Dessert

Dish: The Bittersweet Ending

Ravana versus Rama


Since my mother is big on food, especially around the celebrations of Rama's birth, she related Ravana's downfall to the dessert of a meal. This is how my mother described the event in Ravana's life:

In the last story, I told you about the biggest mistake that Ravana made: abducting Rama's wife, Sita. The story I will now be telling you about is about how that mistake affected the rest of his life. When Ravana took Sita, he imprisoned her in his home, Lanka. Due to the strength of their love, Rama could not bear to live without Sita. From the moment he discovered the empty cottage, he was determined to get her back. Not far from the cottage lay a huge vulture named Jatayu, who appeared to be badly hurt. Apparently Jatayu attempted to prevent Sita's abductor, but he failed and was dying. With his last words, Jatayu told Rama that Sita had been taken south. This wasn't much information, but it gave them hope. As Rama and his brother Lakshmana headed south, they made several friends who were willing to help in Rama's search. These friends helped Rama find Sita's exact location. Countless numbers of his friends, many of whom were animals, aided in the construction of a great bridge that stretched across an ocean that led to the location of Sita. For humans and most animals, a bridge was the only the way to reach the island kingdom of Lanka. Each of the animals who helped with the construction also helped Rama in the upcoming battle.

Though Ravana noticed the vast numbers of animals who surrounded Lanka's walls, he was far from intimidated. However, his brother, Vibhishana, soon realized the fate of Lanka. After his pleading with Ravana to give Sita back failed, Vibhishana left his brother and sought refuge with Rama. Ravana remained arrogant.

Ravana made several attempts to overtake Rama and his army by using his people. He sent two spies to check out Rama's forces, but they were quickly discovered when Vibhishana revealed their identities. Prahasta, Ravana's general, then gathered an army and attempted to destroy Rama. When the troops were defeated, Prahasta returned to Lanka. He then attacked a second time, only to find an even worse result. One of Rama's allies killed Prahasta. Next, Ravana woke his brother, Kumbharkarna, from his deep slumber. Again, Ravana received another warning to just give Sita back for the war will not end well for the demons. Instead of listening to yet another warning, he asked his brother to fight for him. Kumbhakarna was not as easily defeated as Prahasta. It took Rama several tries to finally take Kumbhakarna down.

Ravana used his son, Indrajit, as a last resort. Indrajit had a magic chariot that would never allow him to lose a battle. This is the hard part of the story. Indrajit badly hurt or killed all of Rama's army. The last two warriors he took down were Rama and Lakshmana. Yes, they both died. Fortunately for them, some of the troops survived. Hanuman, a magical monkey, Ravana's brother Vibhishana, and Jambavan, king of the bears, were just a few survivors from Indrajit's attack. Hanuman had incredible strength as well as the ability to fly. He used these powers to find and bring back an entire hill full medicinal herbs and plants. Both Lakshmana and Rama came back to life, ready to battle once again. Upon hearing the news of the revival, Ravana sent his son to take care of Rama a second time. This battle did not end favorably for Ravana because Lakshmana killed Indrajit.

Ravana had no one left to fight for him. The final battle between Rama and Ravana was incredibly gruesome. Each had their own powerful mantras and weapons to use. Ravana almost succeeded by transforming into an illusion of Indra. Almost is the key word though. Rama attacked Ravana's illusion and finally killed him. Ravana would never destroy another living thing again.

Now you can understand what I meant when I said that he got exactly what was coming for him. Ravana was arrogant and refused to listen when people said he could be defeated. If he hadn't been so arrogant, his death would not have come so soon. When he asked for immortality, he didn't think to include animals and humans. Animals helped bring Rama back to life, and Rama, a human, delivered the final blow to Ravana. Most importantly, Rama would not have been after him if he had not taken Sita away. As you can see, Ravana made several mistakes throughout his life. In the end, Ravana died because of these mistakes. This is Karma: every action has either a negative consequence or a positive reward.

Recipe (Author's Note):

This story is yet again from the young girl's point of view while listening to the story her mother is telling. The girl's mother is completing the analogy and teaching her daughter the final lessons that can be learned. I again had to summarize the battle. I also tried to make it less gruesome because the young girl is only ten years old. She does not need to hear about arms, legs, and heads being torn off, so there is some editing on those parts. While writing this, I tried to keep very close to the actual story. This is the dessert not only because it is the ending of his life, but also because it is bittersweet. For Ravana, his own death is bitter, but for the rest of the world it is a sweet event.

The girl is questioning her mother around the big festival that celebrates the birth of Rama. Food is an important part of the festivities. Continuing with this theme, the recipe chosen for the dessert portion is Badam Kheer. This recipe has one important ingredient that is known for its bitter taste, saffron, yet the dish is actually sweet. In this story, only one small part was bitter about Ravana's death, but the big picture was very sweet.

Badam Kheer


Badam Kheer Source: Indian Recipes

Ingredients :
1 cup Badam
4 to 6 cups milk
1 cup sugar
½ tsp saffron
a small pinch Kesari powder

Method :
Soak saffron in little cold milk, and keep aside.
Soak badam in hot water for at least 1 hour.
Peel skin and grind the almond into a fine
paste with 1 cup of milk instead of water.
Measure the amount of badam paste and keep the same amount of sugar aside.
Cook the badam paste for 5 to 10 and keep on stirring it constantly, till the flavour comes out.
Now put sugar and keep stirring.
Add the remaining milk, and boil for 10 to 15 minutes.
Add the soaked saffron.
Ready to serve.

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