When I was a kid I remember reading
this famous mahabharatha story on Karna and parasurama. Karna a Kshatriya lies
to Parasurama that he is a bhramin to get trained in archery and stuff.
Parasurama is very pleased with him. One day when parasurama was like napping
in Karna’s lap, a scorpion bites through karna and he doesn’t flinch ( not
wanting to disturb his mentor’s beauty sleep ) His hotheaded mentor
wakes up due to the blood trickling down on him and instead of being touched by
his pupil’s devotion realizes that his disciple can’t be a weak bhramin and
must be a strong Kshatriya to withstand such pain. And curses karna. That’s the
end of the story. You heard me right. You can read a more proper version of
this story here.
Firstly, how flawed and cool is
mahabharatha lol love it infinitely more than the boring Ramayana ( Don’t come
at me haters)
Secondly, this story is pretty dark,
I’m glad I didn’t understand the overtly casteist nature of this story when I
was young.
What I am focusing on today and what
has been running in my head is the fundamentally toxic guru-sishya bond which
is so revered in our country and which is so firmly embedded in our mind that even
acts of cutting your thumb (ekalavya I’m looking at you) , withstanding
scorpion bites may not be sufficient to gain your ‘guru’s’ appreciation. And you just need to keep trying
harder. Anything remotely resembling labour law is seen as a favour done to you.
Having no work life balance is glorified. Even the good ones act like they’re
performing charity. I remember an office
where my friend worked Monday to Sundays at – they used to say how lucky he was
that he was even getting paid. I am not just talking out of personal experience.
Sadly, I see workplace exploitation and burnout in all fields including but not
limited to medicine,engineering,C.As, architects….basically my whole friend
list is one unhappy overworked mess and no one seems to acknowledge that the
system is rigged. They just blame the individual as whiny or a ‘millenial’ *sigh*
(359 words)
