

- Sitharaman 

Jayalalitha still survived and soared back to power.

“The more she was insulted and disgraced, the more powerful she soared. She picked up every stone thrown at her and laid her foundation,”

-Manimekalai

Does this fire to wage a war or live fiercely in this reality marred by misogyny when the contemporary Draupadi has no riches, jewels or power, authority, or a palace of illusion of her own? 

The way a woman thinks and reacts is different from that of a man. The notions of honour, loyalty, and reputation are more important to a man. In contrast, a woman would throw herself to save their loved ones. Though the Pandavaas avenged Draupadi, later, at the time that would bring them heroic fame the ladies of Manipur, called Mother’s Front, stripped their clothes off protesting against the wrongful death of Thangjam Manorama Devi.  

‘Now our daughters can be raped. They can be subjected to such cruelty. Every girl is at risk.’ We shed our clothes and stood before the army. We said, ‘We mothers have come. Drink our blood. Eat our flesh. Maybe this way you can spare our daughters.’

“The women were sitting in a separate room, and I went to join them. I broached the idea of protesting naked, and my thought was, what is the point of wearing clothes when we aren’t treated with any dignity?” 

-Anandi

Two Manipuri women who were paraded naked in a mob filled with men are breathing flesh and blood of Draupadi who lost their wars without any support. Thus, the kaliyug where women face humiliation and disrespect is conclusive proof of a long legal battle an aggrieved woman must undertake to wage a war against the assaulters,  least winning it.