Title:Asura-Tale of the vanquished.

Author: Anand Neelakantan

I have been feeling fortunate to have read some very profound and tasteful literature in past few months.  The fact that seventy-five percent of them were Indian makes me even happier.  

For the last couple of years, Mythology has caught my attention. Devdutt Patnaik, led the way for me by bringing very profound ideas and insights from the stories we already know and then I laid my hands on Amish’s Shiva Trilogy. After reading Shiva trilogy, I was quite mesmerized by the quite human side of the story and was convinced that it was difficult to top .

Then on my B’day, a dear friend gifted me—“Asura—Tale of the vanquished”, and it has forced me to change my opinion.

The book is about the Demon and Antagonist, Ravana, in the story of Ramayana, pleading to hear his side of the story. He justifies this by saying that world over only Victors are glorified and their story is told.  Victors are marked as torch-bearers of good, while losers are marked as harbingers of evil, but can we so simply declare one side good and other evil by simply knowing one side of story.

And then the story starts with 2 main characters-Ravana  and Bhadra. Ravana is a wretched poor, half Brahmin-half Asura teenager who dreams of becoming a king and achieve much more than he or anyone around him can imagine , while Bhadra is a poor farmer Asura, who loses his family in a raid by Devas and joins Ravana’s troops to avenge his family’s murder.

The story goes on explaining various happenings, how Ravana becomes king,  how he behaves, what circumstances led to war with Rama and what finally led to his fall.

Some of the highlights in this meticulously written epic are

n  The author has not tried to glorify Ravana or vilify Rama, but has shown how former was more human while latter tried more to be a god.

n  The author has stripped the epic of Ramayana of all magic, gods and divinity while bringing it down to a human level, explaining everything with logic and helping us connect more.

n  Rather than focusing on Gods and Demons, author has focused more on how a common man struggles no matter if it is the rule of a Ravana or the rule of a Rama. He underlines the ubiquitous fact again and again that between the whims and fancies of rulers, it is the common man who is grinded.

n  Story has been immaculately weaved and each event in original epic is described, although in different shade and light.

n  There’s only one downside to this book, the story becomes a little gloomy in the middle. (May be we are more accustomed to the magical good trumps evil version.)

The character of Ravana is quite believable. Author has shown all his strengths and vulnerabilities. He has shown his Demon (Rakshasa) side clarified that he was not a demon by default.  Ravana has been described as the man who dared, who dreamed to break away the social norms and achieve more than he was destined, who wanted to control his world, who was ready to fight and stake the future of his own race for his own vainglory.

We are no demons, but we are no Gods either. On a broader scale, we all might have different aspirations, but somewhere in the core we all want same. We all want to be the One who the world can admire and be the one how can enjoy luxuries in life. There’s a little bit of both in us and this book invokes this very feeling when you are done reading.

Excellence Meter—4.5/5 –Excellent Read.

Cheers.. ;)

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PS: Not for those who strongly believe Ram was God and are not comfortable reading or hearing anything outside their religious realm.

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