This week, we’ll meet a killer Dad and a killer Aunt from hell!
Literature is full of evil Aunts – there’s Bertie Wooster’s Aunt Agatha, Harry Potter’s Aunt Petunia, and the aunts from James and the Giant Peach to name just a few, but none of these is as evil as the ones we are about to meet. I mean yes, Aunt Agatha eats broken bottles and Aunt Petunia makes Harry live on scraps, and James’ aunts make him do all the chores, but how would it be if an Aunt wanted to kill her nephew?! Today’s story is a two-parter and we’ll meet just this delightful person.
The character this week is a tiger, who was also actually a real historical person.
Our story begins with brother and sister. Hiranyakashapu and Holika.
Technically there were two brothers and one sister, but we’ve already encountered one of the brothers before. We saw Hiranyaksha as the demon who was killed by the Character of the Week in Episode 9 – “A clever minister in King Arthur’s court”.
And I know what you’re thinking, their parents really had a fascination for the letter H when they named their kids.
Anyway, we start with what villains usually do in these stories. Hiranyakashapu, whom I am going to call Heera prayed to Brahma for a long time. Impressed by his devotion and not at all suspecting any evil take over the world kind of plans, Brahma appeared before him.
If you haven’t heard earlier episodes you should know that Brahma is my dad. He’s the creator in the holy trinity also starring Vishnu the preserver, and Shiva the destroyer.
And especially if you haven’t heard the earlier episodes, Brahma is incredibly easy to please.
Making someone immortal, or giving them superpowers to destroy the whole world? Sure, that’s just a regular day in the office for him.
Today was no different. Except when Heera asked to be made immortal, Brahma said no.
You heard that right. My dad actually said no to this request. But don’t get too excited. He added “but Heera I really do want to reward you – you can have any wish you like”
“I want to be immortal,” said Heera
“Except that,” said Brahma
“Oh alright. Let me think,” said Heera.
If Brahma couldn’t make him immortal explicitly, he could still find a way indirectly. I will ask for a totally impossible way to die.
“Okay. I wish to decide my manner of death. Or rather, the way I cannot die.
When I die, it must be by neither a human nor an animal nor a god. It must be neither day nor night. It must be neither indoors nor outdoors. I must not be killed by either Astra or Shastra which are Sanskrit words for projectile weapons(like arrows and missiles) or handheld weapons(like swords and spears). I must not be killed on the ground, or in the sky.
Did you get all that?” He asked Brahma as
Brahma was jotting all this down. “Um huh, 5 conditions in there. Want to add water?”
“No, but I’ll get a side of fries with that,” said Heera.
Brahma glared at him and clarified “I meant do you want to add water to the list of places you can’t be killed?”
“Oh yes, hadn’t thought of that. I don’t want to die by accidental drowning. Even though the day/night thing and the indoors/outdoors thing protects me well, I had better not take a chance. Water too please”
Brahma snapped his fingers and it happened.
“Woohoo!” Heera said, and immediately texted his sister, Holika – “Big Brahma giveaway! Come quick!”
Holika did come quick, and she received something from Brahma as well. They compared gifts later, as members of a sibling often do.
“I got a fireproof cloak,” said Holika.
Heera laughed at her – “what are you going to do, be a firefighter?”
“A firewoman” she corrected “in fact, “firefighter” is the better term. Regardless I am not going to be either. You’re just a meanie you’re jealous of my cloak. Tell me what *you* got”
Heera explained his five conditions.
Holika’s reply was immediate – “you think you were being smart, don’t you? You won’t be killed on the ground and not in the sky, well what about a tree? Or a rooftop?”
Heera was stunned into silence.
Holika continued – “and what’s more you only said sky – you didn’t say Earth’s sky. The entire Earth is in the Moon’s sky”
That’s nonsense he said – “the Moon is just a night light. Our Science has long disproved that. The moon can’t have a sky. Don’t spew your fantasy conspiracy theories”
Well, he thought to himself. She was right about the trees and rooftops though. He must avoid them at all costs! He would just have to rely on the other four conditions. Good thing he had backups. Maybe he could have added a few more to eliminate disease as a possible means of death.
Things went on for a while. Heera assumed the throne. He thought himself immortal for having conjured up a manner of death impossible to happen by any known science at the time.
One day seeing his people worshipping Vishnu, he thought to himself: they’re worshipping Vishnu because he’s eternal. But come to think of it, I am eternal now. Inevitable even. I am immortal. Besides, I am right here and I rule over these people. Why worship Vishnu who, I don’t even know where he lives. They should really worship me.
Soon the orders went out. There was to be no more Vishnu worship. Only Heera would be worshipped. Instead of visiting a temple and praying to an idol of Vishnu, they could come to the palace and pray to a living breathing Heera instead. The sale of entry tickets alone would make a fortune!
He was disappointed therefore when not many people showed up. So? People didn’t think him worthy of worship – well they were going to pay for this!
More orders went out. Soldiers stormed into people’s houses and took away their Vishnu statues.
Mission accomplished, Heera was thrilled. Now people would be forced to worship him he thought. Just as he was being high spirited and chummy with everyone around him, he came across it. An idol of Vishnu in his own house! What is this doing here? He was about to scream but then he noticed something worse- his own son, Prahlad praying to Vishnu. “No no no, boy stop it you have it all wrong” Heera said “we don’t pray to Vishnu,” he told the little boy.
“I know you don’t daddy, ” replied the boy “But I do”
Heera then proceeded to say a lot of stuff about what he thought of Vishnu. I will repeat only the remarks that were civil….
Done. That was easy
Unfortunately for Heera, Prahlad not only didn’t agree with him, but he also had the impudence to suggest that he be allowed to maintain his own religious beliefs.
Heera was starting to lose patience with the boy.
He tried to bribe him with toys, video games, comic books. Nothing worked.
Prahlad was calm and confident – “Vishnu is supreme”, he continued to say.
“Oh, and you think he knows and understands everything does he?”
“He does,” said Prahlad.
“And if something were to happen to you, he’ll protect you will he?”
“Possibly, if he thinks it the right thing to do”
“He wouldn’t,” snapped Heera. “Here I am all-powerful. Vishnu dare not enter here”
Prahlad replied “Vishnu can go anywhere he pleases”
Heera stormed out, still very angry. He met Holika outside and quickly he told her all the trouble.
The boy needs to be taught a lesson said Heera.
And at the same time, he could serve as bait if I wanted a showdown with Vishnu.
Why do you want a showdown with Vishnu? Asked Holika.
He’s been encroaching in my territory for too long. People here should worship me.
Say, do you still have that cloak with you? I have an idea!
Holika did, though she didn’t seem very certain of Heera’s evil plan.
A large stack of wood was laid out together with a chair. All at Heera’s orders. Holika on there wearing her cloak, the boy Prahlad on her lap.
“Now tell your most favorite Auntie”….she began
“You are my only aunt” interrupted Prahlad
“That doesn’t mean I’m not your favorite. Now tell me – whom you will worship – your father or Vishnu”
“Vishnu” was the quick reply
“Wrong answer. I’ll give you another chance. Your father or Vishnu. C’mon Prahlad this isn’t hard. Pick one. Need I remind you that you already picked Vishnu and that was the wrong answer?”
“Vishnu,” said Prahlad again
“Alright, on your own head be it”, she signaled to Heera’s people who quickly set the stack on fire. The fire began raging in no time.
Holika comfortably wrapped in her fire-proof cloak ho-hummed and whistled a tune to herself.
And Prahlad? He had no protection! He started praying.
Holika noticing this asked, her hopes raised “You’re praying to your daddy, aren’t you?”
“No. To Vishnu” he said.
Holika shook her head disappointed.
The flames continued to rise around them.
I’ll leave it here on a cliffhanger this week. Even though I’m pretty certain many of you already know or have guessed what happens next.
Some notes on the show
You might wonder why Prahlad was such a Vishnu fan. Well, the answer is easy. It’s all thanks to me! Yup, I’d often be singing praises of Vishnu and Prahlad often heard me. I certainly can make quite an impression!
Holika is the reason we celebrate the festival of Holi. As it happens this festival is tomorrow. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s a spring festival in India that involves a lot of colors. People spray colored water at each other, and generally, the streets resemble a psychedelic rock album cover.
What do the colors mean you may ask? There are a few different schools of thought, not all of them say that an evil aunt had anything to do with it. Some say that each color symbolizes a particular character attribute. In other versions, spraying colored water on each other was a game that Krishna played with his milkmaid friends growing up.
All of these versions agree that playing with colors is fun! And not at all a grisly reminder of how an evil aunt is trying to kill her nephew under guidance from the boy’s evil father.
Here are some pictures of the colorful celebrations, check them out!
Holi_Bonfire_Udaipur, Radha_celebrating_Holi,_c1788, Krishna and Radha playing Holi,
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Celebration in Mathura, London, New York City, Utah, Mysore, Assam, Unknown location, but generic looking celebration, Rajasthan, Basantapur, Germany, Utah, Sao Paulo
The Character of the Week
The character this week is Tipu Sultan, the tiger of Mysore.
Tipu Sultan was a real human person, not a tiger. He was the ruler of Mysore which was the name of a state in India but is now a charming little city, not too far from Bangalore. Tipu Sultan was the son of Hyder Ali who was the de-facto ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore. Hyder Ali being illiterate himself, overcompensated when it came to Tipu’s education and ensured the boy received every academic, sport and military training. Tipu was given charge of several diplomatic and military missions at the young age of 17. He pioneered rocket artillery in his wars against the British invasion. And I’m not talking about the rock and roll invasion from the 1960s but a deadlier invasion 200 years earlier.
While in power, Tipu also helped bootstrap the Silk industry in Mysore as well as championing a new set of coins. Ultimately, Tipu Sultan was killed when the British tag-teamed with the Marathas.
Here are some images and links related to Tipu Sultan:
A painting of Tipu in battle , Tippu’s birthplace, Tipu Sultan profile, Tipu_Sultan_seated_on_his_throne, Tipu’s summer palace, Tippu’s_cannon, Tipu_Sultan’s_cannon, Tipu’s army in battle, Tipu’s coins, Tipu_Sultan’s_Tiger toy, Tipu Sultan in a *very* old newspaper!, Portraits, More coins, and a ton of info!
That’s it for this week.
Next Week
Next week we’ll continue the story of Holika and Prahlad as we’ll see how strange events conspire to a specific end, very much like in the “Final Destination” movies but in a very positive way – to prevent death not to cause it. At least to some extent
The character next week is has a very special power. In every fight, half of his opponent’s powers are magically transferred over to him. This makes him impossible to defeat. Except by sniper attack.
I’ll see you next week!