Breaking Stereotypes - Shikhandi And Other Tales They Don't Tell You!

There could not have been a better time to write this post than now, when feminism is gaining traction in our country and we are talking about breaking stereotypes. We are trying to rise above caste-discrimination, questioning long held beliefs that have made us exclude certain sections of society for long.

There could not have been a better time for Devdutt Pattanaik to write his new book either. I am talking about "Shikhandi and Other Tales They Don't Tell You!" which is DP's latest release, that mentions different tales from Indian Mythology that are around queerness or discovering queerness. This time DP doesn't pick a character or an epic for a retelling, but he targets an entire section of mythology that has been conveniently ignored over generations, reasons debatable.

The book begins with simple definitions of queerness, patriarchy, feminism and even mythology, that are pertinent to DP's writings. He believes in rolling the pitch every time he is about to bowl you over with his writings. While I think queerness is the epicenter of this book, the reason behind writing this book is more about breaking stereotypes of all kinds. Since there couldn't have been a better aspect to start from than queerness as it is lesser known, mostly misinterpreted, highly doubted and largely ignored, DP hits the core when he picks queerness for the same. The best of all, he doesn't just justify it as one would initially expect, he rather celebrates it and recognizes its presence over the ages. The book also mentions various examples of Greek and Biblical mythology that are either tangents to or are direct references to queerness, stories that you are less likely to be aware of unless you are a mythologist or an ardent reader of mythology. 

As always, this post is not to discuss the stories mentioned in the book and spoil the fun of reading. DP narrates them in a far better manner, maintaining the interest and realizing the sensitivity of the matter at the same time. I write his post to express why you may read, or not read this book in the first place.

Why you may not read this book:

• You haven't read any book by DP and mythology is not your thing. If that's the case, you might not feel motivated to pick "Shikhandi And .....". But honestly, understanding this book will still not be a challenge in case you pick it. But reading one or two of DP's books before reading this will help you understand where he comes from. (If you understand the author's mind even slightly, you enjoy the book heavily). I recommend Jaya, Sita or maybe even Business Sutra. And then reading this book will be icing on the cake.
• You're too wise. You've realized that it's only you who matters and no one else does. You've realized what your wisdom is THE wisdom and you don't want to learn any further. (I don't know why would you even read this post in the first place).
• You love to stay within your stereotypes. Enough said!

Why you may read this book:

• The more you have read, the more incomplete you have felt. You have realized that you know far lesser about things than you actually should. You want to explore more.
• You are an avid reader of mythology, or an ardent fan of DP, or maybe both. You can't afford not reading it.
• You have read this post and you have understood it well.

At the end, I will leave you with the beginning statement from the book something that will stir your mind, grab your attention and make you think. DP does it well all the time, sometimes in the blurb, like this, or sometimes in the introductory one-liners, like the one below, and he kicks it again with this one:

Beware of a land where celibate men decide what is good sex.

On the first reading I felt he meant it only in this context. On reading it the next time I find this can apply to every aspect of our society - education, business, politics and what not! Please feel free to leave your comments.

Devdutt Pattanaik's "Sita - A Retelling of the Ramayana"

The chariot stopped far from the city in the middle of the forest. Sita alighted, eager to walk amongst the trees. The charioteer, Lakshman, remained seated. Sensing he had something to say, Sita paused. Lakshman finally spoke, eyes to the ground, your husband, my elder brother, Ram, king of Ayodhya, wants you to know that the streets are full of gossip. Your reputation is in question. The rules are clear on this: a king's wife should be above all doubt. The scion of the Raghu clan therefore has ordered you to stay away from his person and his palace and his city. You are free to go wherever else you please. But you may not reveal to anyone you were once Ram's queen.

Sita watched Lakshman's nostrils flare. She felt his embarrassment and his rage. She wanted to reach out and reassure him, but she restrained herself.

You feel your Ram has abandoned his Sita, dont you? she asked gently. But he has not. He cannot.

He is God; he abandons no one.

And I am Goddess; I cannot be abandoned by anyone.

A mystified Lakshman returned to Ayodhya, while Sita smiled in the forest and unbound her hair.

It will require immense amount of resistance for someone like me who is crazy over mythology to not grab a book with such a blurb. The above text is from Devdutt Pattanaik's Sita - A Retelling of the Ramayana.

Many months before the book released, Devdutt disclosed in interviews that he was working on a retelling of the Ramayana (named Sita) which was based on the similar lines of his retelling of Mahabharata (named Jaya). I had pre-ordered the book on Flipkart (for 33% discount) two months before the release but instead bought it from Delhi airport (at M.R.P.) one day before Flipkart was going to deliver it. Waiting is such a waste of time when it comes to certain things. Isn't it?

This is the second book review on my blog. You can read the first one here. By now, you must have realized that I do not write book reviews regularly and there is hardly any professionalism involved in my writing. This is only for one reason. I do not read many books.

Also, of the few books that I read, there are fewer that I genuinely feel like discussing about. Only when a book succeeds in giving me goosebumps multiple times (or at least once), do I think of writing its review. And "Sita" is one such book.

Anyway, let's move from my story to that of Ram's Sita or Sita's Ram.

When I started reading the book, it was typically Devdutt talking, beginning with a prologue and setting a mood where one of the characters enters into a situation where he is made to narrate the entire tale. In Jaya, it was Vaisampayana and in Sita, it is none other than Hanuman.

The book begins with the story of Sita's birth in the kingdom of Janak. Tales of other characters of the epic like Shanta (Ram's sister), Parshuram and others appear at relevant points adding data and interest to the main tale. However, Sita is quite a bit different from other retellings of Ramayana because here the epicenter is not Ram but Sita.

The life of Sita has been captured in different phases - the lessons in vedas and upanishads with the sages in the court of Janaka, the forests of adjoining cities where Ram and Lakshman were trained by Vishwamitra, the discussions of Sita with her mom-in-laws and sis-in-laws after she gets married to Ram, Sita's life in forest during Ram's exile, her plight in the palace of Ravana marked by her hopes that her husband will come to her rescue, her stay in Ayodhya after she returned from exile and the exile that later came for her as a result of the rumors among the citizens.

For details, kindly read the book. This post is to tell you why you should read it.

In the first place, why I feel this book is different from any other retelling of Ramayana is that Pattanaik has certainly not written this book from a commercial point of view. By this I do not mean that it hasn't been marketed well or is not reader-friendly. It definitely is. Why I say this is that making money through this book was certainly not his objective.

If you have followed Pattanaik's books and articles before, you will realize how passionate he is about certain ideas and how strongly he believes in making the world aware of them. His ideas about beliefs (subjective reality in his words), becoming empathetic, expanding the mind and his notion of Dharma have always made me more inquisitive about the wisdom in our epics making me read and re-read them. When you read Sita, you realize that he is not just trying to generate cash by retelling an epic in his narrative style; he is actually trying to bring forth his ideas and wisdom through the medium of this epic. The conversations between the different characters in the epic are so well crafted and insightful that while they narrate the story of the epic, they also provoke you to think like never before. After almost every paragraph you will be motivated to pause and think, then think a little more and then introspect heavily on your own life, behavior and personality.

And Devdutt does not do it in the conventional manner by focusing the tale on Ram, rather his epicenter is Sita. Indian audience, who has for long seen the devoted Sita as a victim of patriarchy will be amazed to see how she was the Goddess in her own right, a confident and self-dependent woman who even when abandoned by her husband and his subjects led her life with self-respect. One realizes that on abandoning Sita, Ram faces a more difficult time in the palace than Sita faces in the forest.

Note: I challenge you to read the chapter on Sita's second exile where just before leaving for the forest she explains the palace staff on how to take care of her Ram when she's gone. If you have a blood-pumping organ in your body, you'll be overwhelmed and not getting lachrymal would just be impossible.

Sita is worth a serious read and is one such book that uncovers more and more layers on consecutive readings. Devdutt has done something on the lines of what he has done before, yet he has done it so differently that except for the publisher and the text fonts and size, everything else is unique about this book.

Ramayan: Ultimate Lesson in Positive Attitude

While I write this, I have a fractured foot and a tired mind. Conventionally considered negative. It is in such negative times when the need for the positive is more. This time I try to seek it not from an end of the battery but from the epic Ramayan. (I know it was a bad one to start a post with. I'm sorry.)

Remember the tale of Ramayan - the one narrated by Valmiki, Tulsidas and also Ramanand Sagar? It is the tale of a king who is probably the most widely worshiped form of God in India. Ram. Ekvachani Ram (the person who always keeps his word) , Eka-bani Ram (the archer who always strikes his target with the first arrow) and Eka-patnivrata Ram (the husband solely dedicated to a single wife); the son of Dashrath, husband of Sita, brother of Bharat and Lakshman, the lord of Hanuman, the slayer of Ravana, the seventh avatar of Vishnu and Ram knows what else!

This post is not intended to praise him. Many others do that much better than I do. The post is just to bring out one incident of Ram's life that I feel is a classic example of Positive Attitude. The incident happened just before Ram left for a 14-year exile with his wife, Sita and his brother, Lakshman.

Note: I have no intentions of becoming a threat to Robin Sharma through this post.

The scene goes like this:

Ram's step-mother Kaikeyi received 2 promises from Ram's father when she had successfully averted a lethal attack on her husband in a war. Years later, on the eve of Ram's coronation, Kaikeyi used the 2 promises when she got insecure of her son Bharat's future. She believed that after inheriting the throne Ram would wipe out his younger brothers to secure his right to the throne. The conditions for Dashrath to fulfill were:

• Ram would renounce the right to the throne and give it to Kaikeyi's son Bharata
• Ram would lead his life in the forest as a hermit for 14 years. 

While the first promise was to ensure a safe future for Bharata, the second promise was in expectation that keeping Ram away from the subject's eyes would reduce the probability of any resistance coming from the masses.

The conditions came as a shock for Dashrath who alternated his son Ram's name with his breaths. To renounce the throne when Ram was the eldest and the most deserving of all and on top of that living the hardships of a forest-life - how could a father order his beloved son so? But he had to keep the legacy of the clan too - Raghukul reeti sada chali aayi, praan jaye par bachan na jaayi (The legacy of Raghu Clan has always been upheld; one can sacrifice his life but never take back his word).

Dashrath's dilemma made him sick and he was sulking within the boundaries of his room when his son Ram entered and asked what the matter was. Even on continuous persistence, he was unable to reveal what was killing him inside. Then Ram requested Kaikeyi to tell him what his father was unable to tell and he promised that he would do whatever it took to mend the situation. She finally told Ram the entire deal.

Dashrath who was so grief-struck that he couldn't utter a word broke into tears. Kaikeyi, who disclosed the conditions to Ram with a heart of stone wondered what would follow. What would Ram do? Would Ram rise against his father and step-mother for throne? Would Ram turn the entire nation that worships him against his parents? What? What would he say now?

Ram smiled and said, "Is it? Is it only this much? I thought that some serious calamity had downed upon us that both of you were being so serious. Bharata's inheriting the throne of Ayodhya would be the happiest event for me to witness. The sense of Dharma and jurisdiction of my younger brother is unparalleled and I am sure he will be the greatest ruler in the history of Ayodhya. And as far as the second condition is concerned, I guess some good karma of my past life have taken effect that I am going to get 14 more years of my life to live in forest with the saints and sages and learn more about vedas and the world. Your love for me has given me such great happiness mother that I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I shall follow the two conditions with no delay." Kaikeyi was stunned! She could never imagine that Ram would let go off the power of the throne and pleasures of the palaces so easily.

Imagine for once! The eldest son of the king, favourite of the people, most powerful of all warriors and clearly most capable prince, is suddenly deprived of everything he has on the eve of his coronation. Not only that, he has to spend 14 years after this not in the palace but in the forest as a hermit. And he accepts it whole-heartedly! Even in the most difficult hardships that his step-mother lays for him, he finds happiness and the opportunity to grow and become even better. Isn't it quite contrary to what we do in today's world when the smallest of things go wrong around us? We feel cheated, indignant and victimized in spite of being aware of our limitations and mistakes, and always hunt for someone who can be blamed.

Can we too try to think of our difficulties in Ram's way? Can we too see the poverty of our nation as an area of tremendous growth, improvement and opportunities? Can we too see the rising number of crimes as the indicators of a dire need to educate the masses more effectively? Can we too see the time of getting ill and bed-ridden as the opportunity to read more books? Can we too see the release of Chennai Express as a time when we need to seriously rethink about the quality of Bollywood movies?

Too heavy a post. Right? I feel that too. But a point worth considering. Isn't it? So let's start seeing the things around us in a positive light, the way Ram did, and figure out whether it makes us feel better or not. I hope it will. If it does, please leave a comment below. Not that you can not send a mail to me personally or call me to tell how you transformed your life and that of others but I am looking forward to increasing the comments on my blog too. The post mentions Lord Ram. I cannot lie.

 Leaving you with a picture of the classic optimist.

Yudhisthir - I do because I must.

Warning: This is a long post.

The other day, a friend of mine told me how her mother responded when she discussed with her that Mahabharata ends with Yudhishthir achieving Swarga. (It was a surprise for my friend too unless I revealed it to her). The response of her mother was typical - What for? Gambling away his wife and kingdom?

This response that came as a question crossed my ears, stirred my mind and made me seek answers, recalling all that Yudhishthir did throughout his life; from attempting to balance the brotherhood of Kauravs and Pandavs during childhood to transforming the forest of Khandavaprastha to the heavenly city of Indraprastha, from controlling the reigns of an almost devastated Hastinapur to finally climbing the Himalayas leaving everything behind. After reading the epic and leaning about its characters, we usually come to the common conclusion that Yudhishthir was a mighty, truthful, righteous, kind king who gambled away his wife. Sure enough, it's a pity that Alanis Morissette forgot to include our Dharmaraj in "Ironic".

Yudhishir is that character of Mahabharata whose complexity lies in the utter simplicity and predictability of his conduct. Even the thought that somebody could be so compliant with his dharma that not a word left his mouth without righteous self-brainstorming seems fantastically impractical. Yet, that is what we know Yudhishthir for. The one who lived his life in adherence to the rule-books of the society, always saying and doing what the learned preached (except when he gambled away his wife). His brothers who, at times, disagreed with him, also followed him religiously in every step of his life. Collectively, the five Pandavs were considered to be the upholders of Dharma in the Dwapar Yug.

Then what went wrong? Why did he suffer so much throughout his life when he was trying to live his life the ideal way setting examples in righteousness for future generations? And why even after all this righteousness we still recall him as the king who gambled away his wife?

Throughout the epic, Yudhishthir has been referred to as an epitome of Dharma since he was born to Kunti by Dharma deva. His behaviour was expected to be a man of rectitude in all situations, whatever the cost maybe. At various points, when different characters are in dilemmas, he comes into the frame, quotes some scriptures and gets away after convincing people to do the right thing. That's a different thing what they did and what they didn't!

Some situations where the wisdom of Yudhishthir was noticed by all:

1. At the school of the Pandavas and the palace of Hastinapur, Yudhishthir was always the young boy who was more mature than any of his brothers (and at times his elders too). His being the eldest grandson of Vichitraveerya had almost enrooted in the minds of Bheeshma, Kripa and Vidhur that he should be the rightful heir.
2. When Dhritarashtra was faced with the dilemma of choosing his heir and was suggested by Vidhur to take the decision based on the prince's capabilities and not his parents, he proved his mettle by the sagacious decision-making that was approved by all the wise in the court.
3. Only the rat escapes the forest fire - The riddle by Vidhur to warn Pandavas about the house of lac was solved only by Yudhishthir and only after this the Pandavas could save themselves and their mother.
4. When Kunti ordered Arjun to share what he had won with his five brothers, the entire family went into the dharma-sankat of sharing the wife or obeying the mother. It was at this point when Yudhishthir quoted from the scriptures stories of the past where women had married multiple brothers in a family while upholding the traditions of the society. This ensured that the word of the mother was not broken and that Draupadi's chastity would not be questioned even if she married five brothers.
5. When Dhritarashtra offered him the barren half of Hastinapur (Khandavaprastha), he accepted it with free will, much to the chagrin of his younger brothers, but for the peace of the family at large. Even though he deserved the full kingdom, he did not yearn for anything more than what was offered.
6. After reuniting the small kingdoms of the Indian mainland, Yudhishthir's rajsuya yagya was conducted that established him as an independent monarch (or emperor, whichever word suits you more). 
7. After the gambling episode, while in exile the four younger Pandavas and their wife were infuriated and craving for revenge, it was only Yudhishthir who realized that the calamity had fallen upon them due to his own love for gambling and that he will not go for a massively destructing war just in order to avenge their humiliation. When the younger Pandavas suggested that after thirteen days they were technically allowed to go back to their kingdom according to the scriptures, Yudhishthir affirmed that he would not interpret the scriptures to his convenience. He would keep his word that he accepted at the time of gambling, howsoever long the suffering may be.
8. During the exile, when the gandharavas captured Duryodhan, Yudhishthir sent Bheema and Arjun to rescue him, keeping all the humiliation aside and considering Duryodhan to be their brother, whose protection he felt was the duty of the Pandavas.
9. When the four over-confident Pandavas did not answer Yaksha's questions and died as a result, only Yudhishthir displayed complete patience and wisdom by answering his questions. When asked to resurrect one of his brothers, he chose Nakul and not the powerful Arjun, in order to be fair to Nakul's mother, Madri. Yaksha (Dharma in disguise), finally resurrected the four Pandavas. The family was thus saved once again only for the wisdom of Yudhishthir.
10. After the exile, Yudhishthir came to terms that if Duryodhan kept his word and returned Indraprastha, no blood would flow. He would not wage a war only to avenge his humiliation. He kept the welfare of the family and people above the throne any day. It was only after Duryodhan's dogmatism left no option, that he went for the battle in Kurukshetra.
11. To the last day of the war, Yudhishthir was considerate towards the Kauravs and continued to propose that if Duryodhan kept his word even at the last moment, he would stop the war.
12. Yudhishthir followed the part of righterousness throughout his life which took him to the top of the Himalayas to the door of Swarga before he was confronted by the devas.

In spite of this, we do remember him as the king who gambled away his wife. After knowing the characteristics of Yudhishthir so well, let's consider the gambling episode again.

An ever-obedient son of the family is invited to a game of gamble by his elders, which by the Kshatriya code of that time could not be reverted by any king. Doesn't require much thinking as to what he had to do. During the game of gamble, the first rule was broken by Duryodhan to let Shakuni roll the dice, which should have been rolled by him. Yudhishthir had tried to oppose but on seeing the will of the elders did not leave the game in between to save the blind king from disgrace. What followed was a series of stakes in which he continued to lose everything from his personal possessions to his kingdom to his brothers and then himself. Throughout this game, though his personal fondness for gambling was there, he was also obliged to continue the game as there was no order from the blind king to stop it. It was disgraceful for a player to withdraw from the game on his own will while he was losing. And he could not have won under any circumstances as Shakuni's dice was loaded. Was Yudhishthir left with options?

After losing himself in the stake, Yudhishthir followed what his master Duryodhan ordered him to - stake Draupadi. And he did it. And we know what followed. Don't we?

This clearly indicates what happened was totally against Yudhishthir's will but he didn't raise voice as the code of conduct did not allow him to do so, being the Dharmaraaj that he was. Where did the fault actually lie then? Was it in his stick adherence to the code or in the code of conduct itself? Even when all the rules of the conduct were being followed, Draupadi was not saved from humiliation? So does the blame for this entirely fall on only this king who gambled away his wife? Is no one responsible for what happened after that? Was Yudhishthir the creator of the code or only an obsessed follower? Gurcharan das quoted, "Life is a dice game, with rules known to be deceptive; where the least experienced least adequate player is nevertheless pushed to the point of staking everything he has, with the certainty of losing." I somehow believe that it was absolutely true in Yudhishthir's case.

Throughout the epic, Yudhishthir had been trying to follow the path of the idealistic Ram by sticking to code. But while Ram had brothers who were willing to serve him whole-heartedly, Yudhishthir was faced with a set of cousins who had done everything in their capacity to harm him. Where Ram's actions reflect a strict adherence to the code that generates from the deep love in his heart, Yudhishthir's strict adherence is a result of his belief - I do because I must. He clinged to the correctness of the acts, not the consequences. He never let the suffering of his heart reflect in his actions.

However, after the thirteen-year exile, Yudhishthir transformed to a great extent. He realized that the line of total non-violence had been crossed and if the need be, weapons had to be wielded. The point of this would, still, not be his personal interests but the establishment of Dharma, by ensuring that a prince like Duryodhan who never kept his word never becomes the king.

Yudhishthir, who gambled away his life, did transform. What we want to remember him for is our choice.

MBA Revisited - The BCG Matrix of Kauravs and Pandavs

I have spent 2 precious years of my otherwise random life in a B-school. If I assume that I will live for 70 years in total, these 2 years form a good 2.857% of my lifetime. Then how is this 2.857% different from the remaining twenty-three “2 years” of my life? Well, they are. And in a great way. 

Passing out of a B-school has many advantages. We get an additional qualification, an enormous set of friends and people assume we know a lot. And we, at the same time, never feel like falsifying them. In fact, we go two steps ahead and bolster their belief by saying terms like “paradigm shift” and “brand equity”, and at times, both together in a sentence. Have you seen mere mortals talk like that? I am sure, not.

An MBA degree also means something more. It means that we have the right to say anything, state anything. All we have to do in order to get noticed is to write a research paper based on it, and if fortunate enough, develop our own (management) tools. These tools mater a lot – apart from fetching good scores, these validate our existence in the cruel professional jungle where there is the survival of the nerd(est).

Note: You might call me one by the end of the article.

The History of Management Science has seen many such tools, and one of the most predominantly discussed tools is the BCG Matrix devised by the Boston Consulting Group. It is based on the product life-cycle theory (…and here I am) and helps to determine what priorities should be given to the product portfolio of a business unit for sustained success.

I wonder, had Management Science existed back in Dwapar Yug, would Duryodhan have been able to use it to his advantage? Agreed, he never listened to anything sensible but this is no Bheeshm or Drona talking, this is Boston Consulting Group. But BCG did not exist then and neither did the BCG Matrix. Still, I wondered that if we could formulate the BCG Matrix for the respective Kaurav and Pandav armies, would there be some interesting revelation?

BCG Matrix, as I discussed above, helps to determine the priorities that should be given to the product portfolio of a business unit for a sustained success and it is based on the product-life cycle theory. I will give a very brief introduction here. For more on BCG matrix, please visit this link. 

Placing products in the BCG matrix results in 4 categories of portfolio for a company:

BCG Matrix

1. Stars (High Growth and High Market Share): Stars are business units that have a large market share in a fast growing industry. They may generate huge cash but since investments are huge too, the net cash flow is not quite boastful.
2. Cash Cows (Low Growth and High Market Share): Cash Cows generate good amount of cash (surprisingly, no milk) due to high market share but since the market is mature, the investment required should be less.
3. Question Marks (High Growth and Low Market Share): These are the SBUs with a high rate of market growth but somehow low market share. These require heavy investments to convert into stars or else they get converted into dogs.
4. Dogs (Low Growth and Low Market Share): In short, good for nothing. The earlier you get rid of them, the better it is for you.

One can say, Cash Cows are the most desirable as they give great returns with minimal investments (though they might not last very long). Then come the Stars that bring good returns and promise a positive future but require huge investments. The Question Marks need to be worked upon else one invests heavily and receives nothing in return. Dogs need to be get ridden of. 

From this you can conclude that Stars and Question Marks (High Growth) require high investments. They are similar to our warriors who required huge investments in terms of emotions or resources to sustain them on their respective sides. High Market Share is an advantage of that SBU, similar to the Martial Prowess of the warriors. 

Hence, the Kaurav / Pandav BCG Matrix can have the following dimensions:

X Axis: Martial Power

Y Axis: Resource or Emotion Investment

Of course, the Kaurav and Pandav armies were not on the path of manufacturing and marketing technically. If anything, it was a path of sheer destruction. But the battlefield of Kurukshetra is in many ways like the modern-day corporate battlefields called markets, where weapons represent products and great warriors represent Strategic Business Units (SBUs). Sounds like heavy stuff? Well then this is the power of a B-school.

Kaurav Army

The major warriors from Kaurav side were (in descending order of prowess):

• Bheeshm: Bheeshm would surely be classified as a cash cow. This has nothing to do with his white clothes, white chariot-flag or even the white beard. This is serious stuff. He is one character of the epic that I respect the most. So no jokes. He is a cash cow because he is the only warrior who was a reliable impeccable commander, was martially invincible and would die only when he would want. So much came with almost no emotional or resourceful investment from Duryodhan’s side. Certainly, a Cash Cow. Sure, he pledged not to harm the Pandavs but the harm he did to their army was no petty stuff. (High Martial Power – Low Investment).
• Drona: He was a Brahmin by birth hence fond of cows but perhaps not fond of becoming one. Was almost equally invincible like Bheeshm but there were huge investments in keeping the teacher into the kingdom. He threatened to leave the Kauravs a couple of times but to the efforts of the elderly. In fact, Duryodhan did not relish the pleasure of Indraprashta during the Pandav exile as it was administered by Dronacharya. Duryodhan and his brothers had to continually boost his ego and keep his son Ashwatthama pleased thereby calling for huge investments. If properly channelized, he could prove to be a disaster to the Pandavs (and he did). Drona is a Star. (High Martial Power – High Investment).
• Kripacharya: He too was a Brahman, maybe had his share of fee for teaching and was supremely powerful. Not much has been said about capriciousness of his mind, but considering he had grown up in Hastinapur and had been with Kauravs throughout, there was lesser chance he would have left them. Cash Cow. (High Martial Power – Low Investment).
• Ashwatthama: Almost as talented as the father, and as evil as Amrish Puri and Gulshan Grover combined, Ashwatthama needed to be pleased constantly by Duryodhan to sustain in the Kaurav camp. Also, his change of mind would affect Drona’s involvement too, Duryodhan left no stone unturned in keeping Ashwatthama to his side. Star. (High Martial Power – High Investment).
• Karna: Keeping Karna on the Kaurav side required one-time investment of Anga and continuous investment of emotions. Castigated by the Kuru elite and faculty heads constantly, the son of the Sun kept on striving constantly to make a mark for himself. Pacifying him required huge emotional investment from Duryodhan. (In fact, Karna's presence in the Kaurav camp displeased many from the older lot - Bheeshma, Kripa and Drona as they saw him as an ambitious son of a mere charioteer.) And all this investment was in expectation of a return, his loyalty and his archery skills. Karna was loyal towards Duryodhan but his weapons were not. Hence, it was false loyalty. Moreover, the burden of curse-couple almost confirmed his failure in advance. He did tackle Ghatotkach, but did nothing as compared to what was expected of him. Karna would be a Question Mark. (Low Martial Power – High Investment).
• Duryodhan: In his own army, Duryodhan was one hell of an interesting element. In past he had showered away huge riches of the Kurus to impress his subjects. Though he was a pro at mace-wielding, it was not of much use on the battlefield as compared to how Bheema used it. Though he yearned for the war the most, he contributed to it the least. Question Mark. (Low Martial Power – High Investment).
• Dushasan: There would be no reason why one would even think keeping Dushasan was an effort. The skills he brought to the battlefield went as unnoticed as went the Abhishek-Aishwarya starrer Umrao Jaan. Dushasan classifies as a Dog. (Did you have a doubt, anyway?). (Low Martial Power – Low Investment).
• Shalya: The extra-ordinary hospitality infrastructure deployed to keep this warrior-charioteer on the Kaurav side required huge investments. And for what? For the martial powers required to kill Uttar and charioteer skills to assist Karna, and we know how ‘well’ he did that. Shalya was a disaster deal. Question Mark. (Low Martial Power - High Investment).
• Jaydrath: This licentious brother-in-law of the Kauravs proved to be of some worth. All thanks to the boons that enabled him to cause Abhimanyu’s death. But certainly, he was nothing in comparison to the Kuru elderly. Investment was certainly huge. Didn’t you read he was the brother-in-law and that too of a licentious kind? Question Mark. (Low Martial Power – High Investment)

Bheeshm	Cash Cow
Drona	Star
Kripacharya	Cash Cow
Ashwatthama	Star
Karna	Question Mark
Duryodhan	Question Mark
Dushasan	Dog
Shalya	Question Mark
Jaydrath	Question Mark

The Kaurav BCG Matrix

Note: Just like you, I too was upset when Jaydrath did not qualify as a Dog.

Pandav Army

The major warriors from Pandav side were (in descending order of prowess):

• Arjun: This is perhaps the name that was the most used in those eighteen days, before and after. In terms of martial prowess, Arjun was the master-key for the Pandavs, a catastrophic nightmare for the Kauravs. Never losing his target, loaded with potent weapons and the fury to destroy all that came his way, graced by Hanuman on the chariot-flag and Krishna as the charioteer, Arjun’s martial power almost approached to infinity. And since the war was his, there was no investment question in picture. Arjun was a Cash Cow. (High Martial Power – Low Investment).
• Bheem: He was to mace, what Arjun was to bow. He was to Kauravs, what CIA is to terrorists. The 1000 elephant-powered Bheem was the Hulk of the Pandav avengers. He killed the 100 sons of Gandhari in the war single-handed and smashed thousands of soldiers and other warriors to death with a blow of his mace. This indignant Pandav was the most desperate to fight and avenge. I guess, investments in his case were tremendous as he probably ate away half the food of his army himself but he was to be the support till the end. Bheem was a Star. (High Martial Power - High Investment).
• Yudhishthir: His martial skills were never extra-ordinary, except for the spear, and so he was not so much of a worry for the Kauravs. In fact, special efforts were put in to safeguard him on the battlefield for he was the king of the Pandav side. But he was the string that held every warrior on the Pandav side together which makes him the most important of all other warriors. Yudhishtir was a Cow too. Oh, I mean Cash Cow (High Martial Power – Low Investment).
• Abhimanyu: This little 16-year old child who could not complete his Chakravyuh syllabus (exit portion) before entering into the war was otherwise almost equally matched in his archery skills to his father. He fought with complete will and played a crucial role in causing so much terror among the Kauravs that they were compelled to hack him 7-on-1. Abhimanyu too was a Cash Cow. (High Martial Power – Low Investment).
• Nakul / Sahadev (of course they can’t be enlisted separately): Except for Sahadev killing Shakuni, the twin sons of the Ashwini twins had no special achievements mentioned in their post-war resume. But that they survived by the end of the war does mean something. Does it not? Maybe they had some invisible factor that makes them a Cash Cow too. (High Martial 'whatever' Power – Low Investment).
• Ghatotkach: If he was anything, one will say he was an unexpected bonus. He participated in the war on his own will, killed millions when alive, made Karan sacrifice his Indra-shakti and again killed millions while dying. He is the largest Cash Cow BCG matrix would ever witness. I doubt if he will even fit in the matrix! (High Martial Power – Low Investment).
• Drupad: Though Mr. Panchala were fighting to avenge his insult, his daughter's insult and for umpteen other reasons best known to him, he did not leave any noticeable impact in the war. But his Panchala army was a great strength for the Pandav side which in total makes him a Cash Cow. (High Martial Power – Low Investment).
• Drishtadyumna: As compared to 4 commander-in-chiefs of Kauravs, Pandavs had only one. And it was this gentleman who was born out of fire to kill the Kaurav super-star. Not only was he sufficiently capable as a warrior he was also an astute general. He too participated in this quest for avenge with exhausting will. Cash Cow again. (High Martial Power – Low Investment).
• Krishna: And here comes the one who pledged not to use his martial prowess at all but whose involvement affected the course of the war from beginning to the end. The charioteer of Arjun enlightened him at the beginning of the war goading him to action, devised the way to defeat Bhishm, tackle Dronacharya, discover and kill Jayadrath, slay Karna and shatter Duryodhan. On many occasions, he intervened and saved Pandavs and their army with his divine protection. This charioteer and consultant of Arjun, is certainly a Cash Cow. (High Martial Power – Low Investment). 

Krishna is worshiped as a cowherd and classified as a Cash Cow in the BCG Matrix. Is BCG Matrix a divine invention or what?

Arjun	Cash Cow
Bheem	Star
Yudhishthir	Cash Cow
Abhimanyu	Cash Cow
Nakul / Sahadev	Cash Cow
Ghatotkach	Cash Cow
Dhrupad	Cash Cow
Drishtadyumna	Cash Cow
Krishna	Cash Cow

The Pandav BCG Matrix

Interesting Revelations:

• The Kaurav Warrior Portfolio is highly scattered over the BCG Matrix with very few reliable Cash Cows. On the contrary, the Pandav Warrior Portfolio has a dense Cash Cow quarter. Warriors on the Pandav side were clearly more aligned towards the organizational vision / mission / goal / objective ...... whatever!!
• The Question Marks need to be identified and transformed into Stars to ensure high growth and high returns later. The Kaurav Warrior Portfolio had four Question Marks that did not get transformed into Stars, let alone the Cash Cows. Huge investment with low return is of course a failed proposition for any business. Pandavs made no such mistake.
• Kauravs did nothing to get rid of the Dog in their portfolio. In fact, a Star had to jump out from another matrix to wipe it out. 

And we all know what the result of this war was. One might wonder, what if BCG had existed before the war, would the results have been any different?!

Disclaimer: In case you are a B-School student, please do not take inspiration from this blog for filling your answer-sheets. You might fail miserably, very much like the Kauravs.

The Legend of Sanjay

This post is about Sanjay. Not Sanjay Dutt. Not Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Not Sanjay Manjrekar either. This post is about (the) Sanjay of Mahabharat, the charioteer/advisor/servant/commentator of Dhritarashtra. In history, Sanjays have never received their due credit. They can expect to get credit only in fiction, like Sanjay Lal Sharma cycled his way to glory for Model High School and finally received his share of credit. But real-life Sanjays? Never! Sanjay of Mahabharat is also one of those unfortunate real-life Sanjays.

Our Sanjay has never been as ‘elaborately’ discussed as the other characters for a variety of reasons:

1. He was not a Kaurav, Pandav, Yadav or Kuru.
2. He was not even a deva, asura, yaksha, rakshas, gandharva or naga. He was a simple human being.
3. When he was born, there was no storm, no rain and no prophecy. His is a rare example in the epic of a completely normal birth.

My interest in writing about him, however, is fueled by the following:

1. He is the first live commentator world has ever seen. He narrated the happenings of multiple matches on one vast ground at once without any help of rolling cameras, repeat telecasts and score-board. He is much older than Geoffrey Boycott, much more effective than Ravi Shastri and much more metaphorical than Navjot Singh Sidhu.
2. He was lucky (/worthy) enough to get the opportunity of seeing the cosmic form of Krishna.
3. Even not being a Kshatriya by birth, he followed their ideals in a better way than any of them did.

He is one person who came into the (photo) frame of Kuru family when Dhritarasthra’s charioteer Adirath applied for an adoption leave to bring up a child he found in the river, swaddled in supreme garments and bedecked with celestial armour and earrings. Once his leave was approved it was required to replace him with someone equally skilled. Bheeshma, Kripacharya and Vidhur conducted a recruitment process and after a round of interviews found Sanjay worthy enough for the post. He had displayed astute understanding of his duties and responsibilities; he also very well realized the grave importance of his decision-making as the king’s charioteer.

Soon enough, Sanjay became the confidant of the blind king, knowing more than anybody what was going on in his mind. He took the king for occasional outings, political meetings and social gatherings driving his chariots effortlessly on the muddy pathways of Hastinapur and adjoining areas. Every time the king would face a dilemma, Sanjay would help him introspect with valid examples from scriptures, nature and philosophy; never forcing the king for a decision but enabling him to take one at his own will. In this context, he was a lot different from the trio of formal uber-qualified advisors.

When it came to the art of balancing, Sanjay had no close competitors. The nearest would be Jeetendra, who quite well managed to balance multiple wives for over a decade during 80s; but even he would fall a mile short of our hero. Sanjay balanced the interests of his king and the kingdom well. (Hastinapur, as we all know, had for long been unfortunate, having kings whose personal interests polar opposites of her interests!).

• When Dhritarashtra shooed away Vidhur following his bitter truths and suggestions (that were in Dhritarashtra’s own interest but he was ‘blind’ to see through), Sanjay was assigned the task to assuage Vidhur and bring him back to the king.
• During the peace negotiations when the king had to send the most critical message to Pandavs, again, Sanjay was the most favoured choice. The king, and everybody else, believed that only Sanjay could articulate to the Pandavs in the politest manner the ruthless message of not giving back Indraprastha.
• When the war finally dawned, Sanjay agreed to view it on behalf of the king and accepted the post of the commentator for what would be the longest match in the history of test-cricket, the one on a much larger ground, with much deadlier stakes, much higher spirits and much brutal examples of rule-breaking (including ball tampering, with due respect to the Sun god). Sanjay continued the commentary till the end, without taking sides, telling nothing but the Truth. Maybe, it was this dedication of his towards his duty that God found him worthy of witnessing His conversation with Arjun and His cosmic form.

After the war, when years later Dhritarashtra retired to the forest with Gandhari, Vidhur and Kunti, Sanjay accompanied his king and served him till he too finally died in that forest fire that engulfed the senior Kurus. Though Dhritarashtra was nothing like Ram, Sanjay’s dedication towards his master was no less than Hanuman’s.

Sanjay is not just another character, but a lesson for every human being (including a lesson in commentary for the likes of Arun Lal) – Sanjay is a lesson in dedication towards duty, a lesson in the ability to communicate truth, howsoever bitter, with polite effectiveness. He is a lesson in balancing organization goals and departmental goals, interests of the kingdom and that of the king. He is a lesson in doing the right thing and sticking to it even in a world where everything else is going wrong.

An Epic Race: Race 2

I am surprised. I am awed. I am impressed. I consider myself blessed; blessed to be born in the era of mind blowing epic-writers time has ever seen. There was sage Valmiki in Treta Yug and sage Ved Vyas in Dwapar Yug. My yug i.e. Kali Yug has the sage duo – the men in white: Abbas-Mustan.

Every artist has this one work of art that he is always remembered for. Whatever maybe the extent of his competitors’ imagination and effort, his work stands class apart lighting the path of unlimited wisdom for the generations to follow. They have done it. Yes! The sage duo has done it. They have done it finally in their second attempt. They have done it through Race 2.

For those unlucky few who have never cared to bother about the sage-duo; Abbas-Mustan made the super-hit movie how-to-win-by-losing (Baazigar), how-to-woo-your-ex-bf-cum-present-employee for ladies a.k.a Aitraaz, how-to-fool-your-audience a.k.a. Naqaab and many more. Over the years they have made everything deemed impossible possible through their imagination. Flying cars and lying confidants, ravishing female CEOs and pre-imagination of lies by the supposed victims, nothing has escaped their imagination. In fact, they have even dared to show Saif Ali Khan as the protagonist of action-thrillers. Twice.

Race 2 is not like any ordinary action movie with a story that revolves around superb planners dying to mint money with cunning. Of course, it has all this but in a way never seen before which makes it nothing but a magnum opus. Have you ever spoken a lie to somebody keeping in mind what if he/she figures out the truth? Have you thought of possible excuses you will make to that ‘somebody’ if you get caught? Have you worked out strategies to back yourself up on every possible consequence of that somebody’s reaction? And if there are any people involved in this lie, have you made each one leak-proof (to the truth, of course)? Do you know each person’s weaknesses to their exact degrees to manipulate them later? And by the way, have you ever thought of lying to ‘somebody’ first and then yourself arranged for truth to be told to that ‘somebody’ which is nothing but a part of your grand ulterior strategy? If your answer to any of these is “No” then the duo - Abbas Mustan deserve your kowtow!

The movie talks about rapacious billionaires, babes, inspectors and blondes strategizing and exploiting secrets, desires and lusts of other billionaires, babes, inspectors and blondes in order to make more money, property, women and priceless possessions of religious significance. (You found the sentence complex? Well, watch the movie!!) Saif first cheats John’s business partner to help John win his casinos and thus earning John’s trust lays down a plan to destroy him. Anil Kapoor and his dumbly-desperate / desperately-dumb secretary Amisha Patel help Saif in this plan. John, who is a billionaire but idiot enough to miss watching Race (original), of course does not know that only Saif wins in all Race movies and that Anil sides with Nawaab in the end. He, with the backing of his step—sister, Deepika, his heartthrob, Jacqueline and his 'trusted' friend Anil, is confident to double-cross him. What he is unaware of is that Deepika has still not been able to overcome her Cocktail feelings for the Nawaab and will ultimately prove fatal in this plan, not unlike Anil. The movie is essentially about the events that follow in which GDPs of random countries within the European Union keep fluctuating.

This is what Aditya Pancholi looks like.

The movie has some surprising elements: twists, human-touch-sensor playing cards, parachute enabled cars and underworld dons who look like Aditya Pancholi. This man is the ultimate winner of Race 2. After risking some 15 billion Euros and a series of events he gets everything back with some interest. Huge interest, one should say. If you are a man and have watched the movie you will understand what it is. This climax is what makes Race 2 an epic. How?

Imagine, after the game of dice in the Mahabharata, Draupadi realizes that her husband is bankrupt and so leaves him to accompany Duryodhan; with a broad accomplished smile on her face. It doesn’t happen in the Mahabharata. It happens in Race 2.

The Mother of all confusions - Family-Tree of Mahabharata

Whatever is there in the world is here!

What is not here is nowhere in the world!

This phrase about Mahabharata can be deemed as true as truth itself. This huge epic, with plenty of stories and infinite tales never ceases to fascinate its readers with the dimensions it covers. However, confused in the maze of stories and tales, one actually forgets the actual track. The track of the family-line around which revolves the entire epic. The family-tree of Mahabharata fame Kuru household that ruled over the city of Hastinapur. After my years of understanding the epic, I decided to summarize it. I tried Photoshop, MS Word, Excel, Paint; a combination of these, and many other softwares. I failed. I tried drawing it with pen on a chart paper. I failed there too. Will a blog help to understand it completely? Of course not. But I hope it will still give a better understanding into this confusing maze of relationships.

If there is something more complex and intricate to understand than the nervous system of human beings, it is indeed the family tree of Kurus. Mysterious men and women with weird abilities and interests, confused sexual orientations and impractical desires transform this tree into a labyrinth. Indra, the Emran Hashmi of mythology, and his force comprising of uncountable gods added more to the confusion by fathering sons on women who were either lonely or married to sterile and/or impotent husbands. Besides gods, there were rishis, gandharvs, rakshasas, nagas, asuras, yakshas, nymphs and many more species that married into or provided heirs to the main line of the Kuru clan.

Disclaimer: I have tried my best to keep the flow of the article serial. However, different stories or folk tales may appear here and there depending on the situation. Though the son of each generation had many more sons, I will mention only that son of every generation who was a progeny of the main Kuru bloodline. 

Legend:

God (with capital "G") = The Almighty (Either of the three: Brahma, Vishnu or Shiva)

gods (with small "G") = (Indra, Agni, Vayu, Chandra etc. I might use gods and devtas interchangeably.)

Most of the readers of Mahabharata are interested in knowing about the characters involved in the war only. However, characters that appear in the epic before and after the war were equally interesting. Their passions, their ideals and their decisions go a long way in affecting future generations. It took me three days to decide where to start from. The earliest link of the chain I could find was the guru of the gods, Brihaspati.

....and so begins the mother of all confusions....

Disclaimer: Although I have referred plenty of sources before summarizing this, there can be variations that occur from different narrations and interpolations of the epic over the generations. No offence or spreading of misinformation intended. 

So there was this Rishi called Brishaspati who performed all sorts of yagnas for the gods to help them defeat their eternal enemies, Asuras. His wife was Tara, a young and beautiful woman, who was much exasperated by the indifference of her over-busy husband towards her. As a result, she eloped with Chandra, the Moon-god. A deceived Brishaspati refused to perform any yagna for the gods till Tara returned to him. She returned, but pregnant. On inquiry, she confessed that it was Chandra's son and not Brihaspati’s. In rage, Brishaspati cursed the child in the belly to be born of neutral gender.

The child of neutral gender thus born was Budh. Impossible, as it might have been otherwise, Budh found a woman named Ila and married her. Ila, by the way, was a man before and was transformed to a woman following an accident when she entered a forest where Shiva had cast a spell. Budh's sexuality  varied between the waxing and waning of moon and so did Ila's. Hence, both Budh and Ila complemented each other. They had many sons and daughters. Since Budh emerged from the Moon-god, his lineage was thus known as the Lunar dynasty a.k.a. Chandravansh and his descendants were called Chandravanshis.

One of the sons of Budh, Pururava fell in love with the celestial nymph, Urvashi and married her. She  bore Pururava many sons before she returned to Indra’s abode. After she returned, a heart-broken Pururava became mad and could not rule anymore.

Note: One of the sons of Pururava established the kingdom of Panchala and another one established Gandhar. Over a period of time, the Kuru household accepted wives for their sons from these families transforming the family tree into a family web.

Then there was another descendant named Yayati (great-grandson of Pururava), who was a great fine king but was wronged by circumstances and over-powered by women. He married two women who were best friends turned enemies, one a Brahmin - Devyani; another a royal - Sarmishtha. He bore sons from both and lived happily, but not for long. A curse made him lose his manhood and it could be resolved only if one of his sons would agree to suffer for the father. He  first summoned his elder son Yadu, who stating this was against Dharma, refused. Then he summoned the obedient Puru who agreed. Yayati thus cursed his son Yadu that he and his descendants would never become kings and blessed his son Puru that he and his descendants would. Years later, Yayati released Puru from the curse and went to paradise handing over the throne to  Puru.

Note: Yadu moved away and settled in Mathura. Puru continued to rule in Hastinapur. Generations later, Krishna would be born in the Yadu family and Arjun would be born in the Puru family. Arjun would marry Krishna’s sister, Subhadhra, who would give birth to Abhimanyu. This was, therefore, a wedding within the family.

Moving on, the son of Puru, Dushyanta inherited the throne of Hastinapur. One day, while he was on hunt, he met a woman called Shakuntala in the hermitage of Rishi Kanva. From the union of Dushyanata and Shakuntala was born Bharata, the great king from whom is derived the name of our country, Bhaarat.

Note: Rishi Kanva had adopted Shakuntala when he found her in a forest unattended but sheltered by a flock of birds. Shakuntala was born when the river-nymph Menaka had succeeded in wooing Rishi Kaushik and made him give up his meditation on Indra’s decree. Both Kaushik and Menaka had abandoned Shakuntala as she was the result of no marriage but only momentary passion. Children suffer due to faults of their parents throughout this epic.

Bharata's wives presented many sons to him but he was not satisfied with any of them. He felt his sons did not resemble him, or perhaps, were not as capable as him to inherit his throne. So he adopted a son called Vitatha, who was presented by the gods.

Note: Vitatha was born when Brihaspati (father of Budh) had forced himself upon his younger brother’s wife, Mamata. Both Brishaspati and Mamata had abandoned Vitatha too, just like Shakuntala's parents abandoned her. 

The greatness of Bharata lies in the fact that he gave capability higher priority over blood relations when it came to inheritance. The later kings of the Kuru dynasty would not follow Bharata’s footsteps which will ultimately become the cause of the Great War.

Generations later there was another ruler of the Bharata kingdom, called Shantanu, son of Pratipa and grandson of Kuru, who in turn was the grandson of Bharata. He fell in love with river-goddess, Ganga. Ganga bore Shantanu eight sons. She drowned her first seven sons in river Ganga immediately after their birth and only the last son was kept alive. This son was named Devavrata and for the knowledge and military prowess he possessed he was sure to inherit the throne. Later, Shantanu married an irresistibly attractive fisherwoman, named Satyavati. This marriage was on a condition that Devavrata would renounce the throne and only Satyavati’s children would become the kings. Devavrata happily gave away the throne for his father’s pleasure, much like Puru, and even pledged to stay celibate throughout his life to avoid any conflict between his sons and those of Satyavati. Due to this terrible oath that he took for his father, he was named "Bheeshm". 

Note: Satyavati was the daughter of a King called Uparichara and a cursed-to-be-fish nymph called Girika. How their unison took place defies all scientific logic ever known to mankind and hence, out of scope of this article. Satyavati smelt dreadfully of fish and was also called Matsyagandha. Before her marriage to Shantanu, Satyavati had an encounter with a sage called Parasara who had desired to make love to her in the middle of the river, on an island, keeping her virginity intact yet making the fish-odour to disappear. The son born from this unison was Krishna Dwaipayana, later to be known as Ved Vyas, the compiler of the Vedas and the author of the Mahabharata.

Devavrata's oath to stay celibate is a turning point in the epic as it technically ends the Kuru bloodline. All sons born in the family after this would be through Niyog (explained later) or boons. However, in my opinion, the bloodline ended much earlier when Bharata rejected his sons and adopted Vitatha. But since Vitatha was the son of Brihaspati, who was also the great grand-father of Pururava, probably, the bloodline was back on track!! 

So Satyavati now had three sons: a secret son from Rishi Prasara; VedVyas, and two sons from Shantanu; Chirtrangadha and Vichitryaveer. Chitrangadha died without making much place in the family history. Vichitraveerya however had two wives, Amba and Ambalika, but even he died without giving the Kuru clan an heir.

There was a much prevalent concept of Niyog in those times.

According to this concept, if the man of the family line was impotent, sterile or dead but his wives were fit to bear a child, then a hermit or a god was invited to impregnate the wife. The child thus born would be considered the son of the husband and not of the outsider. These were the laws of marriage. Please note, this was done solely on the will of the woman and was not forced on her. 

Note: As far as I know, the non-husband man who was invited was supposed to be someone who had renounced the world and was less likely to develop any emotional feelings towards the woman he would impregnate. He was not supposed to meet that woman again in life. 

Ideally, this entire lineage should also be named after Brihaspati and not the Moon-god as Tara was Brihaspati’s wife, but I guess it is referred to as Chandravanshi (emerged from the Moon-god) to make readers aware. Or maybe, because Tara's unison with the Moon-god was not Niyog but infidelity.

Coming back to the widows of Vichitraveerya, they had little options left but Niyog. Satyavati requested Bheeshm to be the man but he clearly refused on the grounds that he had taken the vow of celibacy which he would not give up even for the cosmos. Satyavati so summoned her son from Parasara, Ved Vyas to perform Niyog on Amba and Ambalika. Now Vyas was dark, with matted hair and certainly not handsome looking as compared to the earlier Kuru sons who were well-built and were immaculately groomed warriors. During Ambika’s encounter with Vyas, she closed her eyes out of fear and thus was born the blind Dhritarashtra. During Ambalika’s encounter with him, she turned pale and so was born the weak (it was probably a euphemism for impotent/sterile) Pandu. Unsatisfied with the two results, Satyavati wanted another Niyog to take place but Ambika sent her maid instead who gave birth to a perfectly normal Vidur (even though Vidur was perfectly normal and had all the capabilities of a king, he would be denied the throne because he was born of a maid. Such was the irony of the situation!).

Note: I find the involvement of Vyas in Niyog quite controversial as he would re-appear in the epic throughout. However, he was the biggest sage time had ever seen and maybe, he was capable of fathering sons of three women, still being emotionally unattached.

Finally, came the generation that would actually participate in the war at Kurukshetra. Both Dhritarashtra and Pandu wanted their respective wives, Gandhari and Kunti to give birth to sons first so that they would inherit the throne. Dhritarashtra, since was capable and allowed, did his job earlier than Pandu. Pandu, who was sterile and cursed that his unison with his wife will be his moment of death, however had to find another way out. He asked his wife Kunti to summon the gods through the boon she had received as a result of extra-ordinary hospitality she had offered to Rishi Durvasa. Thus gods performed Niyog on Kunti one-by-one and the results were the following:

Dharma: son born was Yudhishthir

Vayu: son born was Bheema

Indra: son born was Arjun

Ashwini Twins (summoned for the second wife of Pandu, Madri): Nakul and Sahadev

Meanwhile, Gandhari’s pregnancy had not resulted in anything and had prolonged unbelievably. An exasperated Gandhari called for her maids and ordered them to hit her belly with an iron rod till a still ball of flesh came out. Rishi Vyas divided this piece into one hundred and one pieces and put them in pots of ghee. Thus were born hundred sons and one daughter of Gandhari.

Note: So one cannot say that test-tube babies are a modern-day invention. The idea does have its roots in this epic.

Collectively, the sons of Pandu-Kunti were called Pandavs and the sons of Dhritarashtra-Gandhari were called Kauravs. 

Altogether, four generations participated in the war at Kurukshetra, with Bheeshm being the oldest Kuru and Abhimanyu (son of the Pandav Arjun) being the youngest. After the war, only the five Pandavs will remain alive and the son of Abhimanyu, in the womb of his mother.

Note: Draupadi had five sons from the five Pandavs: Prativindya from Yudhishthir, Satsoma from Bheem, Shrutakirti from Arjun, Shaitanik from Nakul and Shrutasena from Sahadev. All five sons would be killed at the end of the war by the son of Drona, Ashwatthama.

All said and done, this is how the Kuru family tree would probably look like. Of course, this is highly incomplete with no mention of the sons who resulted from extra-marital affairs or other 'unimportant' marriages. 

Note: This picture is my own hard work. It is still incomplete. And I do realize it can never be completed. Should you still ever want to access this picture in full size, kindly write to me. Displaying it here in full size hampers the look of my blog!

PLEASE DON'T READ THIS: During the thirteenth year of their exile, Pandavs took refuge in the kingdom of Matsya. Matsya was allegedly the kingdom of descendants of a twin brother of Matsyagandha (Satyavati), hence the similarity in names. Uttara from the Matsya kingdom was accepted as Abhimanyu's bride! May God save you from shocks, if any!