Author Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s new book, The Forest of Enchantments takes the readers on a voyage of introspection from a woman’s perspective
At every stage of an Indian woman’s life, her name is invoked. She is portrayed as a quintessential daughter, an ideal wife and a perfect mother in various illustrations, texts, stories, and modern media. In Ramayana, there are disparate perspectives and different brushes with which people have painted the character of Sita over the years.
Author Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni has launched her novel, The Forest of Enchantments, which delves in some rare archives from the Indian epic with a new perspective.
During the launch, combining her immense knowledge of Indian mythology and the fascinating stories and events in Ramayana, the author took the audience on a voyage of retrospection from the perspective of Sita.
In this retelling, Divakaruni places Sita at the centre of the novel calling it the “Sita’s version.”
The novel is also a human story of a few other women in the epic, often misunderstood and relegated to the margins — Kaikeyi, Surpanakha and Mandodari. A powerful comment on duty, betrayal, infidelity and honour, it is also about women’s struggle to retain autonomy in a world that privileges men, as Divakaruni transforms an ancient tale into a gripping, contemporary battle of wills.
Divakaruni said, “I continued to discover myself through Sita, who for me has always been at the height of the Ramayana.”
She talked about the condition of women. She told how she wanted to show Sita’s desire to experience the world outside her confinement in a space where she only took care of her in-laws.
While the Ramayana resonates even today, the author in her book makes it more relevant than ever through the underlying questions in the novel — How should women be treated by their loved ones? What are their rights in a relationship? When does a woman need to stand up and say, ‘it’s enough.’