Mysteries of the New Battlefield – Part I

What happened when Ram Sharma, who never believed in mythology, found himself diving deep into the mysteries of his own mind, while recalling the specifics of ancient epic battle?

This is Part I of the article – Mysteries of the New Battlefield. Click here for Part II.

The Separation

Despite sharing his first name with one of the most popular heroes of the ancient mythology, Ram Sharma never believed in any of those stories.

But today, he felt like living one of those.

He was alone. He was missing his wife. She was not abducted, but the invisible villain seems to be the prime suspect. This Raavan of his life had taken away a lot more than in his love of life.

Chasing the Shadow

It took him years to even figure out that that there is one single ‘goon’ behind most of his misfortunes in life. He wished it was a person. He could have possibly avenged everything by waging a war against him like his namesake.

But there was no tangible entity to this villain. It was like a ghost, appearing suddenly and hiding back even before its presence was felt.

Initially, he thought it’s anger. He would shout at people even at little provocations. But then he saw stress underneath. Sometimes, he suffered with anxious panic attacks. He even felt sudden sadness and fears of falling into depression. He just couldn’t understand this multi-faced evil residing within him.

Experiencing the Evil

One day in fit of rage, he spoke things, which he still regrets. She left him.

It was not his first loss. He had lost multiple promotions, besides losing one job. He had fought with more people than he had met in recent times. It was not just about other people. He was quite hard on himself as well. His health was deteriorating and his BP pills fell short for the intensity of his temper.

He reminisces having friends, hobbies, sports and smiles in his life. He lost much more than summation of his losses – he had lost ‘living’.

Whoever did this to him, was definitely evil – even if it was inside him.

The Search for the Nemesis

He was looking outside the window of his large apartment and noticed the celebratory preparations. “Tomorrow they will burn the evil” he thought. He looked at the banner that appeared on TV – ‘Victory of good over evil’.

He felt a tinge of bitterness inside. “So preachy”, he thought as he looked at the people outside his window. “You celebrate the whole festival around this hollow statement. It doesn’t even tell how to do that” He found solace in finding something to complain about.

Ram had tried hard to overcome his rage and agitation, but nothing worked. Initially he thought the travel is taking a toll on him and so he compromised with his pay and took up a non-travel role. It made him feel comfortable for a while, but didn’t change anything overall. After having brawls with his grumpy manager, he was sure that he is the reason behind all his frustrations. This time, he changed the company. While he got a better manager, his temperament didn’t get better.

He grew in his role and so his anger. He tried to get better people and fired many people he hired. Many other left him. At one point, he even took a 3-week long solo vacation, thinking that he had been working too hard and needed a break. He felt relaxed, but the effect didn’t last beyond fourth week.

He read self-help books, tried positive thinking, attended motivational seminars, but nothing worked. By the time he gave up, his situation had got even worse.

“I just don’t understand why am I not able to bring my life back, even after all these efforts to kill the devil?” He was still looking out of the window.

The Belly Button Puzzle

“It seems like I am cutting heads of that mythological villain, but the new head keeps cropping up” He thought as he looked at children setting up the effigy of ten-headed antagonist.

“Wait! Didn’t this hero also face the same issue thousands of years ago? Then how did he finally win over the opponent?”

“The story talks about some strange connection. Don’t go after heads, but hit the belly button – the source of enemy's life and strength”. He laughed with amusement.

“Where is the belly button of my villain?” He smiled with a strange feeling. He never liked all these stories and today he was spending his evening analysing one of those.

“Is it possible that there is one source for all my agonies” He thought without any hope. “Where is that belly button?” The thought kept echoing inside his head. He had a very tiring day and he felt like his head is spinning. He didn’t realise when he fell asleep.

To be continued........ Click here for Part II.