The Forest of Enchantments – Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

 

Gifted on my birthday by my sister-in-law I was a bit sceptical to give this book a try. Having read Shivaji Sawant’s “Karnan” and MT’s ‘Randam uuzham” my benchmark for mythological revisits is set high. As expected, this book also failed to excite me, but yet despite knowing the full Ramayana story and its sub stories by heart (at least that is what I thought) this book had a certain quality that made me glued to the pages, sometimes even hoping the ending would be different for the sake of the hero of the story – Sita.

The story of Sita as an adopted baby, growing to an able daughter and princess, as a newly wed wife trying to blend with in-laws and their home, as a loyal cohort to her husband who follows him to the depths of forests, as a helpless hostage who maintains dignity in the clutches of the Asura king and as the warrior who finally finds peace at the heart of forgiveness – the story which we all are familiar is narrated from Sita’s point of view. A woman portraying another woman always does justice and covers those aspects that perhaps the original creator (He/Him) might have miss-looked. The stories are retold in a feminist style. Some aspects are unheard of, yet amusing – for example Sita is told to be conversing with the Pinaka bow before the Swayamvara.

There are some parts in the story which a married woman especially from an Indian background can relate to:

“But deep inside me someone, was it the Goddess? Said it’s important to speak your mind to the man you are going to marry. What kind of relationship would you have if you couldn’t do that”

Sita’s touch rekindled the Pushpak Viman and made it fly after Ravan’s death; many including Ram and Lakshman tried but couldn’t stir it. Ram was really impressed with this, the situation is described as follows :

“When Ram saw what had transpired, he looked at me newly, with a different, considering gaze. Even as I basked in his admiration I realized until now, he had appreciated me only for qualities that he thought as womanly – beauty, kindness, the power to heal…..but he considered them all to be domestic skills. Now for the first time he looked at me with respect, they way one might glaze and equal. It made me glow with satisfaction. At the same time though I was saddened. What I’d taken as admiration all these years had really been a kind of indulgence, the way one might praise a child for her childish achievements. The womanly skills I’d mastered were important and intricate, and by no means easy. They required deep intelligence, an intelligence of the heart. But Ram didn’t understand that. He didn’t understand the complexity of female existence”

“Earlier I’d have believed that I had the ability to alter that, to make see the world in a different way. But my hear of captivity had taught me much. I now knew that love -no matter how deep – wasn’t enough to transform another person.

 

The stories touch through not just Sita’s but Shurpanaka’s Urmila’, Kaikeyi's, Kausalya’s all lives. Overall a good read, but I give only 3 stars as it did not appeal me much from a mythological perspective. However its good to read and get the feel that Sita was just like us.

 

Memories of Fire - Ashok Chopra

This is not my first encounter with a book written by a journalist, and it reaffirms my belief that they are have a class of their own (at least the one I have read so far). This book, picked up by Amma from a book fair normally wouldn't have caught my eyes otherwise. My greatest realization after finishing the book was that Compelling my self to read this book did so much good to me.

A book surfing through Indian and Pakistani politics spanning through the times after partition; during the time before, of and after the emergency; discussing the terrains of Hindu Sikh relations of unity and later aggression; all through the eyes of 5 friends, one among which is a Pakistani. The book interweaves reality and fiction so smoothly that the line almost does not exist at all.

 

What I liked

-            The letters between these friends after years of separation, solitude, at different stages of their life – letters carrying personal as well as intellectual tidings that are a unique set of its own.

-            Vijay’s (one among the five who scores the least and is not as “bright in grades” compared to the rest) character sketch – “Fortunately even in the face of his friends clarity on their ambitions and his own lack of it, his temperament was such that his disappointment and regret was short-lived and after each bout of soul searching, he would spring back to his usual cheerful lovable self.”

-            “How right was Henrik Ibsen, the nineteenth century Norwegian playwright in saying that ‘Talent is not just a possession, it is a responsibility’”

-            How Radhe Shyam consoles his beloved Aneez when the thunder lilies she plucked and kept in a tumbler dropped within a couple of hours – A : “What did I do wrong? Maybe I didn’t pluck them the right way. Perhaps the tumbler is not deep enough to sustain them” Radhe Shyam took her in his arms to console her “No Aneez, they are the creatures of the wild and they do not thrive in domesticity. One must enjoy them where they are and never try to possess them. They do not and cannot belong to anyone”.

-            Pakistani poet Ahmed Faraz’s poem translated:

“The sun and moon are in the benign hands of God,

And yet not even a glow worm

Reached the dark homes of the poor”

-            “Those who write, paint or compose don’t so for a particular community. They are a community in themselves. They belong to the whole world”.

 

Personally, my knowledge expanse widened a little by the contributions from this book and associated readings. Also the repeated reference to the world class novel ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’ in the letters between Radhe Shyam and his friends stroked the curiosity of the reader inside me which in turn lead to my completing Gabriel Garcia’s all-time hit; that’s another review for another day 😊.

The letters between Radhe Shyam and his friends discussing politics, life, philosophy, books and what not inspired me to create a similar work in my native language Malayalam. Thus this books stands very close to my heart with numerous connections that I could adapt to my own life and hence the reason I give it a 5-star rating.  

The Great Train Journey - Ruskin Bond

This was a book I read after a short break and I particularly chose this one since its from my favorite author. A collection of short stories all involving a train journey or connected to a train in one or another. Encounters with some of the stories, as always were my second time.

There is something with Mr. Bond's writings that never fail to captivate me. In this book as well there were a number of stories (situations) to which I could totally relate to from my childhood and even from current period. For ex : the way the protagonist gets confused on how the train has made a U turn without him noticing was similar to the one I had during my journey to Delhi many years back. "He couldn't understand, the train hadn't turned of that he was certain, and it hadn't been moving backwards. He climbed out of the compartment and looked up and down the platform. Yes the engine had changed ends!". Another instance which I could relate to was the story about Daya Ram- a foolish simple person who trusted everyone around and finds it hurtful to realize the people he seemed to like so much has cheated him.

Overall a superb read with the combination of comedy, love, heartbreaks, tragedies, simpleness of childhood and beauty of the mountains. My favorite among the lot would be:

 Time Stops at Shamli - A true romantic story which reaffirmed my fan ship on the author.

 Kiplings Shimla - The best story is the last entry. I have always wondered whether its the Himalayas that I love more or Mr Bond's writing about the Himalayas. This story even includes excerpts from Rudyard Kipling's words on Shimla which makes it doubly beautiful.

All the stories and characters though may feel made up have a certain life and truth to it as if every incident and every person bears a little of the creator himself which is what makes those words special.

Definitely a recommended read for anyone trying to have a good time with a book.

Concluding the review quoting the "gems" I collected along :

"In those days I never had the patience to wait for second thoughts and so I began pulling my small suitcase."

ന്റുപ്പുപ്പാക്കൊരാനേണ്ടാർന്ന്! - വൈക്കം മുഹമ്മദ് ബഷീർ

 

ബഷീറിൻറ്റെ മാന്ത്രികത നിലനിർത്തുന്ന നോവൽ. ഇതിൽ പ്രതിപാദിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നത് വളരേ ഗൗരവമേറിയ ഒരു വിഷയമാണെങ്കിലും, ബേപ്പൂർ സുൽത്താൻറ്റെ സ്വതവേ ഉള്ള നർമ്മത്തിൽ ചാലിച്ച കഥപറച്ചിലിലൂടെ ഒരേ സമയം കണ്ണു തുറപ്പിക്കുകയും കണ്ണ് നിറയ്ക്കുകയും ചെയ്യിക്കുന്ന കഥകൾ. ആനമക്കാരിന്റ്റെ പുന്നാര മോടെ മോളായ കുഞ്ഞിപാത്തുമ്മയുടെ , കഥ. കുഞ്ഞിപ്പാത്തുമ്മയും ഉമ്മയും ബാപ്പയും പ്രതാപത്തിൽ വാണ കാലവും അതെല്ലാം പോയി തെരുവിൽ ഇറങ്ങിയ കാലവും കുഞ്ഞിപ്പാത്തുമ്മയുടെ കരളിൽ പ്രണയത്തിന്റ്റെ വേദന പടർന്നതുമൊക്കെ ചേർന്നു കുറേ കുഞ്ഞി കഥകൾ കോർത്തിണക്കി ഇമ്മിണി ബല്ല്യ ഒരു കഥ. ഖുറാനിൽ നിപുണയായ കഥാനായിക അവളുടേ ജീവിതാനുഭവങ്ങളെ പുരാണങ്ങളിലെ എടുമായി തട്ടിച്ചു നോക്കുന്നത് വായനക്കാർക്ക് രസകരമായ ഒരു സംഗതിയായി തോന്നി.

ഭാഷ ശൈലി മനസിലാക്കാനുള്ള ബുദ്ധിമുട്ടു കാരണം വളരെ ശ്രദ്ധയോടെ വായിക്കണമെന്നതൊഴിച്ചാൽ ഈ പുസ്തകം എനിക്ക് വളരെ ഇഷ്ടമായി. ബഷീർ എന്ന കഥാകൃത്തിലുപരി ബഷീർ എന്ന മനുഷ്യനോട് ഒരുപാട് ബഹുമാനം തോന്നി. അന്നത്തെ കാലത്തു സാമൂഹികമായി നിലനിൽന്നു പോന്നിരുന്ന ചില സമ്പ്രദായങ്ങൾ, പ്രത്യേകിച്ച് സ്ത്രീകളുടെ രീതികൾ - ഉദ്ദാഹരണത്തിനു "സ്ത്രീകൾ ഒരു പ്രായം കഴിഞ്ഞാൽ വിവാഹം കഴിച്ചു ഭർത്താവിനെ അനുസരണ കാണിച്ചു കഴിയുക" എന്നിവയൊക്കെ അദ്ദേഹം തൊട്ടു പോകുന്നുണ്ട്, ഒരു കണ്ണു തുറപ്പെന്നോണം. അതെ പോലെ കുഞ്ഞിപാത്തുമ്മയുടെ കരളിലെ വേദന - പ്രണയമെന്ന വികാരം - ഇഷ്ടമുള്ളയാളുടെ വിളിയിൽ പെണ്മനസ്സിൽ വരുന്ന ചാഞ്ഞാട്ടത്തെ ഇതിലും മനോഹരമായ വിവരിക്കാൻ മറ്റൊരു സ്ത്രീയ്ക്കാവുമോ എന്ന് തന്നെ സംശയമാണ്.

എന്നെ ഏറെ ആകര്ഷിച്ച കുറച്ചു കഥ സന്ദർഭങ്ങൾ ചുവടെ :

- കാറ്റ് വീശി ഇല വീണില്ല - സ്വർഗത്തിൽ സ്ഥിതി ചെയ്യുന്ന ഷാജ്‌റാത്ത്‌ മുൻതാഹാ എന്ന മഹാവൃക്ഷത്തിൽ എല്ലാ ജീവജാലങ്ങളുടെയും പേരിൽ ഒരു ഇലയുണ്ടത്രേ. കാറ്റടിക്കുമ്പോൾ ചില ഇലകൾ വീഴും, ആ ഇലയിൽ പേരുള്ളയാൾ മരിക്കും.

- ഉപ്പയും ഉമ്മയും കുഞ്ഞിപ്പാത്തുമ്മയും വീട് വിട്ടിറങ്ങുന്ന സാഹചര്യം "ലോകത്തിനൊന്നും സംഭവിച്ചിട്ടില്ല. പക്ഷെ അവരുടെ ഭൂതം വർത്തമാനവും ഭാവി പോയിരിക്കുന്നു. എന്നാലും നിലാവെളിച്ചത്തിൽ നദിയും മണൽപുറവും തെളിഞ്ഞുകിടക്കുന്നു. ആളുകൾ കുളിക്കുന്നു....മണൽപുറത്തു ചിലർ ഇരിക്കുന്നു, ചിരിച്ചുല്ലസിച്ചു വേദി പറയുന്നു. ലോകത്തിനൊന്നും സംഭവിച്ചിട്ടില്ല"