Draupadi - Koral Dasgupta

Draupadi, The Sati Series lll - Koral Dasgupta 

Well, I began reading the book, slow paced, a long time ago and leapt into finishing the book, carried away by the spectacular narration.

Draupadi, Panchali, Yagnaseni, Krishnaa, multiple names referring to the same person, yet way to different to be attributed as the same. The woman behind the mighty Pandavas was a glory herself. 

The story picturizes Panchali's childhood, her bonding with her family, especially with her father King Drupad and her sister-turned-brother Shikhandini. Being a girl from a royal background, Draupad's daughter was not indifferent from any other adolescent girl, was easily intimidated.

Her longing for Arjun, her complicated marriage with the five brothers, her weird relationship with her mother in law, are well traced till their journey back to Hastinapur.

But the ultimate blow up was to come with the way the author has narrated the whole incident of the game of dice and it's after comings! Like, I would recommend the book for just that plot, trust me!

The story lingers from time to time, once you're reading Draupadi's childhood and the next immediate moment you're at Indraprastha, later you find yourself reading some episode from the Kamyak forest. You'll see Draupadi's affection towards Devavrat, her connection to the palace of illusions, her bonding with her mother in law, her attitude towards Karn, her love for Arjun, her concern for Abhimanyu and other Upapandavas, her fear for Takshak and many more.

I loved everything about the book! No more words...

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Read for life!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

We were never meant to be - Palle Vasu

Image
We were never meant to be - Palle Vasu Yet another round of excellent storytelling, but reading this was somewhat unusual. The entire set of events were excellently planned, each character had cast some essence in the background, since only three character were in the foreground; Vikram, Anika and later Mathura.  The story begins with Vikram's silly teenage infatuation towards Anika, her being unaware of it. With him assuming something, reality being some other thing, his life became a complete mess. He continues the same foolishness even after being an adult, well let me think if it's foolishness in the first place! After a long debate, I concluded it is dumbness indeed :) While the story goes on, I couldn't make out what was in Anika's mind, was she doing things deliberately without thinking about its consequences or was it really out of no concern. Nor could I make out what Vikram actually wanted from her, just her saying that she loved him or actually ta...
Read more

ಹೆಣ್ಣೆಂದರೆ...?!

ಮನುಷ್ಯನೆಂದಮೇಲೆ ವಿವೇಕ, ವಿಚಾರ, ವಿವೇಚನೆ ಅನುಭವ ಎಲ್ಲದರಲ್ಲಿಯೂ ವೈವಿಧ್ಯತೆಯನ್ನು ಕಾಣಬಹುದು. ಓರ್ವನಿಗೆ ಸರಿ ಎನಿಸಿದ ವಿಷಯ ಉಳಿದೆಲ್ಲರಿಗೂ ಒಪ್ಪಿಗೆ ಆಗಬೇಕೆಂತೇನಿಲ್ಲ. ಪ್ರತಿಯೊಬ್ಬ ಮನುಷ್ಯನಿಗೂ ತನ್ನದೇ ಆದ ಒಂದು ದೃಷ್ಟಿಕೋನವಿರುತ್ತದೆ, ಅದರ ಅನುಸಾರ, ಆತ ಜಗತ್ತನ್ನು ನೋಡುವ ಪರಿ ಉಳಿದೆಲ್ಲರಿಗಿಂತ ಭಿನ್ನವಾಗಬಹುದು.  ಅಜ್ಜಿ ಮನೆಗೆಂದು ಹಳ್ಳಿಗೆ ಬಂದಾಗ, ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಕಮ್ಮಿ ಅಮ್ಮನ ವಯಸ್ಕಳಾದ ಗೌರಿಯನ್ನು ಕಂಡೆ. ಅಮ್ಮನೊಂದಿಗೆ ಶಾಲೆ ಕಲಿತವಳು ಆಕೆ, ನೆರೆಮನೆಯವಳೇ. ಸುಮಾರು ೪೬-೪೮ ವಯಸ್ಸು. ಗದ್ದೆ, ಕೊಟ್ಟಿಗೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ದುಡಿದವಳು. ಗಟ್ಟಿಗಿತ್ತಿ. ಚಿಕ್ಕಂದಿನಿಂದಲೂ ಪರಿಚಯವಿದ್ದರಿಂದ, ಸಲುಗೆಯಿತ್ತು. ನನ್ನನ್ನು ಕಂಡವಳೇ ಓಡಿ ಬಂದು ತನ್ನ ಮನೆಯತ್ತ ಕರೆದೊಯ್ದಳು. ಕೆಲಕಾಲ ಆಕೆಯೊಂದಿಗೆ ಮಾತನಾಡುತ್ತಾ, ಹಾಗೆಯೆ ಕೇಳಿದೆ, "ನಿನ್ನ ಪ್ರಕಾರ ಈಗಿನ ಕಾಲದ ಹೆಣ್ಣು ಮಕ್ಕಳು ಹೇಗಿರಬೇಕು, ಯಾವ ನಿಲುವನ್ನು ಹೊಂದಿರಬೇಕು?" ಆಕೆಗೆ ಆ ಪ್ರಶ್ನೆಯನ್ನು ಅರ್ಥೈಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳಲು ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಸಮಯ ಬೇಕಾಯಿತು. ಬಳಿಕ ಉತ್ತರ ಕೊಡುವ ಬಗೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಆಕೆ ಮಾತನ್ನು ಶುರು ಮಾಡಿಕೊಂಡಳು. "ಹೆಣ್ಣು ಅಂದ್ಮೇಲೆ ಒಳ್ಳೆ ಗುಣವಂತೂ ಇರ್ಲೇಬೇಕು. ಮನೆಗೆಲಸದಲ್ಲೆಲ್ಲಾ ಚುರುಕಾಗಿ ವ್ಯವಹರಿಸಬೇಕು. ಚಿಕ್ಕಂದಿನಿಂದ ಒಂದು ಚೌಕಟ್ಟಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಬೆಳೆಯಬೇಕು . ನೀನ್ ಕೇಳಬಹುದು, ಆ ಚೌಕಟ್ಟು ಹೇಗಿರಬೇಕೆಂದು?  "ನೋಡು, ಮನೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಹೆಣ್ಣೊಂದು ಹುಟ್ಟಿತೆಂದರೆ...
Read more

The Palace of Illusions - Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Image
The Palace of Illusions - Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni  Just as I was yearning for it, I could read the great epic 'The Mahabharata' through the lens of a royal woman, Panchaali . When it comes to lengthy chronicles such as this one, various writers come forward with their own touch to the storyline, each one I've come across being the best one. Here, the author has put forth the tale through the words of Draupadi, the woman who married the five Pandava brothers and is regarded as one of the Panchakanyas (along with Kunti, Tara, Ahalya and Mandodari). The narration begins from the yajna scenes, from which both Dhrishtadhyumna (addressed by her as Dhri) and Draupadi came into the earth. Later, the atmosphere of Kampilya (the capital of Panchaal), which she found suffocating initially, was described as though it lacked the usual charm any wealthy Kingdom possessed. In a nutshell, Draupadi found her childhood a boring one, except for the company of her only brother...
Read more