Just completed reading "The Palace of Illusions" Chitra Banerjee Devakurni a book I bought out of the sheer act of getting rid of my last New Zealand dollars at Christchurch airport before flying back to Sydney. The book took me down the memory lane way back into the late 80's when the epic Mahabharata was telecast ed on national television in India. Reading the book I was still imagining the same characters who actually played the roles in the tele-serial.Relevant to today’s war-torn world, The book takes us back to the time of the Indian epic The Mahabharat—a time that is half-history, half-myth, and wholly magical. Through her narrator Panchaali, the wife of the legendary five Pandavas brothers, Divakaruni gives us a rare feminist interpretation of an epic story.
The novel traces Panchaali’s life, beginning with her magical birth in fire as the daughter of a king before following her spirited balancing act as a woman with five husbands who have been cheated out of their father’s kingdom. Panchaali is swept into their quest to reclaim their birthright, remaining at the brothers’ sides through years of exile and a terrible civil war. Meanwhile, we never lose sight of her stratagems to take over control of her household from her mother-in-law, her complicated friendship with the enigmatic Krishna, or her secret attraction to the mysterious man who is her husband’s most dangerous enemy. Panchaali is a fiery female voice in a world of warriors, gods, and ever-manipulating hands of fate.The strength of this novel, is the profound thinking that is woven into the main story.
The novel traces Panchaali’s life, beginning with her magical birth in fire as the daughter of a king before following her spirited balancing act as a woman with five husbands who have been cheated out of their father’s kingdom. Panchaali is swept into their quest to reclaim their birthright, remaining at the brothers’ sides through years of exile and a terrible civil war. Meanwhile, we never lose sight of her stratagems to take over control of her household from her mother-in-law, her complicated friendship with the enigmatic Krishna, or her secret attraction to the mysterious man who is her husband’s most dangerous enemy. Panchaali is a fiery female voice in a world of warriors, gods, and ever-manipulating hands of fate.The strength of this novel, is the profound thinking that is woven into the main story.
Moreover it is a good refresher on the values the epic is trying propagate and the view which Draupadi has throughout her existence on the various key events.It provides a totally new dimension to ascertain what was good and evil during the epic and how things that are destined to happen..happen with a rationale behind it.
Can't say whether it is a must buy or not for your respective collection but for my friends in Sydney feel free to borrow it from me.
1 comment:
I am going to read this book once I am done with "Eat , Pray and Love"..
I think it will be interesting to read a woman's persepective on the otherwise male dominated history!
Post a Comment