Mandar's book review
"Asura - The tale of the vanquished", by Anand Neelakantan.
This is the story of Ravan, as the title suggests. But it is not Ramayan narrated by Ravan. It is the story of how Ravan became who he was and also includes war with Ram. And it is written in Asura perspective.
Story is narrated by Ravan and Bhadra (Servent cum advisor cum man friday cum non entity for Ravan). He may be invention of author. The idea, presented in this book, of Asuras being black but cultured and Devas being fair but barbarians is not new for well read. Author has tried to present mythological landmark incidents as they realistically happened e.g. lanka dahan.
Writing style is factual but little bland in 1st half. Author has covered some major events just by mention rather than making them colourful narratives. Love-loath-hate-pity-trust relationship of Ravan and Bhadra is the soul of the book. Bhadra is participant in all the important events of Ravan's life. Character of Ravan is portrayed as human rather than rakshas. He seems clueless, often enough, to doubt his capabilities. A mere mortal.
Real twist in the tale is the revelation of Ravan-Sita relation and reason for Sita's abduction. It gives a new and unchartered perspective to the story & you start thinking on different lines. The war is good Vs evil, against castesim and untouchability.
Although 1st half of the book is slow and becoms boring at times, 2nd half is gripping. There are twists like Mandodaries abduction, Meghnad's blunders, agni pariksha, Ravan's death, 2nd vanvas to Sita that are presented in Asura perspective. Author binds you till the end. There were 2 incidents in Ramayan that I did not like when I was a child. One was the way Ram killed Vali and other was Sita's agnipariksha. Author has exploited these two incidents very well to put forth his theory.
The book is more than 500 pages long and size is larger than pocket book. If it was a pocket book, it might have been close to 800-900 pages. Reading needs time and patience.
At the end you can not help wondering that may be, just may be, it happened like this. History is always written by victors. This is the tale of vanquished told well.
A good read. Recommend reading.
"Asura - The tale of the vanquished", by Anand Neelakantan.
This is the story of Ravan, as the title suggests. But it is not Ramayan narrated by Ravan. It is the story of how Ravan became who he was and also includes war with Ram. And it is written in Asura perspective.
Story is narrated by Ravan and Bhadra (Servent cum advisor cum man friday cum non entity for Ravan). He may be invention of author. The idea, presented in this book, of Asuras being black but cultured and Devas being fair but barbarians is not new for well read. Author has tried to present mythological landmark incidents as they realistically happened e.g. lanka dahan.
Writing style is factual but little bland in 1st half. Author has covered some major events just by mention rather than making them colourful narratives. Love-loath-hate-pity-trust relationship of Ravan and Bhadra is the soul of the book. Bhadra is participant in all the important events of Ravan's life. Character of Ravan is portrayed as human rather than rakshas. He seems clueless, often enough, to doubt his capabilities. A mere mortal.
Real twist in the tale is the revelation of Ravan-Sita relation and reason for Sita's abduction. It gives a new and unchartered perspective to the story & you start thinking on different lines. The war is good Vs evil, against castesim and untouchability.
Although 1st half of the book is slow and becoms boring at times, 2nd half is gripping. There are twists like Mandodaries abduction, Meghnad's blunders, agni pariksha, Ravan's death, 2nd vanvas to Sita that are presented in Asura perspective. Author binds you till the end. There were 2 incidents in Ramayan that I did not like when I was a child. One was the way Ram killed Vali and other was Sita's agnipariksha. Author has exploited these two incidents very well to put forth his theory.
The book is more than 500 pages long and size is larger than pocket book. If it was a pocket book, it might have been close to 800-900 pages. Reading needs time and patience.
At the end you can not help wondering that may be, just may be, it happened like this. History is always written by victors. This is the tale of vanquished told well.
A good read. Recommend reading.
Really nice review! Agree with everything that you said. Definitely worth a read, albeit a bit lengthy!
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