I will be honest, after reading Liberation of Sita by Volga and After
Kurukshetra by Mahasweta Devi, I could not find any better feminist
retelling of Indian Mythology. I have read many, but they all cater to
the same things with a slight, ignorable twist, which makes no sense,
and becomes, more or less, aggrandized. Three years ago, when I
finished reading these novellas, I was speechless- not only because of
its impact, but because how much Volga and Devi have said in less
than 100 pages.
I don't know how many of you have read Ramayana and
Mahabharata but I'm sure everyone is acquainted with the incident
of Sita’s abduction by Ravana and later Rama abandoning her for the
sake of ‘maryada’ and the society. Sita’s plight as a woman with no
fault and being exiled for not being chaste enough to sit beside Rama
as his queen is a known fact which society manipulates, or rather,
hides- calling it Sita’s fault for being what? A woman! Similarly, we
are acquainted with how women are doubly violated during wars,
and during one of the epic wars in history, we can understand the
vastness of their violation.
Volga has included three more women apart from Sita and Devi has
included five women who are sharing their stories after the war in
Kurukshetra is over. The three more women are Renuka Devi, Ahalya
and Urmila, who faced brutality of patriarchy too. If you have not
read the real stories of these three women, I suggest first read the
background about them and then perceive them through their own
perspectives. In After Kurukshetra, we see how how the women are
mourning the deaths of their male relatives-sons, brothers,
husbands, fathers, etc. And how the war led the lower caste women
to marginalisation, whereas some were dispossessed. They ask one
question, “Whose war is it?”
I believe that our history gives us lessons to remember and insights
to right the wrongs; Devi and Volga accosted this very idea in their
stories to show how men have been deciding women’s place in the
society, they mould it as they fit. I know there are many feminist
books we all have read but these two books have an extremely
mature way of confronting the wrongs in Indian mythology, one can
easily resonate with them and put themselves in their shoes. I have
stopped reading mythological retellings after these two books
because I don’t need any more perception on them, I have found the
rightly judged and written perspectives on the said genre.
After Kurukshetra is a collection of short stories wrapped in 50 pages
while The Liberation of Sita is a novella of 100 pages. Here lies the
genius of both the writers who were able to say so much in limited
pages and I would certainly call these two a classic. Read them and
share your experience with me, I am always up for a conversation on
books!
- Aayushi Jain