Book Review #104: Uttarakanda By Dr. S.L. Bhyrappa

Title: Uttarakanda

Author: Dr. S.L. Bhyrappa

Publishers: Sahitya Bhandara

Genre: Mythology/General Fiction

Pages: 350+ (Hardbound)

Source: Personal Copy

We all grew up by reading and listening to the stories of the Hindu epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata. We have a sculpted belief that a certain character from certain epic will behave like this and there won’t be any misconduct or any character deviation from their original ones. At times, these beliefs can be shaken to the ground when you come across certain books. At the same time, certain books make you question the reality. This is the very essence of the book “Uttarakhanda” penned by my favorite author, philosopher and a great human being, Dr. S.L. Bhyrappa. He finished writing this book in just 3 months of duration, but took whole 8 months to re-draft each and every chapter before sending it for the publishers. That’s typical SL Bhyrappa’s flavor.

Coming to Uttarakanda, this is the retelling of the Ramayana. But what makes it different from other writers is the theme of the book. This Ramayana is entirely from the viewpoint of Sita. How she sees the entire Ramayana as an event? What was her thought process when she decides to accompany Rama to the exile for 14 years? What were her thoughts when Ravana abducted her from the forest? Etc… The entire narration belongs to Sita in this book. How she endured all those years along with Rama and his brother Lakshmana is pictured vividly, brilliantly. This is one of the hearts wrenching narration of the Ramayana I’ve come across in my entire life.

One thing I must mention in this review, there are no gods in this version of Ramayana. Each and every character is human. Rama is as much of a human as a normal court maid. There are no flying chariots, no 10 headed Ravana but one, no curses, no divine arrows, and Hanuman is a normal 50 year old person, who believes that he belongs to the clan of the Lord Hanuman. I must applaud the brilliance of the author here for keeping the Gods as gods and making this story that touches the nerve of his readers.

As the story progresses further, we get to read the normal tale of how Rama and Lakshmana accompanied sage Vishwamitra to kill couple of rakshasas and eventually reaching the Kingdom of King Janaka, the Mithila, and breaking the Shiva’s bow to win the bride Sita. But a little twist here from the author makes it even more human. The actual plot of breaking the bow, was a setup by the King Janaka who was under the impression that, if any prince would tie the bow string with their bare hands would win over Sita, so that, the actual birth details of Sita would be negligible, since she was won in a challenge!! It is just brilliant to have this thought. It makes us to ponder for a few minutes. The after events keep Rama in high regard. Dasharatha actually learns that Sita is not the biological daughter of Janaka and she was actually found in a land while tilling. He raises an objection to the marriage and decides to cancel the wedding. By the timely intervention of Rama, this was avoided and Rama marries Sita, so does his brothers and Sita’s younger sisters.

The plot carries further in a regular manner but with a humane touch. The promises that Dasharatha made to his 3^rd wife Kaikeyi has been written in an entirely different perspective which I am not going to include in this review. This must be savored from the book. One thing the readers must keep in mind that, Rama was a staunch follower of Dharma even in this version. He learns the ill motives of Kaikeyi and decides not to become Prince. As per Kaikeyi’s wishes, Rama prepares to leave Ayodhya to the exile for 14 years. The event after that takes an entirely different approach where the human nature of Rama, Lakshmana and Sita will begin to unfold.

Now the real story of how Sita tries to analyze Rama and Lakshmana and herself begins slowly. Soon she realizes that it is difficult to adjust to the forest life. Also, she learns that without Lakshmana’s assistance, she and Rama both wouldn’t have been survived in that forest. Rama was a recluse in the forest life. He was enjoying the nature with a least concern to check on his wife and her comforts.

The climax of the book will keep your mind occupied and haunts you like anything. Ravana will abduct Sita, but not by himself. He sends his troops across the sea border to bring Sita via boat. His men will do just that by tying Sita to a boat and rowing across the sea. Ravana abducts Sita for the sole intention of avenging his sister Surpanakhi who got insulted by Lakshmana. Surpanakhi instigates Ravana by narrating the events that took place when she confronted Rama and Lakshmana in the forest. She describes Sita as a beautiful lady and he should abduct her at any cost and rape her. Being a womanizer, Ravana was all prepared to get Sita to his city of Lanka. Once after the abduction, the scene was written in an entirely different fashion, where Sita confronts Ravana and asks him to win the battle over Rama. If he wins, then he can marry her. But Sita was all prepared to immolate herself if the unthinkable happens.

Once the battle was over, the real test for Sita begins when Rama doubted Sita’s chastity. He wasn’t sure whether Sita was raped by Rama or not (sic). Having spent more than a year in another man’s supervision, Rama doubted whether to take back Sita or not. This is an eye opener scene for the reader. When Sita questions the same thing to Rama about his chastity for spending more than a year away from her, Rama didn’t have any answers. Sita’s questions are a mirror test to the present society. Is chastity applicable only to women? Who made this rule? Won’t men also fall under this category? Why women are termed as spoiled when she was raped or abused? Why the same things do not apply to men? Are men not under the purview of rape? Won’t they get raped by women? All these questions of Sita hits the bulls eye to the present society that questions that chastity of a woman or term her as raped when it wasn’t her fault? Rama’s unwillingness to answer these questions denotes the situation of every man in the present society.

The final confrontation of Sita with her husband Rama was a true testimonial of how bad the decisions that Rama took against Sita. When she confronts Rama asking him about his conduct with sage Gautama, asking him to forgive his wife Ahalya when she committed adultery 25 years back, and why he can’t he do the same? When Rama can bow down before a low born woman Shabari and consider herself as his mother, why he went ahead and beheaded a low born man who was doing tapas and reciting Vedas? Rama’s reason was like low born persons shouldn’t do the tasks that belong to the higher born persons. What kind of Dharma he is following? For all these things, Rama was not able to answer anything.

Overall I believe that book showcases the patriarchal society of Rama’s era and why it hasn’t changed even a bit in the 21^st century today. Questioning a woman on her every move is still prevalent in the current society. Rama was no exception either. He just behaved the way he believed it was according to the Dharmic principles. He didn’t even shown the human side of him to the world. Though we revere and celebrate his life and keep him in high regard as the epitome of the justice, but how he wronged Sita will remain as a black mark on him till the earth survives. A must read book. You can go back to the earlier writing flavor of S.L. Bhyrappa. I would definitely rate this book beyond 5 stars and recommend it to every reader.

My Rating:

5/5

Book Review #60: The Eye of Rudra By Thomas Sturm

Title: The Eye of Rudra

Author: Thomas Sturm

Publishers: Exocubic Media

ISBN: 9781483536446

Genre: Thriller Fiction

Pages: 190 odd pages

Source: e-Review Copy 

Many novels have been spun around Hindu mythology stories and it has been received really well by the readers. I am quite sure; this book "The Eye of Rudra" by the author Thomas Sturm is a nice attempt in this genre. This is an excellently written novel. It has suspense, thrilling moments, covert operations, modern weapons etc... I made the right choice when I was offered to review this book by the author. I had enjoyed reading this book.

The plot of the book is quite interesting. A businessman of Hindu origin Mr. Hashim Naidu is doing some illegal business in the oil world.  Interestingly his company was being called as "Nandi". On papers he was the provider of modern machinery to the oil drillers in Arab, Asia and few western countries. Inside he is doing some research project, which could potentially kill the oil businesses in entire world. This research project is based on "Rudraksha" or "Rosary Beads". These beads had some special bacteria in it which can be used adversely on oil. Hashim Naidu was pumping a great deal of money on this pet, but dangerous project.

This project information has somehow leaked in the western world and all international intelligence agencies were going gaga over it and wanted it to stop at any cost. At this stage, the protagonist of our novel Nick comes into the scene, he is an army official trained in this kind of operations. Along with Nick, there are few more spy agents from different countries, Ian a British, Raawan Najya a Saudi female spy, IQ man and others.

This team of highly capable spies sets out on an epic journey to find and nab this Hashim Naidu and his project. The rest of the novel takes us to too many countries including Iraq, Saudi, India, Nepal and Tibet. "Mount Kaliash" of Tibet is the climax point of the novel. The vivid description of the operation and close encounters, description of spy machineries is an excellent read. I stop at this point and recommended the readers to read the book. You'll enjoy as much as I enjoyed reading it.

I sincerely felt that the book could've been cut short by at least 20 to 30 pages. Wedding participation in the final few pages could've been avoided as it proves no connection to the story whatsoever.  Najya's role was limited and I am not sure why the author had not brought her inside the operation? And made her just a radio message sender!! I expected a lot out of Najya's role.

The entire story is captivating and it makes the readers not to put down the book. A must read thriller.

My Rating:
4.5/5

Book Review #44: The Mahabharata Secret By Christopher C. Doyle

King Magadha had a power, a gift from the Kauravas which could have changed the course of the epic battle of Kurukshetra. Anything could've happened if this secret gone to an evil hand.

After 2300 years, the great king, Ashoka discovered this secret buried deep within the laps of earth, a secret of Mahabharata’s time, the weapon of mass destruction. This particular technology has never been made public, though, the Mahabharata has all “PARVA’S”. This particular secret has been documented in the VIMANA PARVA. So, Asoka decides to keep this guarded forever even after his time. He appoints a group of people and makes them to take an oath. A secret oath of not disclosing this secret, whatever the situation may come. He called this group of people as “Nine”.

On present day, a nuclear scientist Vikram Singh is murdered in mysterious way. Before he was murdered, he leaves set of emails as a clue to his nephew Vijay Singh, who was staying abroad. The events unfold once Vijay Singh returns back to India.

This is the overall summary of this book. It is a very well written book. Author Christopher C. Doyle, had made exhaustive research before penning this novel. But, what I understood from this book is, this book is a complete collection of Dan Brown series. Entire novel keep reminds us of reading The Davinci Code, Angels and Demons, The Last Symbol and Digital Fortress.

As I said in the beginning, King Asoka created a secret group of “Nine”, which can be easily juxtaposed against Da Vinci Code’s “Secret Society”. These groups of nine were guarding the “Secret Weapon” which is similar to Da Vinci Code’s “Holy Grail” safekeeping. The group of nine was continued year after year passing the baton to the next generation for the safekeeping of the secret. In this novel, it was Vikram Singh, who was still part of the NINE, which is same as “Secret Society” in Da Vinci Code where Sofia’s grandfather was still an active member.

The journey of Vijay Singh and his companions to discover the mystery by following the clues left by his uncle is same as Da Vinci’s Code. In the Da Vinci code, the secret codes, messages, clues are all part of different churches. In this novel, the clues and hints were depicted in the Edicts, Stupas, and Chaitya’s of King Asoka, who installed these monuments across the country.

The novel also has few double agents. King Bheem Singh, the descendent of Rajvirgarh dynasty has cunning motives to discover this secret and thereby wanted to control the world through his men. He has partnered with some of the world’s notorious criminals and terrorist organizations such as LeT and Al-Qaeda. At the same time, he befriends Vijay Singh and pretends to help Vijay in his search for the discovery of secret of weapon. Like Dan Brown’s Angels & Demons and Last Symbol.

The secret weapon is known to be developed from the technologies described in the VIMANA PARVA of Mahabharata that was never made public. Only the group of nine knew what this technology is all about. The later part of the novel reveals that, this technology is particularly based on the optical physics and illusions that can make anything invisible. Therefore, the planes manufactured using this technology can not only miss the radar, but also capable of going invisible, which cannot be recognized with bare eyes. As we speak of Optical Physics and Nuclear technology in this novel, this is again the same style of narration that followed in Digital Fortress of Dan Brown.

Overall, I cannot out rightly say it as a Dan Brown’s carbon copy. This novel has got its own flavor and thrilling moments. It’s a good book to read and not an epic though. If you haven’t read Dan Brown, then, you are going to get surprised.

There are few chapters which could've been easily avoided. Vijay’s love story is totally irrelevant to the novel which could've been avoided. The Al-Qaeda commander character Farooq is depicted too weak, who leaves clues deliberately. The IB chief officer Imran’s character is kind of superhero, but he fails to make an impression.

At last, the realization that dawn upon Vijay is same as Robert Langdon revealing Sofia that she is indeed the “Holy Grail”!! You might have guessed it already; Vikram Singh has passed the baton to Vijay Singh as the next person in the group of "Nine" to safeguard “THE MAHABHARATA SECRET”. :D


My Rating:
4.5/5

Book Review #41: 99 Thoughts on Ganesha By Devdutt Pattanaik

We all love this elephant headed god, aren't we? He is by far the most loved and respected God throughout India. He is worshipped by each and every one without any religion hindrance. His stories would always fascinate anyone. Probably he is the cutest God that was loved by everyone regardless of the age or gender.

Pattanaik, by now, one of my favorite mythology story tellers, had done ample research before penning this book. His anecdotes are very impressive pertaining to the information he has provided in this book. Though it’s a short book spanning over 160 odd pages, it has everything to know about Lord Ganesha.

Even after having known so many tales and information about Ganesha. What makes this book unique is the extra mile that the author has gone to garn more interesting details and connecting the dots together. Who is Ganesha? What is his background? What makes him so special among the Indians and particularly Hindus? What are the tales behind Ganesha getting the elephant head? What occasion made Lord Shiva to behead Lord Ganesha? Why he has been referred as the obstacle remover? What’s the story behind people chanting Ganapati Bappa Morya? The questions never stop right? Well, if you are finding it hard to get all these information, then this book is the one stop solution to all your doubts. It is rich and resourceful to know about God Ganesha. I must admit that, I had come to know many tales which I never came across all these years.

Like his many other books, Pattanaik has juxtaposed the modern day rituals that can be directly linked to the mythological tales and symbolism with respect to Ganesha. I liked how he had narrated the details that go from India, Thailand till Mongolia. We all know the regular tale behind Ganesha’s elephant head. But Pattanaik has given us few other tales and folklore beliefs behind this story.

What I really liked about this book is, Ganesha that riding on a peacock. Peacock is called “Mor” in Hindi. Thus, it makes clear for the readers that, why people chant, “Ganapati Bappa Morya”. He also mentions about the race between Ganesha and his brother Kartikeya. This race was set up Narada Maharshi to see who has more wisdom and who can think profoundly. Well, Ganesha having a Mouse as his vehicle couldn’t race with his brother Kartikeya who had a flying peacock as his vehicle. So, Lord Ganesha decides to walk around his parents Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati symbolizing them as the whole universe, thus displaying the profound thought. This was a good takeaway from the book.

At the end of the book, author Pattanaik has given a list of popular Ganesha temples across the world. He explained the probable reasons behind why these temples marked as a prominent place of worship. He also explained the different names of Ganesha and its meaning. One such example is “VINAYAKA”, meaning one who was born without the help of a male companion (In Sanskrit VI means “without” and NAYAKA means “male person"). Thanks to the author for explaining something which I was not aware of. The explanation for the Ashta Vinayaka is a fantastic section from the book.

Pattanaik doesn’t forget to mention about the freedom fighter Lokamanya Balagangadhara Tilak who made Ganesha Chaturthi as a public festival. This particular movement has combined people from different walks of life, thereby giving the required momentum for the India’s Independence movement.

I recommend this book to every reader that wants to learn more about Lord Ganesha. May the blessings of Lord Ganesha bestow upon you.

“Om Gam Ganapataye Namaha!!”

My Rating:

5/5

Book Review #33: The Pregnant King By Devdutt Pattanaik

My fawning over the tales of Mahabharata and its oddities never stops. It is rich, it is endless and it is window to witness what one could’ve only imagined. I have become a great fan of Devdutt Pattanaik after reading his Jaya (Retelling of Mahabharata), Sita (Retelling of Ramayana) and Business Sutra (Management from Indic point of view). He is a true master in compiling the mythological stories. Pattanaik, a medical doctor by profession and Mythological writer by passion, Pattanaik have written his first ever fictional tale that will juxtapose against the tales of the Mahabharata.

I took this book by only reading the title of it. It is strange, isn't it ?. How on the earth ***** ? As you can exclaim!! :). This is the tale of Yuvanashva, the king of Vallabhi, a descendant of Turvasu clan. Vallabhi a city placed adjacent to the kingdom of Kauravas, the Hastinapur.

The novel picks up really well with the introduction of Yuvanashva parents, his father Prasenjit that dies very early, which leads his mother Shilavati to rule the kingdom. Here author brings up a very interesting argument over, why women cannot become the king and sit over the throne, which is a must read from the book. All the villagers and other neighbor kings were not really in acceptance mode, when shilavati was ruling. This was adharma according to them. Hence, Shilavati just became a proxy ruler, until his son is blessed with a child, that’s the right time to allow him to become the king.

To everyone’s dismay, Yuvanashva remained as childless though he was married to 3 different queens. His first wife Simantini, Second wife Poulomi and third wife Keshini. These characters are just the filler roles for this novel. There is not much about them that you can guffaw over it. Hence, Yuvanashva conducts a ritual by calling the sages Yaja and Upayaja to prepare a magic potion by offering richly to the gods through Yagna. But, unfortunately, Yuvanashva drinks this potion accidently and he becomes pregnant! :)

What follows after this accident is a splendid art work of fiction. Author had brought the woman in Yuvanashva through his tales of emotion, happiness and feelings. Yuvanashva's dilemma/jignasa over whether his firstborn son Mandhata, should call him MOTHER or FATHER ?. Whether he can announce the world that, he has given birth to Mandhata ? Whether the world will agree to such story?, etc.. To his surprise, when he revealed this secret to his son Mandhata a few years later, Mandhata also silences Yuvanashva citing the reason “Whatever happened has happened, now I am your son and you are my father”. Yuvanashva pleading his son Mandhata to call him as MOTHER at least once is one of those highly charged scene from the book.

Though this entire story takes place at the time of Mahabharata, The story of Vallahi and Yuvanashva takes the cake. The people of this kingdom were least bothered about what’s happening in Hastinapuri. One such example is when a bard comes and announces that, all the Kaurava army was destroyed in the battle of Kurukshetra, everyone exclaims “Oh, is it so??”, then they carry on with their regular chores. :)

Yuvanashva is one of those kings who don't participate in the battle of Kurukshetra, reason being obvious, he is pregnant. There are multiple references to bulls, fields, soil and seeds as euphemisms for sex and conception, and to illuminate the vexing question of “ownership” that arises when a woman is made pregnant by someone other than her husband (famously called as NIYOGA system). And then there are those troublesome dead ancestors, the “pitrus”, waiting for the arrival of a child so they can be reborn in the land of the living. Taking the form of crows, they perch outside bedchambers, waiting for quick results, flapping their wings impatiently when foreplay goes on for too long. (“Does it not bother you that your son’s seed is weak?” one of them indelicately asks Shilavati.) The book is bit "for adults only" too, that doesn't mean that, it is disgusting to read. I guess it is appropriate for the tale that the author is describing.

There are other supplement tales. Two best friends Sumedha and Somavat(i), their tales of how they were supposed to get married and it was severely dealt by Yuvanashva, by burning them alive. Later they became ghosts and were tormenting Yuvanashva.  These ghosts are responsible for Yuvanashva drinking the potion that was meant for his wives. It’s an interesting section to read. Shilavati, who cannot rule as a king because she is a woman. Pruthalashva (grandfather of Yuvanashva), who must sire a child because he is a man, a Yaksha named Sthunakarna, who surrenders his manhood so thatShikhandi (a woman) can become a man and a husband, and later reclaims it, and of the great warrior Arjuna with his many wives, who is forced to disguise himself as a woman (Brihannala) when a nymph (Urvashi) castrates him. And in this journey, we witness King Yuvanashva's struggle to be just to all, his conflict with himself, and his duty to bring about Dharma in his kingdom.

The climax part is what gave an amazing conclusion. Yuvanashva decides to renounce as a king and becomes a hermit. He wanders through the forests meeting sages and other learned rishis. He realizes there is more to life than what he had imagined. He slowly raises his consciousness and becomes Nilkanth Bhairavi or Yuvaneshwar.

Overall, this is a sporadically successful, intriguing, spectacular, beautiful, yet thought provoking book that tells an engrossing, subversive story but meanders a little too much.

Some of the quotes which I liked from all the characters:

- "What sounds sweetest, being called Mother or being called Father"?

- “Does it not bother you that your son’s seed is weak?”

- "You are assuming you know the boundaries of nature. You don't. There is more to life than your eyes can see."

- “Who is a King? Who can claim to be mother or a father? Who is the rightful heir to the throne?”

- "To be a woman is like becoming a prey, her every move watched by hungry predators. Every glance of man is a violation. No one is spared. No one. Not mother, not sister, not daughter. It is only fear of Dharma that keeps men in check. (Arjuna describing his story to Yuvanashva when he became Brihannala for one long year)"

The realization quotes of Yuvanashva:

- “It will not make sense to your logical mind. You will say, a parent is a parent, whether you are father or mother. But it is not the same. I cannot explain. You have to experience it. All I know is what I feel. I feel, while there is sweetness when your son calls you “father”, there is more sweetness when he calls you “mother”.

- “I am not sure that I am a man…I have created life outside me as men do. But I have also created life inside me, as women do. What does that make me? Will a body such as mine fetter or free me?”

- “That’s what they were. Vehicles of an idea. Two ideas. No. One idea, two expressions. Two halves of the same idea. Mutually interdependent” - (on being Male and Female).

- “Within you is your soul, Adi-natha as Shiva, silent, observant, still. Around you is matter, Adi-natha as Shakti, ever-changing, enchanting, enlightening, enriching, empowering”.

- “The imperfection of the human condition and our stubborn refusal to make room for all those in between”

Endnote (Quote) by the author:

“Did the events actually happen? Does it matter? Is it really about Shilavati, Yuvanashva, Shikhandi or Somvati? Or is it about love, law, identity, gender, power and wisdom? The impossibility of universal fairness?”

My Rating:
5/5

Book Review #30: The Palace of Illusions By Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Who doesn't love Mahabharata ?? An epic of thousands of tales intertwined together in a mesmerizing story. And even more awesome feeling is, when you read the same Mahabharata story in different angles, different perspectives and different dimensions. All in all, a book which is certainly unputdownable. After reading many books on Mahabharata, especially after providing the review of Parva and Jaya in my own blog. I am here to give you all, yet another version of the tales of dice or simply the Mahabharata.

As the title of the book itself says, this story is all about the Illusionating Palace that Draupadi had dreamed off. The title is so apt for this book, since, the main theme of the book revolves around this palace. Divakaruni's attempt of narrating The Mahabharata from Draupadi's point of view is an excellent feat. Keeping Draupadi as the main protagonist of the novel, Divakaruni had achieved full effect the novel for what it meant to be. Loaded with heavy feminist viewpoint, you get to read the complete, different Mahabharata from Draupadi's point of view. Even arranging the chapter names is in a different style, as it is not numbered, rather, it is the theme of the story that she is narrating in that chapter. For example: Chapter name is Fire - it contains the Yagna that Dhritarashtra performs in the name of Rajasuya Yaga.

I am not going to give you all a review of Mahabharata here. That has been told many times over and over again. Here I will highlight the events and actions that unfolds through the eyes of Draupadi.

What was much fascinating was, Divakaruni's attempt of picturising Draupadi or Panchaali (The way she expects everyone to call her) is vivid and full of surprises. Draupadi also enjoyed the name "Sakhi" and "Krishnaa" (the female version of krishna) when Krishna used to call her. Draupadi's childhood is not a regular childhood of any little girl, since, it follows a different route. Draupadi, who was raised by his fond Dhai Ma, had a different view of the world such that, she always opposed the ritual of Women were not allowed to enter the Royal Courtroom, Women were not supposed to study after a certain point, Women had no choice of her own while selecting her groom (Yes, the Swayamvar!!), etc. etc..

Throughout the novel, we can get to see the lost love of Draupadi for Karna. Draupadi always longed for the love of Karna, which is not by compulsion, but by pure love. She had admonished him in the Swayamvar proceedings of his lower birth, not knowing Karna's true birth!!. Almost in every chapter, Draupadi's love for Karna is described very passionately, which is a must read from the book.

Without forgetting, having married off to 5 Pandava brothers, Draupadi had her share of fight or rather doubts against Kunti, her mother-in-law. She had to start her daughter-in-law life afresh in the new house, adjusting to the environments, getting along with people,etc.. You will sure enjoy the regular SAAS-BAHU cat-fights from this novel. When Draupadi learns that, Kunti had approached Karna to reveal his true birth and offered Karna to becomes the Sixth husband of Draupadi, towards the end of the novel!, Draupadi loses her cool and was about to shout at Kunti for not bringing this to her notice!!. This is for sure a spiced up story to read from the book.

What at all a review, if I do not bring the Palace of Illusions ??. This is the main theme or crux of the novel as I said before. What follows after their lac house was burnt and they get their share of barren land Indraprastha to start a life. Pandava's had called Maya to construct a beautiful palace that was never done before and will not be done after. As expected from this women centered novel, Draupadi becomes the chief architect for planning and suggesting what and all to include in this palace. The pillars, The waterfalls, The fish ponds, The rooms, The walls, The paintings, etc.. Everything was done according to Draupadi's instructions, which is the sole reason or the stepping stone for the entire Mahabharata. When Pandava's invited Kaurava's to visit their palace of Illusions, with much to the dismay, when Duryodhan accidently steps on to a pool which was looking like a glass floor, followed by Draupadi mocking him in front of her maid-servants, that led to the game of dice, followed by War of Kurukshetra is all a regular telltale!!.

Surprising stuff which I believe is that author's brought up story is, Draupadi had a boon from Sage Vyasa that, she can visualize the happenings across a far away place. When she was younger, Vyasa had already informed her that, she will be the main reason for thousands of deaths, also, she will get married to 5 brothers, etc.. Even in the war of kurukshetra, Draupadi already knew who Karna was, and she was tempted to reveal this to her husbands, which she didn't do, since, Vyasa asked her not reveal anything until what he wrote already must happen. 2 things we must notice here, First Vyasa giving boon to Draupadi to visualize future but not to reveal anything. And Second, Vyasa had wrote the Mahabharata much before it took place ?? (This is sure a debatable topic)

Towards the end of the novel, all Kaurava's side have been killed and Pandava's side have ruled for several years and it was time to take up the vanaprashta-ashram. 5 brothers along with Panchaali heads towards Himalaya that ascends to the greater heavens. The struggle and the hardship that Draupadi goes through this phase is a treat to read from the book. Because, Dhritarashtra had told his brothers that, none of them will help anyone if they fell down while ascending the himalayas. So, as foretold by the oracles, Draupadi falls much before. But to our surprise, Divakaruni had brought Krishna in this scene, who will lead Draupadi into the safer heaven.

Overall, a fresh aspect, a bold attempt of Mahabharata or I can call it as Panchaali's Mahabharata!!. A section of Krishna teaching Bhadagawad Geeta to Arjun was kept bare minimum, which should've been extended a bit further. Other than that, a must read book for all those historical fiction buffs.

My Rating:
5/5

Book Review #27: Sita - An Illustrated Retelling of the Ramayana By Devdutt Pattanaik

This is yet another good book by my favorite mythological author Devdutt Pattanaik. We might have heard many versions of Ramayana's till today from our parents, teachers, grandparents, friends, colleague, etc.. But, this book stands class apart. This book tries to give us the various details of Ramayana not only a regular Valmiki Ramayana as in practice, but various versions of Ramayana that have been foretold around the world. It even includes the plays and folklore tales through which Ramayana has been passed on from generations to generations.

As I finished reading the book. Not only many of my questions have been answered. But also, many of the misconceptions have also been demystified. It is certainly a well researched book.

I am not going to give you all a regular review of the Ramayana. As most of us know the overall story, at least the overall Ramayana happenings. Instead, I will mention only those things, which I found worth to be noted in my review.

Sita:
First and foremost, the character Sita. She is one of the main protagonists of Ramayana. Is that enough to be known.? Certainly not. This book gives us the various traits of Sita and her tryst with the entire Ramayana. She is a well educated, well versed woman, full of wisdom, love and courage. She assesses the situation from her own point of view. We all admonish Rama as a bad person when he sent out Sita to the woods after their 14 years of exile, by questioning her chastity. But, in this book, Sita assesses her situation from Rama's point of view and she was happy to go!!. She tries to reason with her situation and comes to a conclusion. At sometimes you may feel, Sita is more mature than Rama in terms of actions, decisions and what not. I can say it aloud that, from this book, my respects for Sita has been multi folded.

Hanuman:
Another character worth to be noted is of Hanuman, the monkey god. He was the greatest devotee of Rama that mankind ever came to know. He actually teared down his chest to show the world that his lord, Sri Rama resides in his heart. But, that is not enough. He is full of knowledge and wisdom. He is a vedic scholar. The main section of the book, where Hanuman sets out to find Sita in Lanka. And, when he finds out Sita, the dialogues between them is a treat to read from the book. It is captured in such a fashion by the author that, you actually feel, this might have happened for real between Sita and Hanuman.


Hanuman the funny side: 
A funny incident which I would like to mention here. When Rama's 14 years of exile was over and they come back to Ayodhya. During Rama's coronation ceremony. Sita gifts Hanuman a pearl necklace for his help to fight Ravana. As Hanuman receives the necklace, he starts to bite every pearl and throw all the pearl one by one. Surprised Sita asks Hanuman why he was doing such things?. For which, Hanuman replied, "I was finding Rama in each of those pearls, and I threw it one by one after checking there was no Rama in it!!". This shows us that Hanuman's unconditional love for his master, lord, Sri Rama.

Hanuman the "generous":
It so happened after all the Ramayana tales that. Valmiki, supposed to be the original Ramayana writer was about to complete his writing of Ramayana. Then suddenly, a voice from the space told him that, Hanuman's version of Ramayana is better than yours. Saddened Valmiki thought no one will read his version of Ramayana. So he meets Hanuman and borrows Hanuman's version of Ramayana. To his astonishment, it was indeed a better version than his. So, Valmiki told Hanuman that, "Your version is way better than mine. And, no one will read my version of Ramayana". By hearing this, Hanuman tore down his version of Ramayana once and for all. Surprised Valmiki asks Hanuman, "Why you did that, your version was better than mine!!". Then, Hanuman replied "I wrote Ramayana because, I didn't want to forget my Rama and all those days I spent with him. You expect your version of Ramayana to reach to public, hence your Ramayana deserves to be saved than mine!!". This again shows us that, Hanuman is not just a mere monkey, but above all a generous, wisdomful person, who rose to be a godly figure.

Ravana:
When it comes to Ravana, there was no greater details in the book. As this book mainly focuses on Sita. Still, author had covered Ravana in greater detail and let his readers amuse by reading the knowledge and power that Ravana has possessed. The interesting section arrives when Ravana was shot by an arrow and he was about to leave his physical body. Rama asks Lakshmana to go and learn all the possible things from the greatest brahmana Ravana to gain his knowledge. When Lakshmana was not so welcomed by this idea. Rama himself will go to Ravana and lay down in front of him and asks him to educate him by his vast knowledge. This shows us that, even when you are fighting with your enemy, respect your enemy for his knowledge!!

Not only these tales that the author wrote, he also mentions the cycles of the Yugas and its a repeating phenomenon. Thereby, justifying his writing that, there may be thousands of Ramayana's that have happened in this never ending cycles of Yugas. As per the author, the 4 yugas (4 - Kritha Yuga), (3 - Treta Yuga), (2 - Dwapara Yuga) and the final one (1- Kali Yuga) that marks the end of the Yugas as proclaimed by Brahma. And this cycle repeats from Krita Yuga again. So, there are possibilities that, there may be many many Ramayana's happened that can't be imagined by humans.

This kind of surprising things are lot to find in this book. As a signature writing of Pattanaik, even in this book, he has produced some of the modern age practices that were directly linked to the practices that were followed in the Ramayana times. He also traces some of the modern places that can be directly or indirectly linked to the ancient Ramayana tales.

I would highly recommend this book to everyone. It surely helps you to gain and expand your knowledge on Ramayana.

My Rating:
5/5

Book Review #14: Business Sutra: A Very Indian Approach to Management - Devdutt Pattanaik

Business Sutra is a unique and thought provoking book. Probably, this is the first of its kind to have such a book on management. This book is written by one of my favourite author Devdutt Pattanaik. He has given all of us an idea of what we can easily call as "Going Back To Roots". Indeed, we as a modern society dwellers do not have much time to think about all of our ancient scriptures leave alone analyzing and judging them.

As a Chief Belief Officer (CBO) for future group of companies, Author had the great responsibility to uplift the morale of their staff and explain things in such a delicate manner which led him to write this book. I must admit that, Chief Belief Officer is a very innovative designation; Nowhere in India, this kind of designation has been introduced at the corporate level.

Author has put forth before us a strong point by combining Indic thoughts by comparing with business thought process. Thereby providing an Indic thought to the business management.

This book is neatly arranged in a chronological order having an introduction alone for almost 35 pages. In intro, he talks about the differences between Indic religion and other monotheistic religions and how this has been interpreted over many centuries. He strongly argues about why we as Indians, are in need of such books. He tries to set the stage for the book and tells us how he connected Mythology with Management and how this works for someone and may not work for some other.

This is certainly a readable book. At some point you may feel as if the author is trying to preach us and trying to impose something on us. Nevertheless, you got to skim through the book and you will definitely find it quite appealing. I will only highlight what I liked about the book. You can start at any point and any page in the book, still it makes sense.

I loved the section of the intro and first few pages where his analogy of Drishti, Divya-Drishti and Darshan - which is objective truth, subjective truth and subject in that order. He nearly talks about more than 100 sutras in the book which defines only one thing: To change the approach to the management and at the same time talk about its connection to our roots. Thereby connecting the Myths and Legends.

The book also makes a point about personal growth - which is NARA as opposed to NARAYANA, which really should be a mantra of everybody in a job or business. Author have tactically uses gods as a metaphor for conveying practically everything in an organization. This is about organizations have to to be churned (Samudra Manthan) in order to realize Goals (Amrith).

He compares Aarti of a god to the praises showered on employees - which certainly empowers them. The strong fact, that we employees need organizations and organizations do not need us!!. This takes us to the point where self-development and actualization is the only thing that matters for us as a human growth. He constantly warns the readers that, his book is a not a traditional book on management. He takes it a step further with every turn of the page and you will realize only when you read the book. The illustration diagrams enhances the values of the words which will add more quality to the concept. For instance, in one of his sutra "Mental violence is also violence" with an apt diagram. This will surely sink deep into the reader's subconscious which will help them to get connected with the book.

Overall, Business Sutra takes a look at the business (Western Business) from an Indian perspective and reverses the "gaze" and tries to come up with the "Indic Management Principles". This is a great read and one should not finish this in one sitting, rather, read in a slow and steady manner and be savoured by the way it means to be.

At the very end of the book, he also has a section of "How to reject this book?", for the detractors.

My Rating: 5/5