OPTION ADOPTION

These days a lot of young and not so young adults are donning the roles of adoptive single parents. Being such a parent can be an arduous and fulfilling experience at the same time. For those of you, who think it is a post modern trend, think again. Kalidasa has sketched the affectionate and responsible mindset of a single unmarried adoptive father in his Abhijnana Shakuntalam.

The abandoned baby of sage Vishwamitra and the nymph Menaka was adopted and brought up lovingly by sage Kanva. The child grew up amidst pristine beauty and selfless love absorbing those very qualities. When she was a young girl, she was harassed by a recalcitrant bumble bee. King Dushyantha of Hastinapura who was on a hunting spree in the vicinity observed the damsel and sprung out of the bushes and saved her from distress. The couple fell in love in the aftermath and entered into a secret wedlock known as Gandharva Vivaha. When it was time for the king to return to his royal duties, he did not want to take his young bride with him in the absence of her foster father. Shakuntala discovered that she was with child and languished in the hermitage gazing at the regal insignia he had left behind.

When Sage Kanva returned to the hermitage he heard an aerial voice apprising him of the scenario awaiting him. Perhaps this prepared him mentally to deal with the situation with patience and understanding. He immediately made arrangements for his pregnant daughter to join her royal husband without much ado about the circumstances of the events. Yet the practical man was emotionally fraught with angst when he had to let go of his daughter. He wondered if the experience could be worse biological fathers in a similar state!

This incident brings closure on the difference between foster and biological parents by subtly pointing out that a genuine parent child relationship is an intangible web woven by innumerable strands of love, caring, sharing and emotional support for each other.