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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