Journey of Ramayana Olympiad
Many minds.. Many places.. Many emotions
A Sanskrit friend urged us to participate in the Valmiki Ramayana Olympiad. I thought to myself.. Is it some kind of a joke? Where my meager boat of comprehension, and where that mighty ocean of Ramayanam? After some prodding, I agreed. It was not a solo journey.. We had made some Sanskrit friends by then.
Starting point -500 questions in jumbled order.. 200 chapters spanning Balakandam and Ayodhyakandam. The amazing IIT K Ramayana and Valmiki Ramayana website as the golden source.
What next? Rote memorisation of the Question Bank would be no fun. Digesting 200 chapters an impossible task for the poor reader that I am. And hence the middle path. From the unknown to the known guided by conviction. We can pilot it in small increments.. I had to convince my friends we could do it. We could transfer our knowledge and strengths. Each of us don’t have to do this grind.
In this vast unknown premise, sorting and labeling the questions was like a problem of Space and Time optimisation. Followed a divide and conquer, and sliding window like protocol to make small milestones every week.
After a quick scan of questions, I identified 10 topics and attempted to arrange the events in a linear timeline under each topic. Then, I delved into the Source, reading a bit about each event, and crafted mini-stories to provide a fitting context for the questions.
For the few untagged questions, performed quite some mental gymnastics until each question found a home.
Infact, some of the searches were so hard, like finding a needle in the hay. sanskritsahitya and the indexing feature came to our rescue. AI help was minimal and even a joke, as it was spinning its own stories, cooking up verses only not to be found anywhere.
My dear teacher’s Sanskrit audio narration of the ordered Sanskrit questions and the Quizlet app by another member aided us very much. And time just went by.. Perhaps this activity and self-study will facilitate a more leisurely exploration of the epic in the future.
It is Valmiki’s Ramayana.. Perched on the woods of poetry, the cuckoo of his work cooing with sweetness. And like Russian Dolls, stories nested within stories.
As the brothers walked with Vishwamitra from Ayodhya to Mithila, it seemed we were traveling along.. Rama’s questions to sage Vishwamitra, the topics from history, lineage, ethics, geography and even etymology. An experience of landscapes, Manasarovara melting into Sarayu, the confluence with Ganges and other rivers, and the story of Ganga.
In Ayodhyakandam, poignant emotions flowed — the dramatic turn of events, the angry lakshmana ready to cause a riot, the citizens’ cry, birds wail, and tamasa laments. Sumitra’s consoling words to Kaushalya still resonate: “The sunrays shall not pierce him, the moonlight shall comfort him.”
Rama’s words to Bharata consoling over Dasaratha’s death still linger : “Like logs of wood drifting in the ocean, we meet and part; time does not go back; the purpose of a river is to unite with the ocean; this is the way of life; do not cry over Dasartha’s death.”
As the exam dates drew near, we reveled in mock tests and quizzes, savoring the journey, participation, and ultimately, our collective triumph.
Valmiki’s words piercing the heart like a dagger, ready to swell like a river of emotions. As I bid farewell to this enchanting journey, I’m reminded of this timeless verse:
यावत् स्थास्यन्ति गिरयस्सरितश्च महीतले ।
तावद्रामायणकथा लोकेषु प्रचरिष्यति ।।1.2.36।।
As long as the mountains and rivers exist on this earth, the story of Ramayana will prevail