The age-old epic has been given a brand new, albeit sexual, interpretation in this new book

Ramayana reloaded

The age-old epic has been given a brand new, albeit sexual, interpretation in this new book

THE Ramayana seems to be the flavour of the season. After Mani Ratnam gave his own interpretation of the tale a celluloid twist, author Ram Verma gave the age-old storyu00a0-- revered in Indian householdsu00a0-- a quirky interpretation in his new book.

The book cover

In Ramayana: Reconsidered recreated, Ram Verma talks of a different Ram. As a child, the author was deeply moved by Ramacharitmanas rather than Valmiki's Sanskrit epic. As he says: "To me reading Valmiki's Ramayana/As it existed today was a pain/There are exaggerations galore".

It is these exaggerations that Verma has tried to deal with in his version. To him, Ram is not god, rather he is a valiant king, a husband, a son and above all, a human being with emotions. This is the story of Ram before he was given the status of god.

The book is laced with sexual innuendos. He traces this to the original text and explains in the Prologue: "Shocked, bemused and often bedazzled/By their pervasive sexual imagery." He also highlights the plight of women in those days and so makes Sita say: "As if I was a trophy, not a woman" when king Janak decides to give her hand to whoever wins her in a swayambhar.

He goes on to criticise Ram for making Sita go through agni pariksha: "They called Rama maryada purushottam/Yet made him perform such deeds/Defend false mores of a wife's chastity."

Written in flowing verse, the book is indeed captivating and gives the reader a chance to interpret the age-old text from a new angle.u00a0 The illustrations and designs have been done by Vandana Sehgal, the author's daughter and are pretty good. Overall, a good read.

Publisher: Rupa & Co.
Price: Rs 995