So Young

युनिभर्सिटी भित्रका हरुले सामान किन्नु पर्यो भने आफ्नो स्टुडन्ट आई डी कार्ड प्रायोग गर्छन । युनिभर्सिटीलाई जति पैसा तिर्यो त्यति नै बराबर पैसाको मुल्य कम्प्युटर द्वारा त्यो कार्डमा हालिदिएको हुन्छ । अनि तपाईले त्यहि कार्डबाट खाने ठाउमा व कफि खाने ठाउमा अनि किताब पसलबाट केहि किन्नु भयो भने त्यहि कार्ड देखाएर काम चलाइन्छ । त्यो कार्ड चै मसिनमा लुत्त्त स्वापे पछि पैसा काटिन्छ । तपाईको कार्डमा तपाईको फोटो सहित नाम पनि लेखिएको हुन्छ ।

आज दिउसो काम गर्दा खेरी एकजना केटी सामान किन्नु आईपुगिन् । केटी त नभनौ तर अलिक पाको उमेरको थिईन् । पक्कै पनि ३५ नजिक हुनुपर्छ । हेर्दा त्यस्तै देखिन्थिन् । म चै पैसाको रेजिस्टर चलाउदै थिए । सामान किने वापत उनीले आफ्नो कार्ड मतिर पसारिन । मैले कार्ड लुत्त्त स्वापे । कार्ड फर्काउन अगाडी उनको नाममा मेरो आखा पर्न गयो । अनि मैले पनि नसोचिकन फ्याट्टै भनि हाले । "oh my! you're card says you're So Young" पछाडी लाईनमा उभिएकाहरु हास्न थाले । उनि हाँसिनन । रिसाईन क्यारे । उनको कोरियन नाम पो रैछ So Young तर उमेर भने काटिसकेकी । मैले जिस्कायो भन्ठानिन होला । उनको नामै त्यस्तो परे पछि मैले के गर्नु? जे होस उनि भाग्यमानी रैछिन । भोली पर्सी लौरो टेक्ने बुढी बजै भउन्जेल पनि उनको कोरियन नाम अङ्रेजीमा चै "साह्रै तन्नेरी" रहने भो ।

the mythical Medusa

Medusa was once a beautiful young woman with beautiful hair and a symbol of fertility. Men would fall for her hair and even the male gods had lustful desires for her. She once made a judgmental remark about the beauty of the sacred temple of Athena being incomparable to her beauty. In the sacred temple of Athena, the sea god Poseidon forcefully raped her. The goddess Athena found out about this desecration which took place in her sacred temple. In her rage, she punished Medusa because Poseidon was her uncle, the god of the Sea. Athena being the virgin goddess of War herself could not point fingers to blame Poseidon for his deeds in a male order society. Secondly, Athena also held part jealousy against Medusa's beauty. So, she turned Medusa's beautiful hair into snakes and deformed her into a monster's body and cursed her that any males regardless of their lustful desires, who would gaze into her eyes would turn them into a stone. Turning male body into stone not only implied death for them but also implied castration and reduction of a fertile male population. In a sense, she was turned into a symbol of infertility.

Medusa, in her despair, would now turn anybody into a stone with her gaze. Later Athena became aware that this curse could be yielded as a power to turn enemies into stone. Athena felt how her curse upon Medusa had made Medusa even stronger and powerful. Athena wanted to kill her and sent Perseus to assassinate her. Perseus was the perfect candidate for her assasination and Perseus trickfully slayed Medusa's head without looking at her face. The cutoff head still retained its powers. Perseus then used Medusa's cutoff head to defeat his enemies by showing it towards his enemies and turning them into stone. Later Perseus handed it over to Athena and then she placed Medusa's head into her shield which gave Athena even more power.

Lesson from this story: The dominator (Poseidon) got away with his misdeeds and those who suffered from it (Athena and Medusa collectively as victims of patriarchy) again fought amongst themselves with jealousy, vengeance and thriving for power. The misinformed (Perseus) further perpetuated the problem. Did he even realize who was the real "evil" in this story?

Is this not what happens even today in our society? Rich and powerful always get away with almost anything. The less powerful or the people who are at the bottom always suffer and then they suffer even more by fighting against each other. On top of that, the uneducated or the uninformed or the misinformed people further perpetuate the problem. I guess we can put this scenario in context of Nepal and contemplate ourselves.

Ancient myths and stories are worth listening to. Sometimes, it feels like those who are portrayed as monsters might not necessarily be a monster and those who seem aesthetically perfect could be shockingly evil.

Anyway, poor Medusa. What was her fault all along this story? Was she a victim to tyranny of a male order society? Is she is a symbol of feminine power? You decide.

Google images by typing "Versace Logo". You will figure that Versace must have definitely used her face as their logo in the context of feminine power. Or else why would anyone choose an ugly monster face to represent their fashion label? haha..but that Versace face is definitely Medusa. Such is her story.