I just lost my favorite snack to a nation-wide ban/company recall, Ram
Gopal Verma's staunch support for Maggi notwithstanding. And this got me
thinking. What is the one thing from childhood that I can’t ever do without?
The answer, dear readers, is reading a
book seeped in mythology. I have always loved the myriad mythological tales that
every Indian worth a sane grandmother can be proud of, with some able support
from Uncle Pai and his weapons of mass attraction - the Amar Chitra Katha
series and Tinkle. In the process I have grown to love Mahabharata, Jatarka
Tales, Panchatantra, et all! All save one - the Ramayana.
The shortest epic of them all, in spite
of comparisons to Iliad (or Odyssey, if you may) has been to me more of a never
ending TV show that was better left unwatched on Doordarshan or anywhere else
it’s even worse dubbed version was playing.
If Mahabharata was 'The Lord of the
Rings', Ramayana was merely the cupboard to the world of Narnia, or for that
matter the rabbit hole of 'Alice in Wonderland'. Something that, while doing
nothing by its own, simply made you enjoy what was to come later.
In fact, I had almost lost hope of ever
falling in love with an Indian origin mythological book till I found out about
a distinguished gentleman called Amish while coincidentally reading a book by
Jodi Picoult on the same subject - The Plain Truth (to be dealt in a later
post, provided I don't get any death threats or worse Candy Crush requests!)
By the time I had completed 'The
Immortals of Meluha' and the other two books of the Shiva trilogy, I was
eagerly awaiting Amish's next. Not just because the series was a heady mix of
sound research, racy storytelling, impeccable yet easily understandable
English, and that rare quality that makes fiction timeless - imagination,
but also because Amish showed incredible promise. I could not wait to read his
next!
Which is why I felt almost dejected
when I heard that he was going to work on the
Ramayana next. 'What in the name of Lord Ram was he thinking?' Or so
I thought until I saw the book trailer which looked nothing like anything
Ramanand Sagar had ever done. 'Could this book be judged by its cover?' I
wondered, even as I began to read the 3rd chapter of the book courtesy some
very powerful connections (BTW, the sample chapter is also available for a free
download on Amazon).
I have been full of nervous excitement
ever since. For this isn't Ramayana. This is so much more! Every single thing
that made his previous series a delight to read has been magically amplified in
this one with one more thing added - incredible detailing. If you think you
know this story in and out, you will be in for a pleasant shock! Nothing is
like anything in 'The Scion of Ikshvaku'. Here the story literally flies off the
pages aided by a spirited quartet of narration, action, art design & set
decoration, and costume design. If this was turned into a screenplay of a
Hollywood film, the chapter by itself would have walked away with multiple
Oscars!
If a chapter can hold so much promise,
how will the book be? I don't think we really have any doubt about the answer
to that, do we? All I can say is that this book deserves to be read. No wait -
it deserves to be binge read till the wee hours of dawn, along with a bowl
of whatever will take over the space now left vacant by the disappearance of
Maggi!
I have already pre-ordered the book and
I strongly suggest you do too. The presence of MSG and lead finally made our
favorite snack seem like a hardened criminal. Don't let preconceived notions
‘lead’ you into believing that you might just be better off watching the film,
many years later. Read the book - NOW - and pray that Westland publishes the
next in the Ramachandra series
soon...
Watch the trailer here:
