Little stories that live within big epics
What is the best feeling?
The feeling when you read a book, close it, and sit there thinking about the characters, the lines and the world you got lost in.
I recently read The Palace of Illusions and The Forest of Enchantments by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. Both the books tell the stories of our great epics – the Mahabharata and the Ramayana.
When we recall the stories of Ramayana and Mahabharata, we often celebrate the valour of the male heroes, their bravery, sacrifices and the victories. Forgotten are the women whose stories are just as powerful and whose voices deserve to be heard. In her books, Divakaruni beautifully brings the unsung women from both the epics to the forefront, allowing us to see the stories through the eyes of Draupadi and Sita.
There are so many women in our epics, who are remembered by name but rarely celebrated for their stories.
Urmila, married to Lakshmana, took on her spouse’s share of sleep for 14 years, allowing him to remain awake and serve Rama and Sita during their exile. Kaikeyi was a skilled warrior, a bold woman, and a character far more complex than the villain she is often made out to be. Kunti carried the burden of her past lives with guilt yet finds the strength to keep going through her sons. And Ahalya’s story reminds us of how easily society judges a woman without knowing her side of the story.
And then there is Sita.
What struck me was her willingness to accompany Rama into the forest, leaving behind the comfort of palace life, to be with the person she loved. She did not let society’s expectations define her choice. It made me think about how, in real life, we often worry so much about what people will say that we forget to ask ourselves what we truly want. Sometimes, amidst all the voices around us, we forget that our choices should reflect what matters to us. And Sita, in her own way, reminds us that love, too, can be a choice we make for ourselves.
Both Draupadi and Sita teach us a truth: Sometimes, even the people we love the most and cherish with all our hearts, fail to stand by us when we need them the most.
A few lines follow you long after you have finished reading. These are a few that stayed with me
From The Palace of Illusions:
“Be careful of what you say, for words have a way of becoming prophecies.”
“A situation is neither happy nor unhappy. The sorrow you feel stems entirely from your response to it.”
From The Forest of Enchantments
“A trained mind is your strongest ally—and an untrained one your worst enemy.”
“The women we barely discuss have the most fascinating stories of all. The characters we label as villains, would have their own reasons and stories. There is always another side of a story.”
You pick up a book expecting something but you put it down thinking something else… Maybe that is the magic of reading a book.