Ramayaṇam — As I See It Chapter 1: Before the Turning

I have begun reading Dushyanth Sridhar’s Ramayanam slowly. There are one hundred and eight chapters in this volume, and I do not want to hurry through them. I am not trying to retell the story or reinterpret it in any authoritative way. I simply want to move through each chapter with attention and share what remains with me after I close the page.

This is the first of those pauses.

The opening chapter does not begin with exile or accusation. It begins in fullness. Two years after the pattabhishekam. Rama and Sita seated together. The kingdom is steady. There is a quiet kind of happiness in the air. Nothing appears unsettled. The choice feels intentional. Before life shifts, it often rests.

I found myself noticing the small details. Rama rises at once when Vasishta’s disciple arrives. He does not remain seated as a distant king. He stands naturally, listens carefully, and asks with interest. There is dignity in him, but no stiffness. Authority has not hardened him. That simplicity felt more powerful than any grand description of virtue.

Sita too is very alive in this chapter. She does not sit silently beside him. As they walk through the gallery of paintings that hold their own past, she responds to them. She smiles at memories of childhood. She reacts to Surpanakha. She laughs at Hanuman. She pauses before Valmiki’s image and wants to know more. That curiosity felt deeply human. She does not walk past her own story. She enters it again, gently.

The gallery scene stayed with me. They are looking at what they have already lived, standing in comfort, unaware of what lies ahead. It feels familiar. We often revisit our own memories during calm seasons of life, believing stability will continue. Yet change rarely announces itself loudly. It grows quietly, even while everything seems settled.

This first chapter does not feel heavy. It feels composed. But beneath that calm is movement. Tenderness exists before separation. Ease comes before testing. A life that appears complete is already unfolding toward its next turn.

As I begin this journey through the 108 chapters, I find myself starting here with quiet. Not with questions about what will happen next, but with attention to what is already present. Sometimes it is these untroubled moments that shape us most, even before we realize life is preparing to turn.

For now, I am content to stay with that.

Agre Pashyami. 🌿