We Burn Ravana Every Dussehra. Why Does He Keep Coming Back?
Every year, on Dussehra, we burn Ravana. A ground somewhere. A crowd. A forty-foot effigy stuffed with crackers. Ten heads. We cheer when the arrow lands, record the explosion for WhatsApp status, buy jalebi on the way out, and go home. And then on Monday morning somebody cuts into my lane and I want to kill him. **We have been burning this man for thousands of years and he has an attendance record better than most of my colleagues.** He comes back every single time. Which should tell us something. Either the method doesn't work, or we have been burning the wrong Ravana. Because the real meaning of Dussehra isn't only the victory of Rama over Ravana. It's a reminder of a battle we keep postponing — the one against the Ravana we are carrying around inside us. ## My First Dussehra in Bangalore Felt Like a Tuesday I should explain where I'm writing this from. This is my first festival season in Bangalore, and I'm not feeling it. I keep waiting for the festi...