The Forest of Enchantments - Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Palace of Illusions was one book that had blown my mind. Chitra's portrayal of Draupadi was real, complex, rebellious yet submissive at times, arrogant, enigmatic, powerful and what not. She is flawed and yet perfect....very much human. Palace of Illusions was written from the perspective of Draupadi. We have read the epic Mahabharata from so many writers and from many perspectives and yet Draupadi's perspective was refreshing to know. And my expectation form Chitra was already set high. After this book I reread Mistress of Spices. Here too her portrayal of Tilo left me craving for more. I started off with high expectation when I brought the book The Forest of Enchantments. I knew that the author had written the book form the perspective of Sita. And I had wanted to read Ramayana from the perspective of Sita very badly.

I have grown up being told that it is not good to name any girl child Sita or any of her other names like Janaki, Dhara, Dharitri, Siya, Maithili, , etc. The reason being that all Sita did in her lifetime was suffer and nothing else and if we name our daughters Sita or any of her other names, the same fate maybe in store the child. So in general we all know that Sita suffered throughout the epic story of Ramayana, So I was naturally curious when I picked up the Forest of Enchantments. I wanted to read about her experience as an adopted kid, her relationship with her peers and parents. I was very curious to know her perspective of being a bride and entering a household which had three mother in laws and other concubines. What was she going through actually when she went with Rama into the forest. Did she ever regret going into exile with her husband? After all, we are all humans we naturally question our each and every move. Did she question her decision and regret it ever? How did she feel about Lakshman for abandoning Urmila for so many years? I wanted to learn about Lanka and Ashoka Vatika from Sita's perspective. And most of all I wanted to know her relationship with Rama... the intimacy and the realty of being a wife to someone and her reaction to all the betrayals she faced.

The word play by Chitra Banerjee is brilliant. This book did answer many of my curiosities about Sita. Her story telling is as always too good and there can be no other opinion about it. But it was definitely not Palace of Illusions and most definitely not like Draupadi's character. The book felt more like just another Ramayana book to me just told from Sita's voice. I guess I wanted Sita to be filled with rage, hate towards the injustice, more emotions and most of all I wanted her to be real.... human. There was rage, emotions and everything that I wanted, but it was all very muted. Sita surpasses her emotions as much as possible. Eventually Sita rebels and stands up against the system, but I waned to feel Sita's rage against the injustice and not my rage.  Sita felt very much like how we have read in other Ramayana versions..... It was in a way a bit disappointing for me personally as I have felt that female characters in our epics are very strong characters and yet mostly they are pushed into the background and every major decisions are taken by the male characters. A female is always either a revered or a servile character but when it comes to decision making, they are never taken into consideration and always female characters have to be either a damsel in distress or made a villain . How often have we heard people saying that in Ramayana and Mahabharata war took place because of Sita and Draupadi as if by blaming the female characters one can hide the fact that the male characters created the circumstances that led to war. 

Overall this Sitayan had its hits and misses. The author also writes about other neglected characters in this book like Sunaina - Sita's mother, Kaikeyi - Rama's 'evil' stepmother, Urmila - Lakshmn's wife ( although I wanted more) ,  Surpanakha -  Ravan's sister and  Mandodari - Ravan's wife. We get to know each one of these female characters more and from other perspectives. Chitra Banerjee weaves all the characters so well and makes us desire more.  She makes the character of Ravana as a very learnt and an intelligent man who respects Sita. Overall I did enjoy the book and is a must read for everyone as it teaches us how one should treat others especially women and also how not to treat them. 

We Are All Made Of Glue!

 I am finally back to blogging!! Or so I am hoping.

I have been wanting to write reviews of the books that I have been reading recently and my first post would be of the book  "We are all made of Glue". I mean .... just look at the title!! If this title doesn't attract anybody to pick up the book then I don't know what else will :)

This was the first book I read this year. I love exploring old book stores, second hand book stores and the likes, more than I like the big bad book stores in the malls (I love them too....slightly less I guess). So in the month of December of 2019, when going out was still prevalent and life was normal, I had made a trip to Jehangir Gallery in Mumbai and if you have been to the area you might have seen that if you walk towards Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus from the gallery, there are quite a few small stalls and small shops selling new and second hand books near the Hutatma Chowk. I simply love those quaint little shops and road side stalls. You cannot guess what you might find there! You might just stumble upon a rare book or just a generic one. They sell academic related books, art catalogues, magazines, novels and everything that one can find. And in one such shop I brought this book. This book was published by Readers Digest which are called Readers Digest Condensed Books or Select Editions where they put four different novels in a single book. I have quite a few of those readers digest collectible books and I was thrilled to find this one. This book had John Grisham's The Associate, Nicci French's What to do when Someone Dies, Death or Glory by Michael Asher and the last one was We are all made of Glue by Marina Lewycka.

And to be honest, I had never heard the author's name nor the name of the book. But this title itself was so intriguing that I had to read this one first. Marina Lewycka is a British author of Ukrainian origin and a quick Google search led me to her many other books which I am planning to read in the near future. This book has many characters but the main stars are Georgina Sinclair and her elderly neighbour, Mrs. Shapiro and I must add her cats too ;).  It is set somewhere in the late 1980s or early 1990s I think as one can see the usage of computers and the likes. Also the kind of relationship the neighbours had back then cannot be found in this date and age, especially in the Metros. The novel begins with Georgina being dumped by her husband RIP, and her struggle trying to find a balance with her work, her 'End of World' obsessed son and her strange, dirty and mysterious neighbour, Mrs.Shapiro. She is a wannabe novelist writing articles for an adhesive company where she is writing articles and articles about glue, epoxy resin, etc.

There are too many things happening in the novel and at the same time it feels like things are moving very slowly and one is in a different era. The story makes one quite uneasy as its a comedy novel but at the same time it revolves around the theme of old age, neglect, ugliness, separation, dilapidation, holocaust, racism, etc. Its not easy to read, let alone write a novel where the basic tone is comedy and humour and yet the author plunges into the darker themes of holocaust and other themes and mixes them so well that it was difficult for me to comprehend the talent that Lewycka has. It is a very simple book that has layers and layers to it like an onion, and every time you peel one layer, another layer comes up which looks more interesting than the other one. It is engaging and intriguing and makes you laugh at an unexpected moment. The subtle nuances, the backdrop of holocaust, the betrayal, the tragedies of old age and abandonment are weaved so beautifully along with the small incidents and accidents that will make you laugh at an unexpected moment in this novel and I simply couldn't put the book down till I finished it.

I do hope that I write more frequently now. Do come back and check my blog in a few days or weeks for another article.

Ramayana- Stolen Hopes

Title - Ramayana - The Game of Life - Stolen Hopes (Book 3)
Author- Shubha Vilas
Publisher -JAICO Publishing House
Total pages 312
Price Rs. 299
Formats available - Paperback and Kindle
  

Its been very long since I reviewed any book. But when you receive a signed copy of the book by the author himself, you have to blog about it for sure. Ramayana- The Game of Life - Stolen Dreams is third in the series written by Shubha Vilas. And if you have missed the first two books, not to worry. The book has summery of the first two books. But summary is only about the general story and not the short stories / Upakatha that you get to read in a Shubha Vilas book. So it is good if you can get the first two books too.

The book starts in Dandakaranya and then to the sages and their trouble with the Rakshasas and the massacre of Rakshasas of Janmasthana. After the massacre at Janmasthana there is Sita's abduction and the story ends with the meeting of Rama and Lakshmana with Shabari and their quest for the wonder monkeys Sugriva and his group in order to save Sita from Ravana's clutches.

As Indians, Ramayana is not new for us. We have heard the story from our parents and grandparents, read in Amar Chitra Katha, seen on television and read other books too. What is different about this book is Shubha Vilas's writhing. The language is pretty simple and eloquent and can be easily understood by kids too. The other major plus point of this book are the short stories / Upakathas. I mean, one gets to read so many back stories, short stories / Upakatha, in this book which makes this book all the more interesting. All these back stories helps us to know more about the relative characters other than Rama, Lakshmana and Sita in a better way and in turn helps us to understand our epic better. 

The many stories of Agastya Rishi helps in a better understanding of him. Without the upakathas Agastya would have remained just another character that we read in our epics. but Shubha Vilas has written so many small stories about Agasthya that we get a good understanding of him. Similarly Rama's meeting with Shabari has been elaborated so as to provide us with a good knowledge about Shabari and her role in Ramayana. There are Upakathas about Ravana, Virada, Vatapi and Illvala, etc. There are references to Meru Parvata, Nahusha, Mandarkini, Kabandha, Matanga Rishi, Sati, etc. 

One should read this book once to know about all these characters and also about life lessons that Ramayana teaches us. There is this one instance when Sita who disapproves of Rama involving himself in killing the demons to cleanse the forest of Panchavati and protecting the Sages. Her reason being that they are in exile and so should refrain from violence. But Rama explains that Kshatriya dharma is to protect the helpless ones from the evil. He explains to Sita that by wearing a sage's attire, he cannot forget his duty of following the Kshatriya Dharma.

This book provides a proper insight of how Gods in the form of human think. Even if they are the incarnation of God himself, one can always see the human touch and human trait in the characters. For example the scene before Sita's abduction, in a desperate attempt to send Lakshmana to Rama's rescue, Sita doubts Lakshmana's character. These traits shows the human side to God like characters of Ramayana.

Also the specialty of Shubha Vilas's Ramayana series is the little foot notes throughout the novel. These footnotes usually contain some explanations, back stories or some philosophical notes about life lessons. Shubha Vilas is a spiritual seeker, motivational speaker, holds a degree in engineering and law with s specialization in patent law. So along with narrating the story of Ramayana, the book contains the philosophical narrations which gives us valuable lessons about life.

The designs in the foot note throughout the book is also very interesting. In the Shattered Dreams, Rama's Paduka / Slippers were used very effectively in the footnotes throughout the book to show the departure of Rama from Ayodhya for exile. And in this book, Stolen Hope, similar approach has been taken. Design of a deer is used throughout the book in the footnotes. The deer changes its position and there is movement throughout the book. I liked the cover of Shattered Dreams much better compared to Stolen Hopes though.

The book has a mixture of traditional as well as a modern approach in narration. And apart from the story, the foot notes are the highlights of this book. Its worth a read if you are in to mythology, spiritual and self-help kind of books. You can buy the Kindle edition here

The Man!!

Life is Beautiful!! Time and again I have said this to myself and to anyone who listens to me. Life is what you want it to be and how you want it to be. Its been three years now since my beloved  Grandpa passed away and there has not been one day when I don't miss him or remember him. He was an inspiration not just to me or my family .... but he was an inspiration to a lot of people who had known him. 

Whenever I feel down I ask Dad to tell me Grandpa's story, and like a doting son-in-law, he obliges. My Grandpa never went to school it seems. He had attended a eleven day camp type thing held at a gurukul it seems. So he was an illiterate. But somehow he kept on practicing reading and writing throughout his life and could manage to read and write slowly. It is said that his father was forced to leave the house with his small kids by his brother. 

So basically he belonged to a very poor family and had six siblings and old parents and a wife to support too at a very young age. With his hard work, grandpa bought a big piece of land and by the time my Mom was born, they even constructed a very nice and big house too. He was a man of very strong opinions and also a very righteous man. People used to come to him when  they had disputes. Soon he became a person who had power and influence among the local people. Even ministers would come to him during and after elections so that he could persuade people to vote for them. He even tried a bit of politics himself but he realized that politics was not for people who had opinions of their own. 

He was a simple man. Always dressed in a piece of dhoti which was always stained due to all the work he did in and around his house or field. He always had one or the other story to tell, some funny incident to recall and lot of dreams for all of us. Whenever I used to visit him I would see him busy in work. He would take me to the paddy fields, areca nut groove and cashew plantation. I loved his company a lot. He had so many things to share, to teach us.   

When he passed away lot of people came from all over the place. People whom the family didn't know came and told us how my grandpa had helped them in time of need. Each and every person had some kind words to tell about him. One stranger came to my Granny and told him how my Grandpa had helped him with a very big amount at the middle of night when grandpa himself was in trouble. That was my Grandpa. And he never disclosed this to any in the family. He would sponsor poor students and always valued education a lot. Even without the formal education he had read the Hindu epics like Ramayana, Mahabharata, Geeta, Manu Smriti and even the Upanishads. He knew about all the Hindu traditions and stuff like that. And despite all this he was the most broad minded person I had ever seen. He never believed in superstitions and challenged the abnormal rules and regulations. 

I always wonder what if he had got the opportunity of education like the rest of us. What all he would have achieved if he was given all the opportunities that the rest of his peers got. Sadly we will never know. But he has and always will be my greatest inspiration in life. I learnt a lot from him. My inspiration!!!! The Man!!! My Man!!!

Going to the Past

Many feel that social media like Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp , etc., are a waste of time. But I feel its a boon... a blessing in disguise. I'll tell you why.....

My father was in a transferable job and so we never stayed in one single place for more than three years. And also I belong to the generation where back then, we didn't have regular phones in every house hold. That means that I was not able to keep in touch with a lot of my school friends regularly. Ya we used to write letters to each other for a while..... but you know as we grew up we got busy in our lives and we kind of drifted apart. We lost contact.

When in college, the era of  cell phones started and so we kind of remained in contact. But I always missed my High school buddies. Then came the era of Facebook and slowly many friends reconnected. But after such a long time one doesn't know what to speak to and we kind of remained just "friends" on Facebook. And life went on.....

Then suddenly one of our class mate got the idea of forming a group on WhatsApp and started collecting phone numbers. I was a bit apprehensive about it in the beginning. Anyway I gave it and then when he added me to the group, I felt soo out of place in the group as I was one of the very few who had left the place after high school and the rest of them had continued their studies in the same city. And so I couldn't recognize many of my old friends.

 I just said hi in the group and kept silent. It was irritating me that I didn't remember half of my friends and was not comfortable there either. But after a couple of days, as the group started growing, I realized many were in the same position as me. Like me, a few of my friends too didn't remember each and everyone. So we all started talking and slowly we all warmed up and unknowingly we chatted the whole day. Some of us finally called each other and spoke too.

We started sharing old stories, incidents and all the hidden memories came flooding back!! It was such a memorable day just talking about school days.....the fun, the punishments, the homeworks, the competitiveness and the crushes ( ;-) ) and what not!! All the memories made us young again and took us seventeen years back. All the nick names, the mischief done in class, the pranks played on teachers!!!! Oh !! So many sweet memories!! And suddenly we were not strangers anymore. I don't feel like a stranger in my group anymore.... in fact they have all become my best buddies...

 It was my memorable day in the recent past!!! It felt so good to reconnect with my past. Are you people still in contact with your school buddies? If not just do that!! It feels sooo good and fresh!!!

Start A New Life

I am amazed when I see people who know what they want to do in their life, about their goals and aims in their life. When I finished my 10th standard, all I wanted to study was science. I loved Biology and Physics equally in 11th standard. But when I was in 12th, I realized that Medical was not my cup of tea and I had no interest in Engineering.There were not many options and I didn't have any knowledge as such about these things and not many good guides who would talk about our interests or give us knowledge. So like everybody else who didn't pursue Engineering or Medical, I took Computer Science in College. But somewhere I realized that Computer Science was a lifeless subject and programming was not what I wanted to do. But anyway I continued like everybody else.

After graduating I still didn't know what I wanted to do. So I brought applications for M.S., and M.C.A. But suddenly my life took a big turn and I got married and I became a home maker. Then I became a mother and life went on. But somewhere the desire to do something was constantly was on my mind. I used to draw and scribble a lot when in college and hadn't left that one thing even after I got married. Slowly and steadily, this hobby started becoming my passion and finally after a lot of detours, I finally realized my goal and took up painting seriously. Now after all these years, I am an art graduate too and pursuing masters in the subject which is close to my heart.

After a lot of struggle and lot of practice and more patience and a lot many rejections, finally I feel that I am on MY WAY. This is the path I wanted to be in and I am finally happy. And in April 2015, i.e., next month, I am going to be participating in my first Group show in Calicut/ Kozikode. 

Not in my wildest of dreams, had I ever dreamed of becoming an artist.... let alone participating in an exhibition!!! This is a new chapter of my life!! I have traveled a long way from Science to Arts. I am nervous and excited and happy! So wish me luck guys!! Its never too late to start fresh. You have a dream, just go for it.

Go and fulfill your dream now!!! However small or big that dream is, it doesn't matter.

Flying....

Flying..... Flying like a bird....... I want to be free like a bird... fly away...... fly till my heart's content..... to be free..... independent.....carefree....

That freedom, that feeling of being independent from all responsibilities, duties, etc., is often compared with flying. But have you ever thought that birds are not free.... They do not fly because they are free.... On the contrary the fly because they have to fend for themselves and their kids and to survive. They have to fly in search of food, shelter, and to protect themselves from predators. They fly because that is what makes them birds. They fly because that is the only way they can survive......

That means that birds that fly in the open air high above are not free?!?! Does that mean that they are not independent? So where does this place those birds in cages? Those birds that do not get the freedom to fly at all. They do not get to use their wings which is the main feature of that species by which we say that it is a bird and not an animal.The birds in captivity do not have to fend for themselves... they are fed and looked after properly, but are not allowed to fly.They are protected from predators, well fed, given shelter in captivity and yet not allowed to fly. So is this captivity or independence ?

Isn't all this confusing. When we see a bird flying freely in the air our heart feels and aches to fly like them and when we see a bird kept in a cage , our heart aches for them too..... But does our heart really ache or feel? When someone says my heart is aching for you or my heart broke what do they mean? Didn't we all learn that the heart is an organ which cleanses and pumps blood? How can it ache or break or think or feel? I would like to take a break before my thoughts become more absurd !!!!