I read Sharath's book in two nights, while I was on a vacation. Sharath is retelling a story that I am fairly familiar with and yet, he managed to hold my attention and kept me hooked to the electronic pages of my kindle. In a day and age where the retellings of Ramayana and Mahabharata are available by the scores, it is a challenge to give it a spin but full marks to the author for doing so.
Sharath retells, or should I say reimagines, the story from the perspective of the women. The first half being told from the POV of Ganga while the second from Satyavati's POV. The book, like every other book out there, has positives and negatives. I shall go over both one by one.
Things I liked:
1. The language- The setting demanded an archaic prose and Sharath more than lives up to it. His writing is poetic and flows effortlessly, almost like a mellifluous song. I could wax eloquent about his mastery of words. Suffice to say, he weaves an effortless tale that made me, the reader, very satisfied.
2. The descriptions- Sharath paints a picture with his words and it was very easy for me to visualize the scenes. Be it Meru or Hastinapur or the fishermen's village on the banks of Saraswati, I was there with the characters.
3. The concept- It is a brilliant and innovative approach. In both the epics, even though women play pivotal roles, it's almost always the men who walk away with the accolades. A few authors have given a voice to Draupadi, but the other women, like Ganga, Satyavati, Amba, Gandhari, Kunti and Subhadhra, who had significant contributions to the story, rarely get a voice. The fact that Sharath has chosen to tell the tale from their perspectives is not only unique but laudable.
4. Satyavati- I had to mention her. She is a proud, confident woman who is comfortable in her sexuality. She knows the power she wields over men and is unafraid to use it. She is someone who speaks her mind, no matter what. We need more such characters in our fictions. The fact that she comes from the pen of a man is just the cherry on top of the ice-cream sundae.
What I didn't like:
1. Descriptions- Yes, I know I listed it as a positive but it is also a negative point. In places the description became too heavy. Almost as if Sharath wanted to make sure that the reader saw exactly what he saw in his mind.
2. Occasionally sagging narrative - While in most places, the narrative is razor sharp, on occasion, Sharath loses his tight grip on the story and the narrative starts to ramble. For example, that whole scene where Devavrata is growing up and Ganga is going through torment between her duties as a celestial river maiden and her maternal love. I understand Sharath wanted to show Ganga as a more rounded character, but the narrative could have been sharper.
3. Devavrat- And herein lies my biggest problem. Blame it on the fabulous rendition of Mukesh Khanna, but for me Bhishma is a towering figure who would command attention just by walking into the room. I have always pictured him as the overpowering figure who could force people into submission with a mere glare. Sharath's Devavrat doesn't convey that power to me. I am told that he is stealing the show, but I don't feel that awe. With Bhishma being such an important character, I am worried how it will translate in the subsequent books.
Overall, this is a book I would definitely recommend to all the lovers of mythology. You want something different, look no further than Winds of Hastinapur.
Rating: 4.3/5
About the author
Sharath Komarraju (1985 -) was born in Warangal, India, to a doctor father and lawyer mother. At the age of twenty-three, on the eve of starting his first day at his newly acquired job, he sat down to write his first piece of fiction. He has not stopped since. His first novel, Murder in Amaravati, was longlisted for the Commonwealth Book Prize, 2013. He now writes full time, and lives in Bangalore with his wife.
Buy it here
Sharath retells, or should I say reimagines, the story from the perspective of the women. The first half being told from the POV of Ganga while the second from Satyavati's POV. The book, like every other book out there, has positives and negatives. I shall go over both one by one.
Things I liked:
1. The language- The setting demanded an archaic prose and Sharath more than lives up to it. His writing is poetic and flows effortlessly, almost like a mellifluous song. I could wax eloquent about his mastery of words. Suffice to say, he weaves an effortless tale that made me, the reader, very satisfied.
2. The descriptions- Sharath paints a picture with his words and it was very easy for me to visualize the scenes. Be it Meru or Hastinapur or the fishermen's village on the banks of Saraswati, I was there with the characters.
3. The concept- It is a brilliant and innovative approach. In both the epics, even though women play pivotal roles, it's almost always the men who walk away with the accolades. A few authors have given a voice to Draupadi, but the other women, like Ganga, Satyavati, Amba, Gandhari, Kunti and Subhadhra, who had significant contributions to the story, rarely get a voice. The fact that Sharath has chosen to tell the tale from their perspectives is not only unique but laudable.
4. Satyavati- I had to mention her. She is a proud, confident woman who is comfortable in her sexuality. She knows the power she wields over men and is unafraid to use it. She is someone who speaks her mind, no matter what. We need more such characters in our fictions. The fact that she comes from the pen of a man is just the cherry on top of the ice-cream sundae.
What I didn't like:
1. Descriptions- Yes, I know I listed it as a positive but it is also a negative point. In places the description became too heavy. Almost as if Sharath wanted to make sure that the reader saw exactly what he saw in his mind.
2. Occasionally sagging narrative - While in most places, the narrative is razor sharp, on occasion, Sharath loses his tight grip on the story and the narrative starts to ramble. For example, that whole scene where Devavrata is growing up and Ganga is going through torment between her duties as a celestial river maiden and her maternal love. I understand Sharath wanted to show Ganga as a more rounded character, but the narrative could have been sharper.
3. Devavrat- And herein lies my biggest problem. Blame it on the fabulous rendition of Mukesh Khanna, but for me Bhishma is a towering figure who would command attention just by walking into the room. I have always pictured him as the overpowering figure who could force people into submission with a mere glare. Sharath's Devavrat doesn't convey that power to me. I am told that he is stealing the show, but I don't feel that awe. With Bhishma being such an important character, I am worried how it will translate in the subsequent books.
Overall, this is a book I would definitely recommend to all the lovers of mythology. You want something different, look no further than Winds of Hastinapur.
Rating: 4.3/5
About the author
Buy it here
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