Review of ‘The Girl Who Chose’ – Devdutt Pattanaik
‘You are bound by rules, but not I. I am free to
choose.” – Sita.
Sita, the avatar of Goddess Lakshmi, has chosen to
tell her story and about the choices she made. These choices in turn decided
her fate and that of the ones around her. The age old story of Ramayana has
been retold and that too from Sita’s point of view. Ram, her husband and the
incarnation of Lord Vishnu, was maryadapurushottam, which means that he was
bound by rules and had no right to choose for himself. Ravana on the other hand
was complete opposite and disrespected rules or anyone else’s choices. Thus,
the story of Ramayana depended on the five choices of Sita since there were
five major decision points in her life where she was free to decide what she
could do. It leads you to believe that has Sita made different choices at even
one point, the story of Ramayana would have turned out very differently.
Devdutt Pattanaik, the master of mythological stories,
along with his heart-cuddling illustrations has woven a tale which makes
everyone sit up and notice the life of Sita. The journey and transformation in
the story told and retold all across India and carried abroad has been detailed
beautifully. The little snippets of useful information, background, meaning and
basis of the content in context is helpful and enlightening. The simple
language and flow makes the tale endearing to little ones as well as grown-ups.
The portrayal of all the characters is limited bound perfectly without leaving
out any useful details.
The author raises some questions which boggle your
mind, like was the Western story of Hansel and Gretel, who leave breadcrumbs
behind to find their way back, was inspired by Sita throwing her jewelry to guide
Ram to herself in Lanka? Had Surupnakha thought Sita to be a raakshasi as she
too was accompanied by two make escorts just like raakshas ladies did back
then? Was Ram still a maryadapurushottam when he killed Vail (Sugreev’s twin
brother) from behind even when he was not the one fighting him? These questions
lead to you really ponder.
Pattanaik also compares the various versions of
Ramayana right from the Valmiki’s Ramayana to the present day depictions
immortalized into our minds via Ramleela plays, TV series and motion pictures. For
example, the story of Shabri feeding tasted berries to Ram had no mention in
the original version and was just added a few centuries back. There are other
such comparisons which make you wonder about the authenticity of the story. Various
anecdotes are inserted along with the charmingly done illustrations which makes
you understand the concepts better.
My Take: After reading the book (more looking and
reading) I felt as if this was the closure to the Ramayana which I was waiting
for since long. It had answered many of the questions in my mind and made me to
believe the tale better. I beg to you to please go and get multiple copies of
this book because you’ll want to share it with others too without sacrificing
your copy because, as endearing as the book is, believe me when I tell you that
you won’t want to part with yours.
Book courtesy: (Vivek Tejuja) Flipkart Blogger Review
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