Lanka’s Princess – Kavita Kane
Pages: 298
Continuing my growing love of reading about the different perspectives of our old mythological stories, I came across Lanka’s Princess by Kavita Kane. I have not ‘read’ the Ramayana, but like most Indians, I know of the story through the famous tele-series and several tales narrated to us by elders.
I always wondered who Surpanakha was. She appeared only for a very brief time in the Ramayana serial. What is her story? Lanka’s Princess was the perfect book to answer my old question. I had already read the Shiva Trilogy which gave a different treatment to our beloved characters of Shiva, Pravati, Ganesha, etc. Ram, Sita, Raavan, and the War of Lanka showed a much more realistic interpretation of these famous characters from Indian mythology. Then The Palace of Illusion showed us Mahabharata from the eyes of Draupadi. And now, the war of Lanka from the eyes of Surpanakha.
It started slowly. I felt that the enmity between Meenakshi (Surpanakha’s original name) and Ravan and how she was always made to feel like a misfit in the family dragged on too long before the action began. However, I could not keep the book down once it did. It depicted the interesting relationships ‘behind the scenes’ in the city of Lanka – Meenakshi and her lover (and later, her husband – Vidyujiva), with Meghnad, Mandodri, her mother Kaikesi, and so on. Her son is named as Kumar.
Throughout the story, there is a continuous depiction of Meenakshi’s hot temperament, how she would always see a situation from the wrong perspective and think of herself as a victim. On one hand, her sensuous, venomous, and temperamental sides are shown, and on the other, her lovable side is also depicted as her unconditional love toward her father, husband, son, and Meghnad. Of course, the war is not written in great detail, and rightfully so, as this story is not about what happened in the war. However, it became even more interesting when post-war conversations were also mentioned. Her role in sending Sita to another exile, how she planned to take revenge from Lakshman for her son’s murder, and how Urmila suddenly jolted her out of the bloodied frenzy that led to the great war and eventual murders of several family members before Ravan fell.
The only other thing that hurt me was the difficult vocabulary. For someone like me, who loves simple language, at the beginning of the book, the usage of heavy words made it very difficult to continue reading. Even if not from the readers’ perspective, the usage of such heavy words from the mouths of the asuras during heated confrontations felt misfit.
Finally, 10 on 10 for bringing the story of one of the most underrated characters in the whole war of Lanka. Some simpler words could have been good but they are harmless, and the long base for showing her sibling rivalry could have been shorter.
Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: Read this book for a refreshing twist and inside stories about Lanka and the great war between Ram and Ravan. From Surpanakha’s place, several characters (as we know them today) look different.
No Comments