If there is a thing called being a ‘Mahabharata Person’
then that would be me. What I mean is, that I have read the Mahabharata a
couple of times written by various authors. Till date the one written by C
Rajagopalachari is one of the best books that I have read. However for a long
time, I have been wanting to read the Ramayana, but never made an attempt to do
so, until I came across this book. The first of this six-volume series, Rise of
the Sun Prince, takes you through the divine story of Lord Rama from his birth
up to his marriage. For generations we have been passed lessons of life via
stories and mythology, where its purely upto the recipient how to interpret the
underlying message or just absorb it as entertainment. Each of these stories
have intricate layers embedded therefore spinning out multiple interpretations
and one of those is what author Shubha Vilas has used while retelling the
Ramayana.
What I love about the book is that because it is split
into multiple books, the narrative can include various sub-plots and parallel
stories. For example in the beginning the book spoke about the transformation
of the great muni Valmiki and how he was chosen to write the Ramayana.
Similarly a considerable time in the book was spent on Vishwamitra and his
journey towards attaining power or enlightenment.The core of this book focuses
of Lord Rama birth and why Lord Vishnu had to incarnate as human. His childhood
and adolescent years which he spent under Vishwamitra and their journey to
various lands, rivers etc till they reach the point of his marriage to Sita.
Now, for a person who hasn’t read the Ramayana at all,
I was not completely happy because the speed breakers introduced in the form of
Foot Notes. The Foot Notes confused the purpose of the book. There are sections
where I feel the foot notes (which are almost a page long!!) make it appear
like a self-help book, and some places it gave additional information which
could have been a part of the core story itself. It’s a big distraction from
the core story especially for new readers like me who want to what happen next.
May be the seasoned Ramayana readers might find it fascinating but not me! What
I am now looking forward hopefully in the coming editions is some light of
Ravana’s story which was introduced briefly in this book along with the action packed
drama.
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