Proud to be a Sikkimese: Sikkim Travel, Culture & Local Heritage

Until this hour I never knew that the characters of Sugriva and Vali were performed by one man and he was Shyam Sundar Kalani. Sad to say, he passed away ten days back but due to lock-down this sad demise was mourned today by Arun Govil and Sunil Lahari in their twitter account. He was suffering from cancer for long time. Kalani’s film life never took off but he shall always be known for his dual role as Sugriva and Vali. Sugriva with his vanar sena had aided Rama in bringing back Sita from the hands of Ravana. This help was in response of getting back his wife Ruma who was taken away by his brother Vali following the conflict between the two brothers. Rama kills Vali and Sugriva is made King and also get backs his wife.

King Dasharatha and her Queen Kausalya were among the best pair on screen and off-screen too.   The husband wife duo Jayshree Gadkar and Bal Dhuri were accomplished Marathi film artistes and had acted together in 8 films including Ramayan TV series. This is in record that Jayshree Gadkar wanted to play Keikeyi when she was already offered Kausalya. Ramanand Sagar, director of Ramayan had said he would give her the role provided she found another actress to play Kaushalya. Well, she never found any. Another incident related to Jayshree, she was not present during the death rites of Dasharatha. Jayshree Gadkar passed away in 2008 after acting in more than 250 films most of them Marathi and few hindi film that included Saranga (1961), Sampoorna Mahabharat (1983) and Lav-Kush (1967). Bal Dhuri has acted in hindi films like Tere Mere Sapne (1996), Lapun Chapun (2006) and Eeshwar (1989).

Shurpanakha, younger sister of Ravan, Kumbakarna and Vibhishana had attacked Sita, in dissatisfaction when both Rama and Lakshmana denied the marriage proposal of her.   In the quick reaction Lakshmana cuts her ear and nose with his sword.  Shattered Shurpanakha informs his brother Ravan about her insult. Thus Ravan vows to take revenge of her sister’s insult with Rama and Lakshmana. Thus she became the cause of the battle between Ram and Raavan. Renu Dhariwal had played the role of Shurpanakha, do you remember her flying? My first impression was like swimming at sky but when she changes herself into a beautiful woman that looked scary. Renu went on to play in few films that included Khilaaf (1991), Mast Kalandar (1991) and Bhrashtachar (1989).

Pushpaka Vimana of Ravan has always intrigued me since I first saw it on television 32 years ago. It is the chariot that helped Ravan kidnap Sita. As shown in the Ramayan series, the flying chariots most of the kings used had horses, winged horses, swans, and birds pulling them, but Pushpaka Vimana was different. No animal was attached to it. This chariot gave me wings to look for things beyond thought and imagination. In later years, I found stories about Pushpaka Vimana on web pages whose name was mentioned in religious verses. Whether real or imaginary, the vimana still holds a special place in Ramayan. It was in this chariot that Ram and his associate returned to Ayodhya after killing Ravan.