Tags
bharat, book review, game of life, Rama, Ramayana, shattered dreams, shubh vilas, sita
Premise: Part II of VI Ramayana series.
Story : Post Ram-Sita’s marriage upto Ram’s departure on 14 year Exile.
Tweet version: Mythology buffs know this span includes Keikeyi’s royal tantrum, Manthara’s manipulative move, Dasaratha’s cave-in and Rama’s ‘slip-between-cup & lip’ brush with Ayodhya’s crown.
So how does this 23 word Tweet translate into 386 pages? Pretty smooth, in the able hands of Shubh Vilas. 
I liked :
1] Sparks of human emotions within exalted characters- For example Dasaratha (who feels envious & nervous when his courtiers cheer Rama’s coronation – and Dasaratha wonders if they are cheering the end of his reign!), in Rama (after he finds out Kaikeyi’s wish – ‘Here, before Sita, at last Rama dropped his guard. Every leader needs room to express his feelings. Sita was not just that space, she was a deep lake.’)
2] Rama’s angst : ‘Outside were people who expected him to lead. Inside were people who expected him to follow.’ – as he struggles to bridge the gap between being the perfect crown Prince and the perfect son.
3] Sita : Shubh Vilas justifies why he thinks original name of epic was Ramaa-ayana, story of Sita. His Sita is glorious & feisty – using logic, reason, love, pleas and even unexpected insulting taunts to convince Rama on taking her along on exile.
4] Bharat vindicated: Bharat rises above the ‘evil Keikeyi’s poor little son’ image. Here, he is subjected to gruelling tests as a potential stand-in ruler. Vasistha’s sleep test, Kaushalya’s criticism test, Bharadwaja’s accountability test and his own emotional vs logical evaluation!
5] Rama-Sita vs Laxman-Urmila: I wondered if the author will bypass the decidedly tricky latter scenario. But I was delighted that he took it chin-on.
Why Sita accompanies Rama on exile – pretty obvious. Why Urmila does NOT accompany Laxman on exile – her logic is quaint, lofty and inevitable. Read the book to find out!
6] Nuggets of knowledge & wisdom:
a} Mantra = mann (mind) + tra (control). The spinoff on Sumantra (Rama’s wise counsellor) and Manthara (Keikeyi’s evil counsellor) is a revelation.
b} The socio-politico-legal reason behind 14 years (Tretayuga) and 13 years (Dwaparyuga) exile of Rama & Pandavas respectively.
c} Myopia (short sightedness) and today’s ‘My’-opia i.e, self-centered vision.
d} A sorrow delayed can never become joy.
I reserve my judgment on…..
1] Indra’s caricature: a} Jayanta (Indra’s son) disguises as a crow to peck & harass Sita. Rama then launches Brahmastra (!!) on lil’ crow. Jayanta runs to Brahma & Shiva for help, before surrendering to Vishnu incarnation.
In actuality, as far as I know, Rama had warned Laxman against using devastating missiles like Brahmastra even in final war.
b} Ravana defeats Indra, makes him cook vegetables in his kitchen & also uses him as living staircase.
I do not possess in-depth knowledge of Ramayana, but I do suspect that Indra’s character assassination (since many centuries) has its roots dyed in unknown waters.
2] Gods vs Gods : Ravana gets 2 boons from Brahma (long life and death immunity from demiGods, sages, Gandharvas, Kinnaras, rakshasas, nagas) and gets the Chandrahasa sword from Shiva.
His son Meghnada gets 3 gifts from Shiva – science of illusion, an autopiloted chariot and an unbreakable bow.
So, should we assume that 2 of 3 Divine Trinity were pro-Ravana?
I have never understood why the above 2 keep doling out boons indiscriminately, while Vishnu & his incarnations have to clean up the resultant mess. Shubh Vilas explains that Shiva is called Ashutosh (one who is easy to please!)
3] Kekaya’s secret : Again, am not sure if this is a fact. The ‘secret’ known to Dasaratha, Rama and Sumantra … If it is indeed fact, then Keikeyi does get my share of sympathy.
What secret ? Read the book to know it!
VERDICT: Heartfelt writing, carefully etched character sketches & revelations, Management mantras all rolled into 386 pages. Worth it!
This is part of Indian Bloggers Book Reviews at BlogAdda
Read book review of Part 1 here.
Impractical Dreamer: Sweety Shinde 
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An in-depth analysis of the book… loved it… 🙂
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LoVED the analysis or the book? Just joking …Thank you, Maniparna.
I bought it at Shubh Vilas’s KempsCorner book launch (where Keyur and Jigish also turned up), and 2 days later I got another copy from BlogAdda.
Now I have 2 copies of Book 2!
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Haha..,.. 2 copies of Book 2..sounds nice.. 😀
Loved the analysis, for the time being..I’m yet to read the book..:-P
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I see . Now you know how I like my book reviews – detailed.
Hint, hint…
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Hmm… go through some of my reviews to get some hints … 😀
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I just did. You seem to be brutally honest, which is good for the discerning visitors of your blog. P.S- And so many ‘Top Indiblogger’ awards! Hmm, fingers (and toes) firmly crossed…
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Excellent review. Thanks.
Have you ever heard of a drama titled “Lankeshwaran”. Ramayana story is the same. But this one gives whole different interpretation which makes sense.
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No, I haven’t yet. Different in what way? I hope it isn’t that Inversion theory of converting good guys into evil and vice versa.
Would love to know different interpretation, though – provided interpretations are based on logic.
Please elaborate on Lankeshwaran – a fresh perspective is always welcome.
I am more Mahabharata than Ramayana fan.
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Here is how the story summary goes:
Ravana and his wife Mandodhari had a baby girl born. The astrologers told him that his destruction will be because of this baby girl and therefore asked him to kill that baby girl. But Ravana does not want to kill that baby girl. He put the girl in a box and goes underwater all the way from Lanka to Mithila and drops the box in a field. That baby is Sita. Ravana always interested in the welfare of his daughter, Sita.
The astrologers have warned if he tells the world that Sita is his daughter, his head will break into thousand pieces.
Rama broke the Janakar’s shiva danush to get married to Sita. Ravana is a great Shiva Bakhtha. If he wanted to Ravana could have broken that danush. He did not even participate in the swayamvara because that is his daughter.
When he heard Rama and Sita will be spending 14 years in forests, Ravana became distressed because his daughter will be suffering. He forcibly took her to Lanka so that she does not suffer in the forests.
I don’t know how far this is true. But this is the different interpretation in Lankeshwaran.
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Oh, I read along these lines in Ashok Banker’s Ramayana book. Quite a twist in the tale!
But Sita wasn’t in bliss in Lanka either – so how did it reduce her suffering?
Plus, the contest included lifting and stringing Shaivachapa – not breaking it. That Rama broke it is another thing (and explained by Shubh Vilas as destruction aimed at ending the calamities brought upon Mithila by that bow)
Weird- a war between FIL and SIL! Hmm, interpretations are quite fun – astep away from Kaliyuga’s MIL-DIL fights.
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Very absorbing contents of books are also quite emotional as well. Interestingly when Rama coronation preparation was going on, there were all kind of “path-pooja” was going on, all type of astrologers were predicting celestial combinations of the best, Mother kushlya was keeping fast and donating to poor… but all these activities went haywire nothing worked in favour? so what are one doing all such action of poooja?
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Ah! Very pertinent point indeed.
2 ways of looking at it – For Atheists, this is the perfect opportunity to say, God doesn’t exist or does not seem to help the good & pious.
The theists will say Rama’s 14 year exile had a ‘higher’ purpose – of destroying evil Ravana etc. So they will devise it finally as God’s higher plan to get Keikeyi to demand a wish that in turn, forced Rama into exile. Only, in that case, Keikeyi becomes part of God’s higher plan, and thus, not a traditional vamp at all!
Shubh Vilas has mentioned that Kekaya secret (if u have read Book 2) -…Are you aware if this actually exists in traditional Ramayana? I wouldn’t know, since I am a Mahabharata fanatic, not Ramayana.
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It is like you studied the book. Great review done.
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Hi Indrani, thank you! I do believe a book review should be more than copy-pasting the cover text blurb and author bio. It has to highlight its crests and troughs – and offer a neutral reader a valid reason to purchase the book.
Now that I’m on the ‘Author’ side of the world, I know the time and efforts involved. A reviewer should atleast spend 1/10 th of that time gleaning the best and worst, like churning studiously to get the butter up!
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Great analysis… Very intriguing plot and characters! Congrats & Best wishes ⭐
Aquileana ;D
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Thank you, Aquileana. I always thought Ramayana was linear and insipid. But S. Vilas does pour life into proceedings. A GOOD book is when the side characters are as fleshed out as the main characters.
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