Week 14 Reading Diary, cont.: The Missing Queen

reading: Part B of The Missing Queen by Samhita Arni (Zubaan, 2013)

After two long-ish books, it's weird that I'm already over halfway done with this one. It's going by so fast! I keep skimming ahead, though, because it's fast-paced enough that it's difficult to stop reading without knowing what's coming next.

It's starting to delve more into the stories behind the stories. Surpanakha shows up briefly and we hear her side of things -- different than what's in the Ramayana -- which seems to be a theme for this book, of introducing a secondary character and quickly giving their version of events. Surpanakha raises some interesting points about Ayodhya vs. Lanka, mainly regarding women's roles. She brings up the freedom and equality enjoyed by women in Lanka, whereas Ayodhyan women are viewed as needing protection, especially of their chastity.

And then the storyline is also delving into the political. It brings up more of the epic's backstories, like with Rama killing a large group in the forest because they "threaten" Ayodhyans who are there for rituals and other spiritual matters. There's some intriguing questions raised about how much the war just uses Sita and that whole situation as an excuse to expand the Ayodhyan empire and take out a rival. It would explain why Rama enters into a terrible war unquestioningly and then gives up his wife who he was fighting for -- it was never really about her, which in some ways just makes the story even more terrible.

 still from Sita Sings the Blues (Martin Teller's Movie Reviews)

Week 14: Review & Backup

Since it's coming up on the end of the semester and I've finished my Storybook project, I figured it was probably a good time to back up everything. :)

My favorite announcement this week was the one on Wednesday with the Harry Potter music Indian Jam. I'd never seen some of these instruments before (and was surprised to see the hammered dulcimer!), and it was cool to be introduced to new ways of making music in a fusion with familiar tunes.

I'm used to seeing hammered dulcimers in this kind of context:

musicians Ridley & Anne Enslow at an 18th-century reenactment

(Dan Little, 2012, Times Union)

Week 14 Reading Diary: The Missing Queen

reading: Part A of The Missing Queen by Samhita Arni (Zubaan, 2013)

I've heard good things about this novel, so of course I was excited to begin reading. Also, my copy is a cute little ex-library book, and the feel of a regular book after all the de-dustjacketed monographs and textbooks I'm usually reading through is so nice. :)

The beginning starts out pretty cool. The first character to meet is Kaikeyi, which is already a tip-off that this Ramayana story is going to be from a different perspective than usual. I'm still getting used to the setting, on the one hand feeling a little antiquated (with speakeasies and old films) and on the other very modern, with TV, laptops, and political debates surrounding a switch to democracy.

There's also digs at the usual epic narrative. Some are direct, with characters questioning how much of the story is told when it's told by the victors, but others, like Valmiki's officially-endorsed journalistic biography of Ram, are a little more discreet.

I thought this would read more like a mystery novel, but by the end of this first part, I'm realizing there's likely to be more violence and darkness than I expected. There's a bit of a dystopian feel right now, with the main character imprisoned under obviously not normal procedures. I might have already skipped ahead and skimmed some later scenes...definitely not the route I was expecting the plot to take, but should be interesting.

 still from Sita Sings the Blues (Coffee Coffee and More Coffee)

Week 14 Reading Diary: Breaking the Bow

reading: Part H of Breaking the Bow: Speculative Fiction Inspired by the Ramayana, ed. Anil Menon & Vandana Singh (2012)

The anthology ended on a high note -- the two last stories were excellent. "Vaidehi and Her Earth Mother" was interesting. It started out humorous, with an author whose main character has run off. Apparently she didn't like the "perfect Indian wife" roles she was assigned and completing to perfection. But then the story takes a psychological twist, ending darkly. It's unlike any of the other stories in the book, both playful and sinister. I'm wondering if the author's other work is like this, and just how much of the personal made it into the story.

"Falling into the Earth" was also pretty cool. It's another story where modern characters connect with the Ramayana as they live out their lives, but wonder if they can find different endings. This has probably been my favorite framing device after the futuristic sci-fi ones; there's so much room for authors to both build on the epic and alter it in major ways. This particular version has a sweet ending, coming out of an unhappy marriage beginning and mental illness/chemical dependence to a revision of Sita's exile after the war. It's good to end the anthology in a story where Sita finally gets a decent ending.

Rama and Sita from Sita Sings the Blues (Dharma Records)