Dangal... Dangal.....

Dangal, the word that is heard all over India today means Wrestling. It is about an athlete Geeta Phogat, who has come from a humble background to a way too far, enough to make India proud. It is also a great example of a man, Mahavir singh Phogat who didn’t treat his “Chori’s”(girls) as princesses but fit enough to fight with men equally. Currently the most discussed sport in India is wrestling, thanks to the spirits of Sushil Kumar, Narshingh Pancham Yadav, Geeta Phogat, Babita Kumari. Mahavir Singh is a man who fought against all odds to make his daughters what they are now. He had to fight the stigma that is there in the society against women. He not only fought it but also proved that women are not meant to just do the chores at home but also they can fight and win gold to India.

A book has also been written on biography of Mahavir Singh Phogat named Akhada by 

Saurabh Duggal. The man himself is a state champion in wrestling. The book contains the unwavering journey of him to his daughters the champions of the sport. It also addresses many social issues that are prevailing in the state of Haryana which has the worst sex ratio of 879 women to 1000 men which are also shown in the movie based on him. It shows that marriage is a compulsion and that to before their teens. It is like a fairy tale that unfolded by the man himself and make his daughters break the biased “social status” that was given to them. It also gave a hope to women in Haryana to dream big.

You can find the reference link to this post below:

TOI - Geeta Singh Phogat

Neerja Bhanot : Youngest Recipient of Ashok Chakra award

Neerja, a name that stands for bravery and beauty and Yes, she received a fitting reward for showing such courage. She received the Ashok Chakra award, which is India's highest peacetime award that can be given to a person. She is the only "Ordinary" girl who received that extraordinary award. It is usually given to a military person or a Civilian when extreme courage or bravery is shown away from battle field. She didn't care about her life in the face of death which made her the heroine. She was given the name "Hijack Heroine" by the people.

Her Story before the fateful night

Neerja was loving called Lado(most loved one) by her family. She was the third child to Rama and Harish Bhanot after Akhil and Aneesh Bhanot. She was a "Woman of Principle". She never hesitated in standing up for truth and justice, even when she was in school she never hesitated to stand up for right even though she knows that her teachers are going to get angry on her. She studied in Bombay Scottish school. She was what we call a "Sorted girl". She was a model and with such pretty face it wasn't difficult to land upon the opportunity when a Photographer found her face attractive and asked her for her photograph to publish on magazine cover. Soon she went on a modelling spree.


The first courage she has ever shown was when she walked out of her marriage. She had an arranged marriage which is surprising in itself. Her husband used to torture her on not getting dowry from her father, for choosing modelling profession and being an independent woman. Thus, she took the decision of coming out of her marriage. She showed the same courage of not letting wrong things happen to her or in her surroundings.

Her Story on the flight PAN AM 73

Neerja was the head purser on PAN AM flight which was from Bombay-New york. It was to land in Frankfurt before taking off to New york but due to some issue it landed in Karachi for an hour. As soon as the plane landed the Terrorists tried to enter the flight cabin by terrifying the flight crew. Neerja immediately knew that the flight had been hijacked as she was well-trained in anti-hijack measures, so she alerted the pilots immediately. The pilots left the plane through the emergency hatch leaving Neerja as head of 379 passengers and the flight crew. The terrorists brought all the passengers to the centre of the plane and started communicating in Arabic about their demands and asking for pilots. The terrorists who hijacked the plane belonged to Libya which was recently bombed by Americans. Thus, they wanted to kill all the Americans first to terrorize the passengers. Neerja, knew that they wanted to kill the Americans as an NRI with American passport was killed while negotiating for pilots. Thus when the terrorists asked to collect passports Neerja cleverly hid the passports under the seats. There were soo many Americans on that flight. She also managed to pass the exit-door opening manual to the persons beside it.

Finally, when the lights of the flight failed due to lack power, the terrorists misread it as some commando operation by the military and started firing the passengers. She quickly sprang into action by opening the door and letting as many passengers as possible. She could have gotten out first if she wanted to but she didn't and let most of the passengers get out. At that moment, her gaze fell on the three American children who are at gun point, she made herself as a shield between the children and the bullets sacrificing her life and fighting till her last breath to save her passengers and fulfilling her duty. That incident made a very young(23 year old) girl a hero of the hijacked plane. The terrorists were sentenced to life imprisonment.

Neerja : Movie

Neerja movie is  the exact depiction of the sequence of events that had happened that fateful day and how an "Ordinary" girl became an "extraordinary" hero. Sonam Kappor did a good job in the role of Neerja Bhanot. The movie should have come long time back but anyways it has come. Her story should be published in the books of children and also in our curriculum's. If we can publish the atrocities and evil of the History why not about the Heroism.

Draupadi Cheerharan............ Reasons behind it...........

This is the continuation of my previous post..... Draupadi the Heroine of the epic Mahabharata..


Cheerharan of Draupadi is one of most defacing incident of the Mahabharat. It is also said that this incident had a huge impact which led to one of the greatest battles that ended the Dwapar yug where the armies of pandavas and kauravas are:

Pandavas : 7  Akshouhinis which means around 550 crore
Kauravas : 11 Akshouhinis which means around 800 crore

So lets take a speculation of the that incident

During the early times women(Queens) are not allowed into the halls of court. In such times, happening of Cheerharan,to the empress of Bharat(India) and daughter-in-law of the King(Dhrutarashtra) is very sad and horrific. This incident is a consequence to the previous deeds of the Pandavas and Draupadi and also due to jealousy of Kauravas. The seed of jealousy had been sown when Draupadi swayamvar happened. Like I mentioned in my previous post Draupadi is the most beautiful women of her time and is very wise, educated and moreover was a gift of gods. She is born out of fire not from the womb of a mother because of which she is called yagnasaini. She is copper colored like Krishna, so she is also called Krishnaa. She helped pandavas when they were fix while passing orders or taking decisions. Thus, all of the five pandavas loved her so much. So as i was saying the Swayamvar of Draupadi happened there are only 2 eligible suitors who could pass the test
                                          1. Karn
                                          2. Arjun

Karn is one of the most unfortunate warrior of Mahabharat who though born to Kunti and Son god(Surya) was left in the river of Ganga as Kunti feared of her reputation of having a child before marriage due which he grew up in the hands of charioteer(Suta putra) who belonged to a lower caste. But he is an excellent shooting bow and arrow. We all know that when we know something we like to show it off and get recognition from others. So, even karn wanted to show his talent to everyone and that he has learnt it directly from Bhagvan Prashuram. As in those the caste system is more prevalent than today. Therefore, he was not allowed to compete with Arjun who belonged to Kshtriya(Kings) caste. He was insulted before everyone saying that he is not an eligible match. Due to this he developed a great distaste in Pandavas. Dhuryodhan who saw that the only person who can win over Arjun is Karn made Karn king of a city named Ang to become a friend of him in which he succeeded and thus winning his favor. Karn promised Dhuryodhan that he would win Draupadi and hand her to him so that he could marry her. But according to the rules of Swayamwar in those days nobody is allowed to hand the girl won in it to the other thus making Karn the a suitor. But when Karn takes the bow he is again rejected because he is from lower caste by the people of Kampilya(Kingdom of Drupad). So the Kauravas try to rage a war against the kingdom. To avoid the war against her kingdom she rejects Karn saying that "ill not marry a Suta putra" to which she herself feels bad but she does that to protect her brother Dhrustadhyumn, her father Drupad and her Kingdom. This for the first time sows the seeds of hatred in the minds of Kauravas and Karn.

The second reason is that the property of ancestors of Pandavas and Kauravas had been divided so that they don't fight and both of them get equal share. But even while sharing the property the Pandavas were given a land that is barren and a forest filled with snakes which they have cleared and built a beautiful place and named their share as IndraPrastha as the Palace and the kingdom was built by Visma Karma who also was said to have built the Heaven for gods and king of Gods Indra. The palace was said to have built with magic and illusion. They have conducted a pooja which declares Yudhistir as emperor of all the Kingdoms which created a jealousy in the heart of Dhuryodhan looking at the palace.

The third reason is that the while looking at the palace he accidentally falls in a water pool which has an illusion of ground. During which a servant of Draupadi laughs which is misunderstood by the  Dhuryodhan as Draupadi herself. Keeping this in mind he later goes back to Hastinapur and builds a palace similar to that of Pandavas and asks them to come over.......




This is all for today...... will keep you posted with more of it.....

Please do comment,share and let me know your suggestions....

Draupadi...... Heroine of the epic Mahabharat.....

Draupadi....is one of the most misinterpreted and amazing characters of the great epic Mahabharata. She is the epitome of feminine gender. It is because we can see in her character the motherly nature, volatility, sexuality and most importantly patience. She is the most beautiful woman of her time and the most desired one. She is the "envy of neighbour's and pride of the owner's". Here is the shloka on her which describes of her beauty and her elegance.

Kumari chapi panchali   Vedimadhya samosthita 

Subhaga darshiniangi     Vedimadhya manorama

Shyama padma palashakshi    Neela kunchita murdhaja 
Manysama vigraham kritva     Saksad amara varnini… 

Nilotpala samoghandho     Yasaha proshat pravayati 

Ya bibharti param rupam  Yasyah nastyo pama bhuvi 

Kumari chapi panchali   Vedimadhya samosthita 

Subhaga darshiniangi     Vedimadhya manaorama

You can view the meaning of this shloka here

She had to marry 5 men due to the political condition that raised during her time where the word that "whatever her sons bring has to be shared among all the five" from her mother-in-law. Arjun who has stealthily went to Swayamvar of Draupadi had promised to himself that he would whatever her mother says once he wins the beautiful maiden who is world famous. So, since she has already said the words and as there is saying that "A word from the mouth is like a stone from a sling" either they had to obey the order or the remaining four brothers have to leave the city and go for "vanvas"(live in forest) and lead the life of sanyasis(spinsters). Thus, there was lot of chaos in which the outcome was that they all had to marry her to which she had politely agreed though it was heartbreaking for her to live with five men though she loved only Arjun truly out of them. 

She sacrificed her life to save the five pandavas from being separated. Though she married five men she never let jealousy come in between the five brothers and she tied them into one unit. Krishna also said that "the two greatest weapons that im going to use in execution of Mahabharata are Draupadi and Arjun". Krishna lovingly used to call her "Sakhi" which means friend. She is one of the five pativratas that are famous back in the time. She was an eternal Virgin. This was the boon given to her by the Vyaas Maharshi(great sage) in order for her to be in polyandry. In order for all the five of them to be her husbands they established certain rules that Each one of them will be with her for an year and as no other wife will be allowed into the palace as this was asked by Drupad(father of Draupadi) as she is the common wife she will soon loose her value and respect if other women enter into the men's life. She on the other hand took a vow that she would enter the sacred funeral pire before she enters into next husband's home. It is believed in Hindu mythology that fire purifies the soul. Thus, becoming eternal virgin and since she never once talked or compared any of her husbands to the other one and devoted her entire time to the current husband, she became one of the pancha maha satis.

More about the heroine of the epic in my next post.......

stay tuned.....