Those who dismissed modern mythology retellings as a fad have to admit that the genre is still churning out bestsellers. Apart from well-known names like Amish, Ashwin Sanghi, Anand Neelakantan, there is a steady stream of authors dipping into the epics to tell a story. In all other Indian languages, these stories were an established publishing tradition for the longest time; mythology via IWE (Indian writing in English) may be a fairly new phenomenon but the rewind has been good for business.
Principal characters from the past were the first to put their heroic foot forward. Draupadi remains a perennial favourite, brought back to life again and again: Shashi Deshpande’s And What Has Been Decided?, Pratibha Ray's Yajnaseni: The Story of Draupadi, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s The Palace of Illusions, Lakshmi Prasad Yarlagadda’s Draupadi, Veerappa Moily’s The Flaming Tresses of Draupadi and Pavan Varma’s Yudhisthar and Draupadi…
Not only are more women taking centre-stage in these retellings but even minor female characters are finding themselves presented psychologically in a display of organic feminist empathy, like in Karthika Nair’s Until the Lions.
Madhavi S. Mahadevan, who wrote The Kaunteyas from Kunti’s point of view, says:
‘The portrayal of women in mythology has often been flat, along the binary of “good” and “bad”. The result has been a kind of “silencing” via the creation of a single narrative. It makes women uncomfortable because we don't see, and probably never have seen, ourselves in this uni-dimensional way. While the feminist angle started out by giving a more authentic voice to women characters in mythology, it is now more focused on restoring agency. This is what makes it exciting.’ Madhavi’s second book in this genre, Bride of the Forest, explores the story of Yayati’s daughter, Drishadvati, whose perspective has been obscure for too long.
For many authors this excavation into the epics furnishes new angles, new nuances. Anuja Chandramouli, whose books have focused on Mohini, Arjuna, Ganga, etc., says: ‘With mythology, there is the excitement and danger quotient because you never know what you are going to unearth next in that fabled realm and who is going to take umbrage and threaten to hack your nose off because you chose to interpret the material a certain way.’
The instant connect and identifying by readers make the ancient texts more accessible in their new avatar. Kavita Kane, who has written on Sarasvati, Urmila and Ahalya among others, says: ‘Mythology is often wrongly perceived as morally conscious ancient stories and myths. These stories from the epics and ancient texts supply relatable symbols that carry the human spirit forward against human inadequacies. It is not a story of gods and goddesses but the story of Man and his human follies and flaws and his inner and outer battle against the inner and outer forces.’
Some of the sexism reversals are dramatic when retold, some are more subtle but stunning in the retrospective alternatives they offer. Like Meenakshi, a short story by Anand Neelakantan, which gives us an imaginary meeting between Sita and Shurpanakha on the eve of the former’s ashram years. Koral Dasgupta’s new novel Kunti reworks the boldness factor with contemporary sensibilities. Says Koral, who is now working on a book on Draupadi: ‘Kunti has always been called “manipulative” in mythological retellings; I think replacing the word with “ambitious” was a bold value addition against the patriarchal interpretations of her story. A queen from earth, Kunti wanted Indra, the king of the devas, as her lover. She saw through the shortcomings of her terrestrial husband, Pandu. She accepted him but refused to be restrained by the boundaries of others.’
The mythology trend may have started with pious intentions, and some may have jumped in to make hay, but our past is just too rich with fables and folklores, too relevant to modern contexts to dry up as source material anytime soon. Says poet Mani Rao, author of Sing To Me, a lyrical look at Greek legends: ‘There's no difference between mythology and folklore. Whether one thinks of mythology as revelation or invention, it is still the lore of the people. We call Ramayana and Mahabharata itihasa - i.e., history. I call them "epic-histories." Religious rituals are thus a part of the lives of the characters of people in these epics. What is a purely religious text? Even paeans to the goddess have stories embedded in it. Every god name in India has a story behind it. It is hard to make these distinctions in Indic traditions.’
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