I absolutely and positively hate, abhor, dislike - tragedies. That's the reason I stopped listening to Ramayana (FM Channel Fever, 9pm) the moment King Dasharatha announced that he will step down to make way for the new king.

A few days later, I tentatively tuned in. King Dasharatha had passed away, Ram had gone into exile and his younger brother had come down to persuade him to return to Ayodhya.

A few more days later, Shurpanakha made an appearance.In my opinion, Ashwini Kalsekar has failed to do justice to this character. Shurpanakha sounded very much like a female character out of Ekta Kapoor's Daily Soap factory. I stopped listening again.

Just 2 days back, I asked one of my friends if she has any idea what part of Ramayana is being played out. She said that Sita has been kidnapped and Ram has decided to get his team ready. That's when I decided to tune in again. And I was glad that I did. The episode in which Ram and Laxman meet the tribal saint Shabaree was beautifully rendered. Hats off to the team! I am determined to keep listening though there is a very good program running at the same time on another channel (Purani Jeans by RJ Anmol on Radio Mirchi)

Must say though that it sounded very funny when I asked my friend "अरे रामायण मे क्या चल रहा है?" and she replied saying "सीताका अपहरण हो गया है और राम अपनी सेना जुटा रहे है"। It almost sounded as if we were discussing the plot of some Daily Soap going on TV. :-)