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cyndaquillt · 3 months ago

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Image : A landscape painting of the Jungle Terai by William Hodges titled 'A View in the Jungle Terry', 1782 (Source)

Bhool Bhulaiya 3 is an interesting piece of media in the sense that it has many of my identities and interests but feels a little off in terms of repping them. In the spirit of fix-it-fics, I have an expansive BB3 alternate timeline AU where I can project my needs for historical and cultural accuracy of this story. Read my brief retelling of the events leading up to Manjulika's haunting in BB3 on the above link or under the cut! TW/CW : implied gender dysphoria, transphobia, major character death

This work uses he/him pronouns for Debu before she completely figures out her gender identity. I simply mean to use this as a writing tool and the intention isn't to misgender Debu. He/him pronouns for Debu may also pop up in cases where a character denies her gender identity in their pov.

The estate at Raktghat is haunted by Manjulika and a Raj Purohit of the old rajjo is the only one with the knowledge of how the haunting came to be. But does the oral tradition of the Raj Purohit's family remember who Manjulika really is? Does it know of the sin of its own people? Does it remember what Raktghat really was like before the rakt seeped into its grounds? Do the tales still speak of the time when Raktghat was Joybhum?

The year is 1805. A collection of several estates and fiefdoms in the Jungle Terai region go on to become the Jungle Mahals district under the British Raj. British presence in the area is nothing new but the renaming of the district brings more of their control into it rather than being a mere name change. And yet, some fiefdoms persist. Like the fiefdom of Joybhum, near modern day Purulia in West Bengal. The feudal lord of the fiefdom even manages to keep his title of a 'Rajah', fully acknowledged as a ruler of Joybhum by the British. And yet, he knows it's not all over yet. The white men loom like vultures on the horizon, scavengers ready to pick him apart as soon as his foot slips and they deem him dead. Sometime after the Jungle Mahal is created, a son is born to the Raja of Joybhum. A male heir! Sure, he has daughters already, both capable leaders. But the white men will find a weak link and take over if there's no male heir. His daughters may be of the 'right' lineage and skilled in ruling but he knows they wouldn't be enough to deal with the lurking scavengers. He is their protector, he is Joybhum's protector. And Joybhum will not be compromised. If the Raja has to make the servant's son its ruler to protect it, then so be it. He names his son Debendranath. Lord of the Debendra, King of the King of Gods. His Crown Prince. His Debu.

Debu is thrust into the etiquettes and responsibilities expected of a prince from an early age. The Raja sees Debu's birth as a good omen for the kingdom, harking in several blissful years of peace and prosperity. The Raja's control of Joybhum is firm and his wealth grows. He hosts lavish events, patronizing troupes from nearby regions as well as from poschim or the west, such as a Kathak troupe from Awadh and Odissi troupes from kingdoms just south of Joybhum. His daughters take a keen interest in these two art forms and he makes arrangements for exceptional gurus of the two disciplines to stay in Joybhum and teach his daughters. He doesn't mind that the nobility doesn't learn the dances of the tawaifs and devdasis. He is his daughter's provider, their Baba, and he will give them whatever they ask for. Manjulika learns Odissi and Anjulika learns Kathak and he is very proud of their talents.

However, there is another little child quietly looking from the sidelines and being mesmerized by the beauty of the dances, especially Kathak. Debu goes with Anju didi to her classes, never misses a single one! And dances along on the sidelines. Everyone in the class finds it cute! Even compliments Debu! He is encouraged to dance more and he likes when he's told he's doing it well! These are some of the best days of Debu's childhood. Until one day, when he is about 10 years old, the Raja decides to pay a visit to Anju's Kathak class. The Raja spots Debu and is furious. It is not befitting of a prince, the future crown prince, to dance away like that. What will people say? The sahebs will swoop in, just like they've done to several kingdoms at this point that haven't produced suitable 'heirs'. The white men are already on the Raja's neck for 'lavish spending of public money on the arts' and if they find out the crown prince — 'But Baba! Didi does it so why can't I!', wails the 10 year old and immediately gets a slap on the cheek. 'Tui ki tor Didi? Are you your sisters? Tui Raja hobi. Rajader moto thak. You will become a king. Behave like a king.' Well. Debu wishes he was his didi. Debu wishes he was never the son his baba pinned his hopes on and instead the daughter who learned whatever she wanted. A small fire of envy is born. Debu didn't choose this and he doesn't want to live the life of a prince. He would rather be someone else entirely.

And yet, he is shoved into a prince's life with full force. Debu is banned from visiting the classes and is instead being taught what princes are expected to know - horseriding, swordplay, politics. Debu's distaste towards his own princehood and even manhood intensifies. Why was he born a man? He wishes he were just born a woman. He would rather hold a jhumka in his hand than a sword. He would rather wear his poschimi angrakha and panjabi for twirling while dancing instead of when meeting foreign ambassadors on the arduous diplomacy trips his father takes him on.

Around the time Debu is 16, he starts to run away at night. People think he's going to brothels or has a fling, as rumours go about young princes. Little do they know that he goes to see Chhau performances with the locals of Joybhum, disguised as a teenage girl. He is enchanted by the dance itself and even more so by the men playing the roles of women in the dance-drama. He wants to be them. He wants to be the woman on the stage. She wants to be on stage. She realizes how she really sees herself. She is starting to figure out who she really wants to be. And it's not the crown prince of Joybhum.

The rumours of the young crown prince going to brothels spreads far and wide and reaches the Raja's ears. The Raja is infuriated. He is more of a Raja than a Baba these days anyway and his fury at the crown prince indulging in lecherous deeds knows no bounds. The Raj Purohit, the Raja's trusted advisor, convinces him to channel his anger constructively, and arrange Debu's marriage. Boys will be boys, and the only way to calm the boy down is giving him the role of a husband and a man. The royal Rajput family of Singhbhum has sent a marriage proposal for one of the princesses from their branch family. A marriage alliance would not only benefit the kingdom, but would also set Debu on the right track. And so Debu, at the age of 18, is married off to a princess she barely knows and doesn't love.

She continues to leave at night, and is quickly found out by her wife. They start to chat. Honestly and frankly. And Debu has her first friend she can be open with. Her wife even lets her try out her ornaments! She watches her dance, she listens to Debu talk about dance styles and techniques and even lets Debu teach her a few steps!

Debu does stop leaving the palace and the rumours die down, making people think that the marriage really did contain the young prince after all. But the Raja wants an heir. The Raja declares Debu as the official crown prince of the fiefdom in court to pressure Debu and her wife into their roles as the future monarchs. So that they start thinking of an heir of their own. And then the storm really arrives. Debu's wife has to go to her baaperbari in Singhbhum shortly after. There was a forest fire and one of her close relatives was caught up in it. Meanwhile in Joybhum, Anjulika and Manjulika, upset at Debu's being officially given the title of the crown prince, plot to kill her. This is when they find out that Debu still loves Kathak. Debu still dances even! A part of their hearts is elated! Their little baby br— no, sister— is still the same cute child who would dance in the corner during Anju's classes! But they are their father's daughters and they are princesses. They know why the Raja pins his hopes on Debu and they know his fear of Joybhum being annexed. They know they can't be the perfect male heir that the sahebs have fed into the Raja's mind as the ideal for a ruler. But they are fighters. Debu, however? She is no fighter, never was. Maybe, just maybe, they can get their father to see who she really is. What's the worst that could happen? At most Debu would be exiled and once the sisters work their way up to the throne, they'll bring Debu back! So they plan a show for their Baba. Debu is delighted when the princesses ask her to perform for them. Alas, she doesn't know that she's going to have an audience of more than just the two of them.

Her sisters betray her. The Raja walks in, just like he had when Debu was 10 and dancing in the corner. He looks furious, just like he did back then. And there's something else, something more. A look of resignation? Disappointment? ...surrender?

There was someone else who had ratted Debu out to the Raja before the sisters.

The Raj Purohit has had Debu figured out for quite some time now. He knew the rumours of the crown prince going to brothels was false. He really tried to fix the situation by proposing the marriage and hoping it would really dissuade Debu and save the kingdom. And yet, Debu kept at it. Somehow things got worse, what with that Singhbum girl enabling this behaviour further. So he bribed some village folk to stage a fire near her ancestral property. A member of the royalty getting caught in it wasn't in the plan, but it did make sure she's away for at least 13 days. In the meantime, the Raj Purohit goes to the British and outs Debu. No one had been more successful in coercing the Raja to tighten Debu in his responsibilities than those sahebs after all. Things were all going to plan. He wasn't there when the dialogue between the Raja and the British happened and doesn't know that instead of getting the Raja to put pressure on Debu, they got him to sign off Joybhum's sovereignty to them. It was either that and keeping the estate, or foregoing everything including the property. And the Raja chose property. He can no longer be the protector of Joybhum or his children. But at least he can save his estate.

There are not going to be any real Rajas in Joybhum anymore. A branch family would likely inherit the property and the British would take over its governance. All titles would be fake, without meaning. Hollow and empty. And it was Debu who ruined it.

Debu is not needed anymore.

Debu can just burn to ashes. Anju and Manju can just go away.

And finally, when everyone is gone, and when Joybhum burns and bleeds, the Raja can take his last breath.

Joybhum was one of the earliest fiefdoms in the Jungle Mahal district to completely fall apart. The crown prince’s death triggered a chain reaction and neighbouring estates all started falling apart like dominos. Joybhum vanished. The Jungle Mahals vanished.

The locals claim they saw blood coming out of the palace's doors and flowing out into the nearby Kangsabati river for years after the fall of the fiefdom. The palace was shedding tears of blood. Joybhum was doomed for good and Raktghat was born.

#bb3 #bhool bhulaiyaa 3 #fanfic #my fanfic

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proudhinduforever · 5 months ago

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Sanatani Saints

PART 1

I will be starting a new Series on Hindu saints who have inspired many people and guided their disciples towards moksha.

Most of the contents are choosen excerpts from the internet. I will be adding my lines too.

I'm choosing Neem Karoli baba today.

Neem Karoli baba was born in wealthy brahmin family. It is believed that Maharajji had acquired all the knowledge by the time he was 17 years old. It is said that Lord Hanuman was his Guru. He visited many places in India and was known by different names in different states. During his visit to Maa Tara Tarini Shakti Peeth in Ganjam, the local people addressed him as Hanumanji, Miracle Baba.It is said that once Baba was travelling in a train. He did not have a ticket. Due to which the TT officer caught him. Since he did not have a ticket, the officer asked him to get down at the next station. The name of the station was Neem Karoli. The village near the station is known as Neem Karoli. Baba was made to get down from the train and the officer ordered the driver to drive the train. Baba did not go anywhere from there. He sat down near the train with a tong on the ground. The driver tried a lot but the train did not move ahead. The train was not moving at all. Then all the people sitting in the train said that this is Baba's wrath. The reason for making them get off the train is that the train is not moving. Then the senior officer who was familiar with Baba apologized to Baba and asked both the driver and the ticket checker to apologize to Baba. Everyone together convinced Baba and apologized to him. After apologizing, Baba respectfully sat on the train. But he put a condition that a station will be built at this place. So that it becomes easy for the villagers to come by train because people used to come there from miles away. Only then they could sit in the train. They promised Baba and a station named Neem Karoli was built there. From here the miraculous stories of Baba became famous and from this place Baba's name started becoming known all over the world as Neem Karoli Baba. From here Baba got the name Neem Karoli.

He inspired many people such as Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg. Neem Karoli Baba was a lifelong adept of bhakti yoga, and encouraged service to others (seva) as the highest form of unconditional devotion to God. Baba would say that attachment and ego are the greatest hindrances to the realisation of God and that "a learned man and a fool are alike as long as there is attachment and ego in the physical body." He would advise people to surrender to God's will above everything else so that they might develop love and faith in him and thereby be free of unnecessary worries in life.

He was an ardent devotee of Lord Hanuman.

🙏🙏 JAI BABA NEEM KAROLI 🙏🙏

Below is one of my favorite bhajans which reminds me of him.

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#bhakti #saint #hinduism #hindublr #bhakthi #neem karoli baba #Youtube

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chhotudas24 · 2 months ago

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अभी तो देखिए एक झलक -

"पाखंडी बाबाओं झूठ से बाज आ जाओ - शर्म करो,शर्म करो"।

पूरा वीडियो देखना न भूलें➡️ 11 जनवरी 2025 दोपहर 12 बजे।

।। संसार को पाखंड से बचाएं ।। संत रामपाल जी महाराज के तत्वज्ञान को जन -जन तक पहुंचाएं।।

Here's a sneak peek - "Hypocrite Babas, stop lying - Have some shame, have some shame."

Don't forget to watch the full video ➡️ January 11, 2025, at 12 PM. Let's save the world from hypocrisy. Let's spread the true spiritual knowledge of Sant Rampal Ji Maharaj to the masses.

Special Video: Exposing India's Fake Gurus!

#santrampaljimaharaj #kabir is real god #hinduism #sanatandharma

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mordredsheart · 2 months ago

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Nixe’s Top 10 Films Of 2024!

in chronological viewing order, including both new and new-to-me films from this year.

03. Monkey Man

Only God can forgive you now.

It would have been enough for me if Dev Patel had made a super-polished, super-tight action movie that looks great and has some awesome fight scenes, with characters fleshed out far and away beyond what’s typical of the genre these days (a courtesy extended even to the protagonist’s mother, beyond mere tragic backstory). And he did that! Which is doubly impressive, considering what an ordeal it was to get this movie made and put out into the world. But what elevates Monkey Man and made it stick with me all year long were the themes of how religion is used by both the oppressors and the oppressed, and the alarm it raises loud and clear against the rise of religious fascism.

You see scars. I see the courage of a child fighting to save his mother. These are the hands of a warrior, who is destined to challenge the gods.

On the one hand, throughout the story, religion is a balm to the excluded and the suffering. As a child, Kid delighted in his mother’s stories of Hanuman, a Hindu monkey deity, who is known among other things as “remover of obstacles” and “healer of sorrows.” After his village is destroyed - an eviction, because it was largely populated by a religious minority, that became a massacre - and his mother murdered, Kid takes his image from Hanuman for his day (night?) job as a fighter in a grimy underground ring. And, after all has seemed to go wrong in Kid’s quest for revenge (a quest never equivocated on, or portrayed as wrong-headed), it’s through Hanuman again that he finds the strength to fight on.

Kid gets that second wind while sheltering with hijra at a remote temple in the forest. (Alpha, the temple keeper, assures him that the police won’t come looking for him there because they find the hijra “too unsettling.”) Although driven into this exile from society, in their own community, in their own temple and in their devotion to Ardhanarishvara, called “the Lord who is half woman”, the hijra are free, happy, and safe. Alpha is also the one who pulls Kid through his dark night of the soul and reminds him that he must keep on fighting, for his own sake and for the sake of all the marginalized people who have been hurt, too. (But don’t think the hijra are politely excused from the revenge narrative: they get to join Kid for the climactic fight, as well.)

(Anger will not quiet your soul, my son.) Don’t call me son.

So we come to the other hand: the religion of the oppressors. One of the major antagonists, Baba Shakti, is a Hindu nationalist who targets the hijra and their temple and was also responsible for the eviction/massacre in Kid’s village. He speaks, by turns, in condescending platitudes and hyperconservative fury, dodging interviewers’ questions about his shady business practices and whipping up us-against-them hatred at political rallies. The corrupt cop who follows Baba Shakti’s command is the more personal enemy for Kid - and the dynamic is a great illustration of what happens when the state becomes a tool of religion, and vice versa - but make no mistake, the guru is the face of oppression through and through.

Monkey Man’s refusal to pull its punches on this front got a disappointing but not surprising response: to date, the film hasn’t been released in India, due to what Siddhant Adlakha called “the specter of Hindutva blowback.” With different flavors of religious fascism on the rise around the world, I worry that movies like Monkey Man will become rarer and rarer, if not due to active government-authorized censorship, then because studios will simply prove unwilling to take the financial gamble on anything remotely “controversial,” anything that might comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. As Monkey Man proves, though, the afflicted will not be swept off this planet easily, no matter how uncomfortable it’s made for them.

#monkey man #celluloid heroes.#nixe has a word.

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