After portraying Vishnu as a human in his first book, author Anand Neelakantan will retell the story of Mahabharata from Duryodhana’s point of view. He tells Christy Varghese that he finds creative independence when he presents lesser known facts about popular scriptures to his readers
The book is titled Rise of Kali. Tell us about your reference to the ‘dark age of kali.’
The battle of the Mahabharata marked the end of an enlightened age. In the epic itself the corruption had begun from the free world of Vedic culture where men and women of all castes and creed could be thinkers, sages or whatever they wished to be, to a rapidly rigidifying society where clergy ruled the roost.
In Chandagya Upanishad, we hear about the story of Jabali Sathyakama, the son of a prostitute, who truthfully replied to his guru, Gautama Haridrumata’s question about hisgotra that he knows only one thing, that is he is the son of Sathyakama and even about his father’s identity, he is ignorant. Pleased with the truthfulness of this bastard boy, the guru says for truth and seeking, no kula or gotra is required and Satyakama Jabali, as he is known later, becomes a great scholar.
When compared to this, the fate of Karna or Ekalavya, during the time of the Mahabharata times is bleaker. After the war, the Kali yug started for majority of the people in our country, where learning got confined to a handful of people. This fastened the decay of our country. If not for the victory of Pandavas over (Su)Duryodhana, who championed merit over kula, such corruption would not have gripped our society. Hence the name Rise of Kali.
Ajaya book one depicts, unlike popular myth, Suyodhana (Duryodhana) in a different light, a good one. Also the values of the Pandavas have been questioned. Why have you brought up this fresh perspectiveIJ
It is fascinating to observe how the same story changes when we just change our point of view. The same incidents become different, the heroes do not look so heroic and the villains does not remain as villainous. It is fun to write like that and it is education, too. Viewing things differently will help us to stay away from taking rigid positions. It is an antidote to fanaticism that is threatening to overwhelm us and help us stay tuned to our great culture. After all, there is my truth and your truth, and the real truth often gets lost in between.
Does the Ajaya series reflect your own steadfast beliefsIJ
I hold no steadfast beliefs because I am a seeker. I am a believer some times, an atheist the other minute, and an agnostic often. And the more I read our scriptures, the more I feel the sages and wise men who wrote the Upanishads and Vedas were skeptics, who never held any rigid beliefs.
Is there another sequel in storeIJ
Rise of Kali, the second book of Duryodhana’s Mahabharata, Ajaya is the concluding part of the Ajaya series.
In your first book, Asura: Tale of the Vanquished, you have presented gods like Vishnu as humans who have achieved mass public following, unlike the popular myth which attributes their following to their godly powers. What is the basis of such storylinesIJ
The godhood of Vishnu is a later day interpretation. In Rig Veda, it is clearly said that gods were created after the universe came into being. I was just going with the rational explanation given in our Vedas rather than the devotional approach of later day interpretations
You belong to a pious religious family. Did you ever face any criticism when you decided to write on such sentimental and sensitive topicIJ
Any one who is familiar with our scriptures will not have any problems in the way I am writing. My family is no exception. My writings are the product of various debates I had with my family members, friends and neighbors. Across the country, such debates are common in traditional families who have learned scriptures in our traditional method of Samvad. There are thousands of stories that have various interpretations across the country. The richness of our culture is in the way we tell our stories. The problem may be only for a generation fed by TV soap era epics which is threatening to bulldoze all other traditions into an unappealing tacky mush. Our stories are not static. They keep evolving over time.
Is there any truth in the present day interpretation of mythologies and epicsIJ
There is nothing called Absolute Truth. If the question is about historical truth, I think it is irrelevant. These stories have been in our collective memory for the past few thousand years. The historical veracity of such stories, or the lack of it, will worry only the jingoistic few who neither bother to read the stories nor try to understand it, but take the easy route of taking pride in imaginary achievement or assumed insults. There are many stories which are historically verifiable, like say Alexander’s invasion of India. But what is the impact of that fact on us is any one’s guess. A story like Ramayana or the Mahabharata, which may be difficult to verify, has many times greater relevance than any such historical events for a common man.
There is a current trend of developing a successful novel into movies. Will we see any production of the Asura or the Ajaya seriesIJ
Asura is in an advanced stage of coming into an agreement with a major Telugu producer for a film to be made in Telugu, Hindi and Tamil. I am also writing episodic stories for the forthcoming mega serial of Star TV called Siya Ke Ram, which will view Ramayana as a love story between Ram and Sita, with an importance to Sita’s point of view.
Tell us something about your fascination with mythologiesIJ
For anyone who has read, heard or experienced the stories from our mythologies, any other story will appear mundane. I am a fortunate person to have grown up in a family which is traditional and open minded at the same time, like how a true Hindu family should be. That gave me adequate exposure to scriptures and epics from an early age. It grows and develops on you.
All your books delve quite deep into the lesser known characters of our mythologies. Compared to original manuscripts, even the main characters display different shades to their character...
What is the fun in writing the same story again and againIJ If I write Ramayana with Ram or Krishna as hero, I am not adding anything to the great corpus of our literature. Better men and women have done that over centuries and in various Indian languages. It will be just a commercial venture if I do so. It is only when I am able to make the reader think along with me that I succeed as a writer and remain true to our tradition of debate and free thinking, which is Hinduism’s greatest gift to humanity.