The Book of Ram; Devdutt Pattanaik

The book of Ram is not a page by page account of Ramayana. This book is an after thought on Ramayana; an intellectual understanding of Ramayana. The discussions are crisp, to the point and enjoyable. 

This book is for the mass, so Devdutt Pattanaik has not gone too deep into the details; keeping the book a light and enjoyable read. Earlier never having given much thought to all the metaphors lying hidden in this epic, I found the book refreshing. The book takes the help of various sub plots as well as other epics like Mahabharata and Purana to explain the many aspects of Ramayana in its entirety. Ram is Maryada Puroshattam, the best king to rule the earth. He took care of his subjects and established norms of the civilized society. For Ram, the means are as important as the ends. Time changes, evils operating  on the earth changes. So later born as Krishna, he is Leela Puroshattam, not a king, but a king maker, a strategist who would bend laws to attain Dharma. For Krishna, the end justifies the means. 

Many times, Devdutta Pattanaik explains that an act happening in Ramayana would have its effect later, as can be seen in other epics like Mahabharata . For example, wrongs have happened at that time, which have been balanced out in Mahabharata. Thus the author brings in the concept of karma and destiny. Arjun (son of Indra) killed Karna (son of Surya) in Mahabharata. In Ramayana, Sugriva (son of Surya) has killed Bali (son of Indra). 

The metaphorical discussion on various characters of the epic is enlightening. The author explains Sita as a represention of the civilized mind, the civilized society. She is chaste, she is loyal to her husband. Surpankha represents wilderness. If she finds a man desirous, she goes for him without bothering about any code of conduct. Ram and Lakshman's refusal of her offer and her disfigurement represents attempt to initiate civilized norms in the wilderness. On another level, the author explains that if Sita is the mind, Ravana is the ego. These interpretations are interesting to read.

I have read another book by Devdutt Pattanaik; Jaya. It is an unbiased account of Mahabharata. The book of Ram is not so. This book is a eulogy of Ram; there is no doubt on that. However,to the author’s credit, he does not try to dodge the most controversial episode of Ram’s life when he abandoned his wife to appease his subjects, even after she has proved her chastity by walking on fire. The author does not try to justify this incident of Ram’s life, he merely emphasizes that Ram is first a king, than a husband; he always paid more importance to his duties as a king than to his passion as a husband. However, the author mentions several times about the gold statue that Ram built of Sita to represent his wife during the Ashvamedha Yagna, instead of remarrying as suggested to him at that time. Devdutta Pattanaik emphasizes that Ram built Sita’s statue with gold, the purest of metal to pass on the message to his subjects that in his mind, he did not have any doubt on Sita’s purity of character.

The author doesnot end the discussion of the book by merely reflecting on the characters and the metaphors embedded in Ramayana. He goes on to outline the presence of elements of this epic, specially of the avtaar Ram, in today's politics. Similarly Ramanand Sagar's Ramayana and Ashok Banker's various books on this epic find mentions in The Book of Ram. 

We have grown up hearing Ramayana, watching Ramayana. This book opens up a whole new world of thought to the already familiar epic. To people who loves reading modern mythological book, I would recommend this book with no hesitation :)

And the Mountains Echoed: Khaled Hosseini

This book starts with one of my favourite Rumi verses:

"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field.
I'll meet you there."

                                                                    ***

When you take up a Khaled Hosseini book, you do not expect a fun reading. You know there will be pages and stories which will wrench your heart apart, you know there will be words therein which will startle you with depth and understanding of sadness. And the Mountains Echoed was no exception.

This novel is divided into nine chapters and almost each, with a little help from the preceding chapters, can stand on its own as short stories. You know Khaled Hosseini is a confident writer when you find him introducing new characters so late in the novel. Sometime I even wondered why. If I think about characters like Idris, Timur, Roshi and Amra, I realize that they are not very necessary to the central theme of the novel. They are a part of the backdrop, brought to life because of the writer's whim and later, the thread of their story is left loose, again at the whim of the writer. I did not so much mind the fact that Timur and his lot were not so relevant to the central theme; these characters were beautifully developed and they lent so much insight to the general wave of the story. If I look at this chapter of the book, I would say that this is one chapter that most highly qualifies as a very well written short story. But when I look at these characters as a part of the novel, I cannot help lamenting their abrupt dismissal from the pages.

What surprised me so much in this book were the very strong female characters. The women in this book took care of their own fate. Be it little Thalia who faces the world with a scarred face and takes up the job of a plumber/IT person in her later life, because she has an inquisitive scientific mind or be it, Nila Wahdati, who defies accepted norms of female modesty in her poems and life or Pari, who decides against marriage for the time being so that she can take care of her dying father; the women in this book does not live in the shadows of the men around. From a pedantic point of view, it would be interesting to study individually the women in this book; they are independent, forgiving, adamant, insightful and interestingly, never very rich.

Also, what I did not expect in a Khaled Hossieni novel was homosexuality. What happens when a man pining for a married woman discovers that he is the object of affection of her husband? Khaled Hosseini, through his novel, beautifully drives home the point that it is superficial to label love as homosexual or heterosexual. If you understand love, you will respect both and not judge one against the other.

The novel begins with the sale of Pari, a very young girl. Separated from her loving brother Abdullah, she goes on to live a rich life with her new parents; only to be separated from her new father when her new mother decides to abandon him. This is the central theme of the story; the tip of the iceberg. As the story unfolds, we see many more people come in and out of each others lives, and all of them would leave a mark in the mind of the readers. The pages will charm you into thinking that somewhere in this world, these people really live.

Would I recommend this book to my friends? Yes, I would. But I would also warn that you should not read And the Mountains Echoed for its story; you should read this book for the characters travelling through the story . They are the real winners here :)