Book Review: Ramayana - The Game of Life - Shattered Dreams

This book is the second part in the Ramayana - The Game of Life series by Shubha Vilas. The timeline is set twelve years after Ram's marriage to Sita. The author has drawn influence from the writings of Valmiki and Tulsidas, and attributes his interest in this epic mythological drama to the daily storytelling session by his grandmother. The book begins with Rama's coronation as the king of Ayodhya, followed by Manthara's sinister scheme to crown Bharatha and send Rama to exile, which leads to the death of a heartbroken Dasaratha, and ends with the trio of Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana's departure towards the Dandakarnaya forest. 

High points:

1. The narration is gripping, it kept me hooked to the book with its interesting storyline. I was intrigued by the author's method of looking into the soul of the character and writing out his deepest, innermost feelings. 

2. Each page is filed with vivid description of the scene and the characters. Its like the scene is coming to life in front of your eyes. Its a reader's delight when one gets to read such a visually enriching scene.

3. There is a detailed character sketch for the characters who drive the story forward. I could feel Dasaratha's fear as he was tormented each night by the recurring nightmares, and also his relief when the subjects at the royal court accepted Rama as his successor. 

4. Presence of footnotes. This book is not only a retelling of an epic, but also aims to motivate the reader and help him in his spiritual journey as he embarks on this reading trip. It would not have been easy, if not for the presence of footnotes at the end of each page which offers a simple but detailed explanation for the section referenced.

Low points:

1. Since the book is part of a series, it is best if one has read the first book in the series Ramayana - The Game of Life - Rise of the Sun Prince. 

2. In certain sections, the narration loses its pace and there is an excess of detail which makes it a slow read. But then again good things come to those who wait, so patience is a quality that comes in handy when reading this book.

Final verdict: The Ramayana - The Game of Life - Shattered Dreams (Book 2) is an interesting read for anyone who is looking out for understanding the wisdom concealed within the stories of the epic, Valmiki's Ramayana. It provides a deep insight into the characters mind and also does a brilliant job in recreating the scene in the reader's mind. Since I havenot read the first part of this book series, I would recommend that one should read the Ramayana - The Game of Life - Rise of the Sun Prince (Book 1) first to gain a better understanding of the story and its memorable characters.

This post is a part of Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda. Participate now to get free books!

My Indian Literature Connection

As a school student, I had read my fair share of books authored by Indian writers. Back then, it was Narayan's Malgudi Days, Tagore's works, and the minor works of Vikram Seth and Anita Desai which we got to read as part of the CBSE English syllabus. Indian Writing in English, I was was introduced to this term in my first year of college. As the name suggests, the subject is Indian literature, written in the English language. So we read RK Narayan's The Guide, Raja Rao's Kanthapura, Mahasweta Devi's Arjun, Arundhati Roy's essay on the impending nuclear war and Naipaul's idea of India.' But there was more to Indian literature, as i was to discover later in the years to come. 

College had expanded my horizon, I discovered a complete new avenue of books and authors, I savored the names of books as I pronounced them to the nearby American Bookstore uncle. What began as just a subject to study for a semester, turned into a personal interest.

My handicap of not being able to read the Bengali language, forced me to explore the books kept in the Indian translation in English section. It was the best thing that happened to me. I realized that I had just uncovered a cache of regional literature. I had the good fortune to read the translated works of some celebrated authors from different languages like Tamil, Hindi, Punjabi, and of course Bengali. My reading list now had Sadat Hasan Manto, Satyajit Ray, Amrita Pritam. What drew me to this genre is the ease with which I was able to place myself in the situation, the place where the events occur. Familiarity helps in understanding, accepting and reasoning the plot, the outcome is a pleasurable read and this feeling stays with the reader forever.

There are a few books which left me with same sentiment.

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's The Palace of Illusions
This one was recommended by one of my colleagues. HIgh on the feminist ideology, this book is Mahabharata retold from Draupadi's viewpoint.

Ashapurna Devi's trilogy The First Promise, Subarnalata, Bakul Kotha
She is one first female writers in pre-independence era in Bengali literature. Her novels set in the same period give a unbiased view of the Bengali society of those time, her protagonists were most often the women folk, thus helped in getting their perspective of the matters.

Kalki's Ponniyan Selvan
This is a historical novel written by Kalki during the reign of the Chola kings. As the novel was based on the lives of real people, its a real account of the society back in the Chola era. It is a record in the form of a story, told in five-parts.

Every one of these books is a wonderful read. Each protagonist lives a different life, tells a different tale. Yesterday, I added a few new authors to my reading list, and have decided to explore a new line in the same subject, poetry.