Title :
Asura - Tale of the Vanquished
Author :
Anand Neelakantan
Publisher
: Platinum Press
ISBN :
978-93-81576-05-2
I enjoy
reading retellings of our age old epics and do not mind how different authors
enthuse their creativity and imagination in the same to bring out different
perspectives. I guess I must have read and reviewed close to a dozen such books
which are either purely fictional or are reporting of the original story with
some twists here and there.
However,
'Asura' is the first book which walks the readers through the situations and
circumstances in Ravana's life and how the same made him the person he was. It
was indeed interesting to read how author's flight of imagination soars in this
book and brings a completely unique angle to the whole story. It would be
unfair for the readers if I talk about that unimaginable twist in the review
here, it is better left un-revealed.
We all
are well conversant with the broad storyline of Ramayana, however the same
story appears to be a completely modified version when it is narrated by
different characters which are very much a part of the story or when it is
being reported by a third person. In Asura, author works on the pretext of what
if the opposite side - the Asura side, has its own story to tell. How many of
us know about that side of the saga? Throughout the book, the narrative
oscillates between Ravana and another
character Bhadra whose life was ruined by Devas. Ravana has some very strong
reasons for doing what he did, including being present in the Swayamvara of
Sita, followed by her abduction which led him to his own doom.
The story
begins with Ravana nearing his death in the battlefield and his whole life
flashes past through his eyes. A Shiva devotee, an accomplished veena player, a
fine scholar - Ravana opens his heart and shares his inner feelings through the
pen of Anand Neelakantan. As is the case with any human, Ravana is not immune
to vulnerabilities, inabilities, fears and weaknesses either but it is
interesting to read how these frailties do not eclipse the strengths of his
character, some of which soar really high. I specifically liked the part where
he unconditionally stood by his wife and
that is the part where the author subtly tries to draw parallelism between Rama's way of dealing with his perfection vs Ravana managing with his imperfections.
Asura is not
Ramayana, it is Ravanayana. In Ravana words, "For thousands of years I
have been vilified and my death is celebrated year after year in every corner
of India. Why? Was it because I challenges the Gods? Was it because I freed a
race from the yoke of caste-based Deva rule? You have heard the victor's tale,
the Ramayana. Now hear the Ravanayana, for I am Ravana and my story is the tale
of the vanquished."
Thus
Asura becomes the epic tale of the subdued side and another addition to already
inundated literary world of mythology in varied makeovers. However the editing
needs to be tighter which would have reduced the length of the unnecessary
portions in the story. There are many typos too which could have been
eliminated with at least one more iteration of editing. The first half deals
with a lot of guerilla wars when Ravana tries to establish his kingdom in Lanka
and the details become too overwhelmingly drab at some places which readers would want to skip. Though I enjoyed reading Ravana's tale, I found something really amiss. Ravana has been portrayed as an able ruler who stood by
his people but somehow he fails to create the aura which Anand attempted to create in this
book. I don't know whether to blame it on my conditioned mind or lack of magic
in narration, Asura ends up being just another view point, nothing more nothing
less.
No comments:
Post a Comment