navaratri and harry potter
Here is the cleaned up version using AI, below this article is the raw version that I wrote:
# When My Daughter Wouldn’t Stop Talking About Harry Potter
My daughter is almost eight. For the past week, since finishing the seven-part *Harry Potter* film series, she has not stopped talking about it. In the car, at dinner, before bed—she tells me about mysteries she has solved, characters she loves, villains she fears, and the “superpowers” that fascinate her.
At first, I confess, it felt like too much. But then, during Navratri, I saw YouTube Shorts explaining the goddess associated with each day: her name, her form, and her story. And suddenly I understood what my daughter was doing—and perhaps what the rishis of the Indian tradition were doing too.
## Stories as Memory Technology
Let us assume, for the sake of this reflection, that the Navratri stories are “mythology”: symbolic narratives through which ancient seers conveyed truths about reality, life, human psychology, and society. These were oral traditions before they were written traditions. Stories were not merely entertainment; they were memory systems.
Modern research supports the intuition that narrative makes information more memorable. A recent set of experiments found that processing material as a story produced enhanced or comparable recall compared with other memory strategies, and better recall than merely judging items as pleasant. Research on children has also found that acting out stories through pretend play can improve narrative recall and richer storytelling, at least over short periods.[1][2]
This is the power of mnemonics: they give the mind structure, imagery, rhythm, emotion, and sequence. The Vedic tradition developed this to an extraordinary degree. Its verses used meter, syllabic arrangement, rhythm, and repetition to make vast bodies of knowledge memorizable and transmissible across generations. Long before printing, writing, or search engines, story, chant, and ritual were technologies of cultural memory.[3][4]
When my daughter retells Harry Potter again and again, she is not simply being obsessive. She is consolidating a world: its rules, relationships, moral conflicts, and emotional meanings. That is exactly what a child does with a powerful story.
## Why Children Fall in Love With Characters
Children do not first encounter religion, ethics, or philosophy as abstract systems. They encounter them through people: heroes, protectors, tricksters, villains, parents, friends, and divine forms. A child may fall in love with Harry, Hermione, Krishna, Hanuman, Durga, Ganesha, or a particular form of the Mother Goddess.
Developmental research suggests that pretend play and storytelling are deeply connected to children’s language, imagination, narrative skill, and social understanding. Reviews note associations between pretend play and narrative ability, perspective-taking, and emotional regulation, though researchers also caution that the evidence for some claimed benefits remains limited or mixed. In other words, we should not overclaim that every fantasy makes a child wiser—but stories clearly give children a space to practice being human.[5][6]
My guru often says that **pooja is only lower kindergarten**. We must grow beyond ritual, not abandon it. But pooja gives the young heart a doorway. A child cannot begin with pure philosophy. The child begins with a form, a face, a story, a festival, a song, a lamp, a flower, and a relationship.
That is why Hindu tradition offers so many divine forms. Human beings are different. Some are drawn to Rama’s discipline, some to Krishna’s playfulness, some to Hanuman’s strength and devotion, some to Durga’s courage, some to Ganesha’s wisdom. The tradition does not force one doorway on everyone.
## From Story to Meaning
As children grow, questions inevitably come. “How can this be true?” “Why does the goddess have many arms?” “Why is Kali standing on Shiva?” A thinking mind should ask these questions.
Tradition has always encouraged questioning—but often after a foundation has been laid. A five-year-old exposed to quantum mechanics will ask questions that cannot yet be meaningfully answered. That does not make the child foolish; it means the child needs a developmental sequence. First, wonder. Then, familiarity. Then, inquiry. Then, interpretation.
In Hindu thought, this deeper interpretation is often called **bhava-artha**: the inner meaning, sentiment, or intended significance beneath the literal narrative. A guru may unfold a single verse, image, or episode layer by layer. The child who once loved the form now learns the meaning behind the form.
This is not indoctrination if done well. It is the movement from affection to understanding. The child has already developed love for a divine form; now that love can mature into reflection, ethical sensitivity, and spiritual practice.
## Beyond Good and Evil
Modern superhero stories often teach a valuable but simple lesson: good defeats evil. That is not worthless. Children need courage, hope, and a sense that cruelty and selfishness matter.
But traditional stories often go further. They are rarely only black and white. They contain paradox, contradiction, grief, desire, duty, sacrifice, and transformation. The world is not always a clean battle between a hero in a cape and a villain in a mask. Much of life is gray.
Consider the image of Kali standing upon Shiva. For many people, including me for a long time, it is disturbing. Why would the Goddess step on her own consort? Why is Shiva lying beneath her? The image can seem scandalous until one enters its symbolic and philosophical layers.
I cannot unpack every story here. The point is the word **nuance**. Traditional stories train the mind to hold complexity: power and surrender, wrath and compassion, destruction and renewal, attachment and liberation. They do not merely tell children who is good and who is bad; they invite them to look beneath appearances.
## What We Risk Losing
When families stop sharing these stories, children do not stop needing heroic narratives. They simply find them elsewhere: Harry Potter, the Avengers, Spider-Man, Superman, anime, video games, and YouTube.
I am not dismissing those stories. My daughter’s Harry Potter enthusiasm has given her language, imagination, confidence, and joy. Good stories can teach bravery, friendship, loyalty, and resistance to injustice.
But if we want children to inherit a deeper moral and spiritual vocabulary, we must give them stories with more layers than “the good guy wins.” We must give them stories that can be loved at seven, questioned at seventeen, and understood more deeply at forty.
That is our responsibility as parents—not to force a particular sect, deity, or interpretation upon them, but to make the treasury available. Let them encounter the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the Puranas, the Devi stories, and the many forms of the Divine. Let them find the form, story, or path that speaks to their own nature.
## A Parent’s Practice
For me, the Ramayana is home. I love its stories, its characters, its dilemmas, and its spiritual depth. I know I will share it with my daughter. But I also want to show her the stories of the Mother Goddess and her forms, because I do not know which form will capture her heart. She is her own person.
That, to me, is the beauty of the Hindu tradition: it recognizes that people differ. We have different temperaments, affections, fears, and paths. The tradition offers many forms and many doorways, while pointing toward the same ultimate reality.
So if you are a parent, do your child a favor. Tell them the stories. Watch a good video with them in the language of your home. Read together. Let them ask questions. Let them fall in love with the Divine in whatever name, form, or story appeals to them.
Because one day, the child who cannot stop talking about Harry Potter may become the adult who can see the deeper meaning behind Kali, Rama, Krishna, Durga, or Shiva—and carry that wisdom into a complicated world.
## Bibliography
1. Bergen, D. “The Role of Pretend Play in Children’s Cognitive Development.” *Early Childhood Research & Practice*, vol. 4, no. 1, 2002. [https://ecrp.illinois.edu/v4n1/bergen.html](https://ecrp.illinois.edu/v4n1/bergen.html)[2]
2. “Adaptive Memory: Story Processing Improves Recall Performance.” *PMC*, 2026. [https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12881306/](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12881306/)[1]
3. Lillard, A. S., et al. “The Impact of Pretend Play on Children’s Development: A Review of the Evidence.” *Psychological Bulletin*, 2013; discussed in “The Role of Play in Children’s Development: A Review of the Evidence.” [https://cms.learningthroughplay.com/media/esriqz2x/role-of-play-in-childrens-development-review_web.pdf](https://cms.learningthroughplay.com/media/esriqz2x/role-of-play-in-childrens-development-review_web.pdf)[5]
4. “How Pretend Play Helps Children Build Skills.” Child Mind Institute, 2024. [https://childmind.org/blog/how-pretend-play-helps-children-build-skills/](https://childmind.org/blog/how-pretend-play-helps-children-build-skills/)[6]
5. “Sanskrit Oral Tradition: How Vedic Mnemonics Used Poetry, Memory.” *ThePrint*, 2025. [https://theprint.in/pageturner/excerpt/vedic-mnemonics-sanskrit-oral-tradition-poetic-meter-memory/2717936/](https://theprint.in/pageturner/excerpt/vedic-mnemonics-sanskrit-oral-tradition-poetic-meter-memory/2717936/)[3]
6. “The Stupendous Powers of Memorization in the Indian Tradition.” *Language Log*, 2020. [https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=48904](https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=48904)[4]
7. Nicolopoulou, A. “Young Children’s Pretend Play and Storytelling as Modes of Narrative Activity.” In *The Cambridge Handbook of Play*, Cambridge University Press, 2018. [https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-handbook-of-play/pretend-and-social-pretend-play/2F42F3EE1E66622AA5E6D4C5F8B6D6B2](https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-handbook-of-play/pretend-and-social-pretend-play/2F42F3EE1E66622AA5E6D4C5F8B6D6B2)[7]
8. “Pretend Play as the Space for Development of Self-Regulation.” *PMC*, 2023. [https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10766374/](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10766374/)[8]
Citations:
[1] Adaptive Memory: Story Processing Improves Recall Performance https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12881306/
[2] The Role of Pretend Play in Children's Cognitive Development https://ecrp.illinois.edu/v4n1/bergen.html
[3] Sanskrit oral tradition: How vedic mnemonics used poetry, memory https://theprint.in/pageturner/excerpt/vedic-mnemonics-sanskrit-oral-tradition-poetic-meter-memory/2717936/
[4] The stupendous powers of memorization in the Indian tradition https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=48904
[5] [PDF] The role of play in children's development: a review of the evidence https://cms.learningthroughplay.com/media/esriqz2x/role-of-play-in-childrens-development-review_web.pdf
[6] How Pretend Play Helps Children Build Skills - Child Mind Institute https://childmind.org/blog/how-pretend-play-helps-children-build-skills/
[7] Pretend and Social Pretend Play (Chapter 11) - The Cambridge ... https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-handbook-of-play/pretend-and-social-pretend-play/2F42F3EE1E66622AE97A3B36B4162225
[8] Pretend play as the space for development of self-regulation - PMC https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10766374/
[9] Young children's pretend play and storytelling as modes of narrative ... https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2016-06907-001
[10] Play it Forward: Lasting Effects of Pretend Play in Early Childhood https://www.fau.edu/newsdesk/articles/pretend-play-early-childhood
[11] The Structure and Development of Pretend Play Across Childhood https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7r80470c
[12] [PDF] A Natural Mnemonic - Storytelling - eGrove - University of Mississippi https://egrove.olemiss.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4359&context=hon_thesis
[13] Sharifian - the mnemonic influence of self-cues on narrative recall https://www.iier.org.au/iier11/sharifian.html
[14] Mnemonics - The Decision Lab https://thedecisionlab.com/reference-guide/psychology/mnemonics
[15] (PDF) The interplay of play and narrative in children's development https://www.academia.edu/49882476/The_interplay_of_play_and_narrative_in_childrens_development_Theoretical_reflections_and_concrete_examples
I can't seem to get the rest every time I start driving she wants to tell me a story some mystery that she resolved something that happened something that she finds fascinating how she likes the characters what she likes about the characters who the villains were what their superpowers were blah blah blah blah blah
In Indian tradition this is day 5 of navratri going on and On my YouTube wall I'm getting recommended shorts explaining which specific Avatar of mother goddess belongs to the days of the navratri in the short the speaker provides the name of the Avatar as well as the story and the form of the avatar, for one moment for the point I'm trying to make let us assume that this this is purely mythology, and that it was a way for the rishis to convey various aspects of reality, Life, human psychology anthropology etc, and because these were oral traditions to begin with the stories were created as mnemonics and if you do research into memory or super memory you'll understand the power of mnemonics in remembering things and that is exactly how these stories might have carried on until they were put on paper.
In any case the one stark realization that I got when my daughter would not stop talking about the various characters and the fantastic fantasy characters and stories of Harry Potter it made me understand what the rishis were trying to do as well.
You see my guru has always told me that Pooja is only lower kindergarten and we have to grow from there grow our spiritual practices on top of Pooja
But Pooja is performed in the honor of these forms of gods and goddesses and unless and until there is a story behind these forms of gods and goddesses our young hearts are not attracted to them so while the story is being told in a fantasticized form with an underlying meaning the children as they grow up start getting attracted to these fantastic life stories and the characters and of course the lead character which is the god form and everyone as we definitely know in human nature we all like different things and hence so many gods and goddesses have appeared through the history of India in various sampradias
The point is when these children first start listening to these stories they start getting attracted and they fall in love with one form or another and love and may be even develop a healthy fear of God while also learning to be attached to these forms, through the form that they like through the meditative and ritualistic practices that they are taught as children, say about from the age of seven and a half both girls and boys.
And when these children start growing up and start getting an education they start asking questions because obviously to any thinking mind at least the thinking minds it might not be everybody but the thinking minds definitely will start asking questions how can all of this be true I look at the world around me seems to be plausible
So at some point, inevitably, they start asking questions. And tradition has always encouraged questioning, but only after a certain level of education. Because obviously, when you're young and you do not know enough, your questions become meaningless, and hence questioning is discouraged when you're young and not educated enough. That is obvious. It's like if I am exposed to the concepts of quantum mechanics as a five-year-old, it'll make zero sense to me, and I'll ask all sorts of weird, stupid questions which cannot be answered.
In any case, when these children grow up and start asking questions, the first thing the guru/parent needs to do is help them understand the underlying meaning of these stories, the underlying bhava artha.This whole concept of bhava artha is fundamental in almost every book of Hinduism, where a guru goes into the detail of each line, each couplet in almost every major book in the Hindu canon.
And by this point, the student, the child, would have already accrued a tremendous amount of love for the form that they fell in love with when they were young. And now they are also empowered with the underlying stories behind and the reasoning behind the stories, the learnings behind the stories.That makes them a better human being, a better spiritual pursuant.
In the modern world, when we forget to teach our children these stories, our children fall in love with Harry Potter, or the Avengers, or Spider-Man, or Superman. And yes, I do see some value in it about how good wins over evil, which is great. I think that at least there is some value in it, but I think the larger point is being missed. The stories convey nuance in the Hindu traditions, the nuance that is missing from every modern depiction of a superhero.
We all watch those movies. Yes, we all know who the good guy is and the bad guy is, and that's as binary as it gets. But you see, the stories of tradition are not that black and white, almost never black and white. I'll give you an example. You will see the picture of Kali stepping on Shiva, who's lying on the floor, and everyone who I know, even myself for a long time, is scandalized watching that image. You would—it's just so...Discomforting and incoherent that, frankly, for me, I stopped looking into it or looking at that image because it was very difficult for me to digest it.
And that's where I need to stop this block because I cannot go into the nuances of every story obviously but the key word here is nuances the nuances of tradition the stories of tradition are what are required to help children grow into better human beings grow into spiritual persons this simple binary between good and bad is good to a certain extent but that's about that what is required to be a complete human being is to go beyond the binary of good and bad because the world really is gray it almost never is black and white and it is through these stories children are taught to analyze the gray and live their life.
It is a disservice that we as a as parents do to our children when we do not learn these stories ourselves or read these stories to our children and make them fall in love with these stories it is our moral responsibility toward the soul that we give birth to. Just to be clear I'm not saying that you have to do and read them all the stories about the navratri choose what you like for example I like the ramayana I'm completely invested in the ramayana everything about the ramayana is all I need and I know every story of the ramayana I know the 84 hours of ramayana that my guru gave a speech on over 42 days those are the stories with which I know I will bring my daughter up but I will also make enough effort to at least show these YouTube videos to her about mother goddess and her forms and her stories because I don't know what form she will fall in love with she's a different person and that's the power of Hinduism because we recognize how people can be different we can all like different things we are all different people we have our own paths
So if you're a parent reading this do your children a favor at least make them watch these YouTube videos in the language of your choice and help your children fall in love with the almighty in whatever form and name that appeals to them.
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