This is a story of 3 women – two betis and a bahu. and it has all the ingridients of a daily soap from the ekta kapoor stable. The three characters are:

Beti no. 1 – Sushma “Kaikeyi” Swaraj: a beautiful woman. wise, wonderful and just. One day on the instigation of her mentor decides to throw a tantrum on the question of who ascends the throne. Her mentor instigates her by telling her “if she takes the crown, it will never be yours”.

She locks herself up in the sulking room – threatens to shave of her head and live on a diet of boiled gram – which may not be such a bad idea given her expanding girth.

Beti No.2 – Uma”Shoorpanaka“Bharati: A leading figure among the rakshasas – known for destroying & desecrating places of learning and worship. Instigated by an exiled chief of the Rakshsas – Govind “mareech” acharya – she threatens to unleash the forces of evil.

The Bahu – Sonia “Sita” Gandhi – the outsider who came to this land. went on vanvas with her husband. When the dhobi’s questioned her status – she responded as the mythical fore runner had. Went away. And that act of quiet dignified renunciation – based on an “inner voice” has led her to go up in the esteem of a lot of ordinary Indians.

The Ramayan is not my favourite epic, nor Sita my favourite character. Nor am I comparing Sonia to Sita or deifying her. But it is surprising that a party that had made Ram their number one agenda, until it was displaced by Rome, would have its leading lights behave like the Kaikeyi and Shoorpanaka.

If the BJP had objected to Sonia Gandhi’s nationality on constitutional grounds, if Sushma had stuck to her guns and simply resigned her pariliamentary seat, if they had just indulged in “civilized protest” the BJP RSS family would still have some credibility left.

But the nautanki, the tamasha and the outward posturing looked crude and barbaric compared to a woman who listened to her inner voice.