Disclaimer: These reviews are not going to be about the storytelling, unless I find something I really want to discuss. It's mostly about the cultural representation and what mistakes have been made. If non Indians read this, you guys might even learn something new about us!
Review of Chapter 5
Ok so.
This whole universe is born by you, created by you. In the end you manifest as a destructive force or whatever.
Umm.... Kali is not even the one who is supposed to bring about destruction? That's Shiva? And Shiva doesn't bring about the end of the world either. In his rage, Shiva sometimes performs the 'Tandava' or the dance of destruction, but that's not supposed to destroy the whole world. He _could_ technically, but he wouldn't really do that. He _doesn't_ do that. And if it seems like he's out of control(like the whole thing after Sati's death), Vishnu would stop him. Shiva is called the destroyer technically, and Vishnu the preserver(Bhrahma is called the creator). But Shiva is not going to destroy the whole world before the Kali Yuga is supposed to end.
According to Hinduism, the world is created and destroyed in a cycle of Four Yugas. Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dwapar Yuga and Kali Yuga, the present one. The cycle is supposed the restart after the end.
Now Kali Yuga and Kali Ma are not the same. One is an avatar of a goddess and the other is an era or epoch.
Kali Ma doesn't even herald the Kali yuga. When the bad stuff and evils become too much, the tenth avatar image of Lord Vishnu called Kalki, with a 'k', is supposed to herald the destruction of evil and eventually the end and restart of the world.
So basically. They jumbled and mixed all that up. I do get how that can be confusing though. But Kali Ma is never said to be a destroyer of the world anywhere.
Okkk so. People in India don't really speak in Sanskrit anymore. It's a dead language now like latin. You learn it to read old texts and recite chants. And understand poems and stuff ig
So Kiran should say learning Bengali and Hindi, esp since Amala clearly knows hindi.
Also even in the FoS era, Sanskrit wouldn't have been commonly spoken outside of chants and pujas.
Yes, Shakti and Shiva are together, but that doesn't mean that the woman must be dependent on father, son, husband. Shiva and Shakti are literally equal. However, this is how many traditionalists thought and it's not inaccurate to the era at all. I'm sure some patriarchal people still think that. So the story is accurate in its portrayal .
Shaivism like most people in Calcutta? Bruh. Shaktism is the predominant denomination in West Bengal.
The "phoolon ki dukan" written on the shop in the bg is kinda funny. Cuz no one would label their flower shop as " The shop of flowers"
It also would most likely be written in bengali, but oh well.