Draupadi / Yajnaseni

I am in the process of reading Mahabharatha. What makes it interesting is that I am reading 'Mahabharatha' by Rajaji, 'The Second turn' by M.T.Vasudevan Nair which is a retelling of the same from Bhima's viewpoint and 'Yajnaseni' by Prathiba Roy which again is a retelling from Draupadi's view. Obviously, there is no doubt that Mahabharath is the 'greatest story ever told'. I've always liked it when I heard the stories and Krishna still holds a hold over my thoughts as the greatest romantic hero. But Mahabharath works not just as a story but it works at different levels (that’s why it’s called an Epic, anyway!). The joy of reading these three is the difference one can find in the way things are perceived by people. The same story takes different forms and the same events are retold and the evaluation of values happens to differ for everyone.

'The Second turn' is a book I bought sometime in 1998 and it has remained one of the favorites. Bhima is always depicted as a boy who grew in the kitchen with brutal strength. In 'Second turn' M.T.V explores the emotional side of Bhima and the soft nature he posses along with his love for Draupadi. Almost everything he does is only for Draupadi and he enjoys doing it also. Second turn alludes to the fact that Bhima takes the second turn in his marriage with Draupadi after Yudhister and comes out hating it (at least in this novel). Everyone is depicted as humane as they can be and even Krishna loses His divinity and become a mortal. Draupadi has an interesting taste in having sex with Bhima and in all the instances have wild sex with blood dripping from Bhima's body. Fetishy!!

'Yajnaseni' is Draupadi's story (a translation from Oriya) and tells of her spiritual love for Krishna and infatuation with Karna apart from the love for Arjun. It has its own deviations from the other two. But this probably is the best of the three. It flows emotionally and the prose is beautiful and Draupadi comes out as a Dvaryug feminist who broke rules consistently. And the novel treats her as a human with jealousy for Subhadra, longing for Arjun. Nevertheless, it is a brilliant take on Mahabharath. Her dilemma at having to marry five husbands or her feelings for Karna or the constant flirting with Krishna tells the story of a female who was at odds with herself. She loves Arjun but also starts loving Bhima at some point in the story. Overall this is a story I enjoyed reading every page of it and it is a fascinating read.

All of this reminded me of another great take on the story of Panchali by Bharathi ('Panchali sabatham'). Is there any other poem that packs the intensity of this one? ( Erithazhal kondu vaa, thambi!!). I still remember verbatim Bhima's words after Draupadi is brought to the court. Great poem!!

And I am becoming a big fan of the New York Times real estate section. Some really amazing articles are there to read.

Readings for the lonely..

Read 'inbakkeni' by Prabanjan. I like Prabanjan because his writings are natural and does tend to speak in a voice close to heart. Especially his 'Pudhuchery history' novels ('Vaanam Vasappadum', 'Manudam vellum', 'Kanneeral kathom') and this is another one in the series. This is about a 'Devar Adiyal' or devasai girl who built a pond in a water-scarce village in Pudhuchery when it was under Krishnadevaraya's rule. The historical fact lies in a 'kalvettu' and the pond is called by her name. And Prabanjan builds a beautiful story over this and what a story it is. A simple story of love, lust and greed but the treatment is unique and the story is like seeing your former lover's name coming up in a search suddenly. You know its true but you don’t know how to react. You are happy and sad. Aayi goes through her life with detachment and loves one but marries the God to be a prostitute for the village. Now, I was actually amazed to even figure that such a system existed in our cities and villages till recently. Looking with a 21st century perspective, it seems a gross injustice but I am intrigued by the mindsets of the wives of those days. The social system that demanded it sounds more like the ancient Greek temples of Aphrodite. And by demeaning the female body/soul, the male society was able to dominate more and more in the social sphere (sound like something straight out of 'From Volga to Ganges' by Rahul Sankrityayn). But that’s what I feel anyway.

Then watched all three parts of 'Godfather'. There is something about this movie that captivates the imagination every time you watch it. It may be the ultimate combination of Brando/Pacino/De niro or the dialogues or the fantastic music or the wonderful story. Probably the third is a let down compared to others but still good compared to other. But it’s a nice movie to watch if you are alone and don’t want to feel lonely.

Then it’s 'Straight from the gut' by Jack Welch. If you want to be a 'good' manager at any point of your career, a must read. Nothing more needs to be said.

TN Elections and Sibi's Birthday..

It’s been a long holiday at Madurai. The only regret is that I didn't get to see Meenakshi this time. The day we went to the temple, the temple was closed for the 'Ther thiruvizha'. Other than that one note, everything was perfect and I get to vote for the first time and what fun it was. The booth was not crowded and there was free auto service available from parties to go to the booth and back, all of them smooth-talking and asking you to vote for their symbol and the voting process was simple and easy. The results are out now and I am happy that I took the time to go and vote.

And Sibi had his 4th birthday party on the 10th. It was not a very grand affair but just his cousins and my cousins and for a whole day, he had lots of fun. He got gifts, cut a big cake, blew candles, ran around non-stop the whole day with his cousins, Jeysri organized a few games for the kids and Sibi was happy. That’s all that’s there to it. When I used to be in high school, I used to think that birthday celebrations are too individualistic and in a country with 700 million poor people, it has no place. Well, I've changed my opinion after seeing so much of happiness in Sibi's face.

Madurai is in the middle of the Chithirai festival and Azhagar is coming to town and gets into the river tomorrow. I wish I was around to see that. But then, there is always a next year.

Sibi's Birthday..

Another weekend. I am taking off to Madurai today to celebrate Sibi's birthday on May 10th. Happy birthday, baby!. Its unbelievable that he is turning 4 now. It tells that I am getting older and he is growing fast. This year his birthday is just a family affair and he is going to spend the day with his cousins and have a very personal, family-only birthday party.

Have read 'Koogai' by So.Dharmar. Book is about the life of the lower castes in southern Tamilnadu, specifically around Kovilpatti area. Its amazing how little I know about the society even though I grew up very close. Koogai or the blind-owl is a symbol for the dalits who were tortured, the women were treated as common prostitutes and the men were treated as slaves. But it is a lively novel without the gloominess surrounding such cause espousing novels. That itself is different. It shows a lifestyle which existed yesteryears in physical form and exists now in the minds in the midst of concrete jungles. Somebody should a write a novel titled 'Rats' about that.

Currently, reading on the 'Mahabaratham' by Rajaji and rereading 'The second turn' by M.T.Vasudevan Nair, which is a retelling of Mahabharatham through the eyes of Bheema. It is interesting to read about the same events with different perspectives.