Assessing Raja Rasalu
I suppose I could say a few things about the Raja Rasalu
reading unit. First of all, I enjoyed it. I thought the writing was good and
the adventures were interesting. But there are some interesting things that I
think should be pointed out, including Raja Rasalu as a character and the
religious context of the story.
To tell you the truth, as I began to read the chapters of
the Raja Rasalu reading unit, I thought Raja Rasalu was going to be Gary Stu
(you know, the male version of a Mary Sue?). And I was kind of right. Unlike a
Gary Stu, Raja Rasalu does mess up, most notably when he plays chaupur with
King Sarkap; he forgets that he has to use the bone dice given to him by King
Sarkap’s dead brother. And it’s not him that remembers to use the dice at the
last minute – it’s his horse (who can talk) who reminds him. Despite this
momentary lapse in memory, however, he does display the qualities of a Gary
Stu. He’s young, smart, and beautiful, and (besides King Sarkap) he never does
anything wrong. He survives at every twist and turn, perceiving so far as to leave
town in one story before he gets captured. His beauty is even a weapon; there
are times in the story where something pertinent happens because of it. For
instance, in How He Became a Jogi, the only reason Queen Sundran comes
out of her castle is that both her maids (who were sent out to give Raja Rasalu
alms) faint because of Raja Rasalu’s beauty. And seeing Queen Sundran was Raja
Rasalu’s goal, which is convenient.
As for the religious context of the story, there were a
couple of instances where religion came into play. Being a person whose family
comes from Andhra Pradesh, I went into the story with some vague notion that its
religious tone would be Hindu. When religion came up in the story, I was
half-surprised (though I should not have been) when Raja Rasalu referred to the
divine as God. I realized I had almost forgotten this tale was Punjabi, and
therefore most of its inhabitants were Sikh. India is a diverse place,
something many people don’t realize; within its borders lie people of different
cultures. Even North India and South India have a distinction within an
Indian’s mindset because of food and skin color.
Indian Prince
(Web Source: Wikimedia Commons)
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