Dushera

We all looked forward to Dushera as it meant that Diwali, another big festival was closeby , it also heralded the onset of winter.  I remember going to watch  'Ramleela' based on the great epic 'Ramayana' at the local open air theatre in the city.
Ramayan is a long narrative poem penned by Tulsidas  a great poet, it tells the story of King Dasrath his three wives and four sons Ram, Laksmana, Bharat and Shatrugan.It is an enchanting tale which has mesmerised  millions of people through the ages.It is a story of victory of good over evil , a simple concept which has stood the test of time.
'Ramleela' portrays the stories of Lord Ram and his consort Sita , starting with Lord Ram's marriage  and culminating in burning of the effigies of evil Ravana and his relatives along with a fabulous display of fireworks.It is held for 10 days ending on Dushera when Lord Ram shoots Ravana with an arrow. Ravana is shown having ten heads as he was a learned person , a fitting opponent of Lord Ram !
'Ramleela' depicts the events and incidents from the great epic , the roles are played by local artistes who recite the dialogues in a dramatic sing -song manner . Its great fun to see the actors dressed in costumes of that age ,using bows arrows, swords in an expert manner.The entire story is depicted in performances spanning 10 days. There are no tickets and the everybody is welcome to enjoy the show.
Ramleela is still held in most towns and still popular despite the advent of electronic media.
 Dushera ushers in winter as it falls in September-October and the evenings are cool and pleasant.