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Book Review - Ramayana The Game of Life - Shattered Dreams




The much delayed blog is up and once again it’s a book review. There is so much happening in life like being a rookie mom, the joy of watching your child grow up and master a new activity each day, working with the same efficiency and finding answers to what next on career front. In between these hussle bussle sometimes, in order to switch off I need a book to take me into a parallel world where I don’t need to take play any active role but just be a silent spectator.This time it was Ramayana –Game of life -Book 2 Shattered Dreams Happy Reading.
In any story there is an epic moment, which twists the course of the story, the character sketches and the series of events that follow.Had that event not occurred, the story which followed wouldn’t have taken place. One such moment in Ramayana is the time when Rama gets banished for a 14 year long exile by his step mom. Had he not been banished, he might have not crossed paths with Ravana and the mighty may not have been defeated. May be, lets just assume that for the moment. That evening before Rama’s coronation, is what sets rest of the events into motion. This book takes us through that journey of what conspired Rama’s exile.
Its 12 years post Rama and Sita’s marriage and everything seems to be picture perfect. The book opens with Dasharatha witnessing unsettling dreams that makes him nervous and suspicious that troubled times may be round the corner. He eventually expresses his desire to crown Rama to which everyone is joyous. Manthara who is Kaikeyi’s maid servant, decides to end the celebrations by seeding selfish thoughts into Kaikeyi’s mind, which lead her to claim the two boons  that Dasharatha had long ago granted her. On the eve of the great event, Kaikeyi claims the succession be passed to her son Bharata and Rama to be exiled into wilderness for fourteen years, which would be enough time for Bharata to consolidate his position as the king. Rama willingly accepts these reluctant orders from this heartbroken father and leaves for the forest along with Sita and Lakshmana. Post his departure, Dasharatha, unable to bear the grief, passes away and Bharata refuses to accept the throne. However, Bharata carries Rama's sandals,and keeps them on the throne, while he rules as Rama's representative.
The thing with Indian epics is that wisdom, values,qualities basically essentials of life are imparted using the mode of storytelling. Hence every time you hear one of them, there can be multiple interpretations and different take-aways. This phase of the Ramayana reflect on the intricate harmonies that human relations play and the author has depicted those with all honestly. The narration sticks to the story line with sufficient details to make the book a quick read, where you don’t need to go back and forth. However, like the earlier book, I found the foot notes to be distracting the story telling process but to be honest it did have some rich interpretations. So this time, I read the foot notes once I finished reading the story. A good read with a quick view the epic drama which also doubles up into the self-help category. I am not a big fan of self-help so that part didn’t excite me much.
Happy Reading!!
Thank you Blog Adda for sending me a copy of this wonderful book.
This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!

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