The glory of India and some insights I gained from ACK stories

Amar Chitra Katha gave away a month of free access to their books and my free trial ended today.

As they say everything happens for a reason, this period in which I read many stories of brave Indians and about old puranas, taught me more than I ever hoped to learn in these few days.

Here are a few things I thought were most interesting:

• Harishchandra, the King who was known for his Truth, was the son of the famous Trishanku, the deformed King who wanted to enter the heavens but was later stuck in between heaven and earth. Sages those days had a lot of enmity and jealousy: Agastya cursed Trishanku. Viswamitra considered Agastya his arch rival and so, wanted to show his powers. 
• Whenever sages cursed others, they lost the power gained through their penance. 
• All leaders who fought for the freedom struggle, were selfless. They renounced power. Sardar Vallabhai Patel should have become the first PM but when Gandhi requested him personally that Nehru be made the PM to which he said yes immediately.
• Devas and Asuras were Sage Kashyapa's sons. I thought Asuras were born to Asuras, but no. 
• Kalpana Chawla wanted to go to the US for her master's but wanted her father's permission before she could go. His father had gone to USA and returned only a few days before the application submission deadline. He immediately processed her passport and sent her, thought she thought he would never send her to a foreign nation. 
• The stories of Ambedkar, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar , Lokmanya Tilak and Kalpana Chawla, are extremely  inspiring.
• It's interesting they dont have a book on Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. 
• The Mahabharata is a tale of revenge. Through and through. Now I know why we are not encouraged to read it. There are many examples of this. Dhrona and Drupada, Saguni and Bheeshma, Bheema and Duryodana, Pandavas and Kauravas etc. 
• The first time Duryodhana did something bad and tried to poison the Pandavas, Gandhari wouldnt believe it. She supported him. If only he had been scolded and given a good talking to, would he have become the person he became? 
• The name Magizhmathi we see in Bahubali was a real kingdom. A famous ruler was Kartaveeryarjuna, who even defeated Ravana, the mighty. 
• Ravana, Vibeeshana and Kumbakarna did extreme penance and Brahma appeared before them. Kumbakarna was a mighty asura, stronger and had the power to crush the devas, So, Indra, fearing destruction, went to Saraswati and sought her blessings. When Kumbakarna opened his mouth to ask blessings, Saraswathi made him ask "I want to eternally sleep." 
• Shiva once gave a rakshasa a deadly boon without thinking: any person the demon places his palm on would be burnt to ashes. The demon ran after Shiva scaring him. Vishnu later came to help. 
• Queen Razia Sultana was the first and the last Sultana (female Sultan) of the Mughal dynasty. She was unconquerable and was later betrayed and killed by her own brother. 
• The stories tell us the Gods are as human as we are. They also make mistakes. 

The stories thus are ripe with symbolism and lessons. The youth today needs to know the value of our freedom and high values.