Asura - A different perspective on Ramayana
I started reading this heavy book with little hesitancy as it was written by a debut writer. However, once I started the book, it didn't look like a book written by a new author. It is very fascinating book with good narration and correct usage of words. Mythology might not interest the current generation; however, the way this story was presented would definitely attract people of all generations.
In the past a lot of people have attempted to write stories on Ravana, the villain of Ramayana, the great epic of Hindus. However, all of them have attempted to portray Ravana as a real hero with a lot of good characters and a brave person. In this story, although Ravana is the protagonist he was not depicted entirely as a good person. Similar to everyone, he has good as well as evil within himself. In fact, some of the characters in the book are depicted better or braver than Ravana.
The story starts with the end and we all know the story of Ramayana. Still, the book is interesting and keeps the reader to wonder about the twist in the next pages/chapters. Another highlight of the story is Bhadra, a common man, who plays the role of another protagonist. We get to know Ramayana from Ravana's perspective as well as from a common man's perspective (both are different) in the same book, which makes the story more captivating.
The author tries to connect Asuras and Devas with Aryans and Dravidians indirectly. I could also sense the British theory of more civilized Indus valley civilization people who were chased by the foreign Aryans to South India. Also, a lot of political and social messages in the story appear to be relevant for the current period rather than the period of Ramayana.
When I first heard the title "Asura", I wondered why the author calls Ravana as an Asura; he was supposed to be a rakshasa. However, the reply to my question lies in the story. The author directly and indirectly explains how few characters have become Gods in the due course, who are rakshasas, etc. The best thing about the novel is that the author tries to connect all the divine incidents with some logic or scientific method - be it the appearance of Sita to Janak, the end of Sita, Agnipravesh of Sita, Rama winning Sita in Swayamvar, Pushpakavimana, etc.
Although the story is an imagination of author on why the things wouldn't have happened the other way, he twists the characters of Ram and associates to a great extent. The first half of the story appears to be based on some versions of Ramayana, although not based on the original Valmiki Ramayana. However, the other part of the story where the author explains how Rama and his associates won the battle, do not appear to be from any version of Ramayana. It seems to be me that the author is carried away by the illusion that unless he portrays Rama and his people as evil, he could not do justice to his protagonist Ravana. I feel it could have been written differently without twisting some incidents from the original Ramayana.
Overall it is a good read. My best wishes to the author to come with many such interesting books and this book to become one of the best selling books in India.
I started reading this heavy book with little hesitancy as it was written by a debut writer. However, once I started the book, it didn't look like a book written by a new author. It is very fascinating book with good narration and correct usage of words. Mythology might not interest the current generation; however, the way this story was presented would definitely attract people of all generations.
In the past a lot of people have attempted to write stories on Ravana, the villain of Ramayana, the great epic of Hindus. However, all of them have attempted to portray Ravana as a real hero with a lot of good characters and a brave person. In this story, although Ravana is the protagonist he was not depicted entirely as a good person. Similar to everyone, he has good as well as evil within himself. In fact, some of the characters in the book are depicted better or braver than Ravana.
The story starts with the end and we all know the story of Ramayana. Still, the book is interesting and keeps the reader to wonder about the twist in the next pages/chapters. Another highlight of the story is Bhadra, a common man, who plays the role of another protagonist. We get to know Ramayana from Ravana's perspective as well as from a common man's perspective (both are different) in the same book, which makes the story more captivating.
The author tries to connect Asuras and Devas with Aryans and Dravidians indirectly. I could also sense the British theory of more civilized Indus valley civilization people who were chased by the foreign Aryans to South India. Also, a lot of political and social messages in the story appear to be relevant for the current period rather than the period of Ramayana.
When I first heard the title "Asura", I wondered why the author calls Ravana as an Asura; he was supposed to be a rakshasa. However, the reply to my question lies in the story. The author directly and indirectly explains how few characters have become Gods in the due course, who are rakshasas, etc. The best thing about the novel is that the author tries to connect all the divine incidents with some logic or scientific method - be it the appearance of Sita to Janak, the end of Sita, Agnipravesh of Sita, Rama winning Sita in Swayamvar, Pushpakavimana, etc.
Although the story is an imagination of author on why the things wouldn't have happened the other way, he twists the characters of Ram and associates to a great extent. The first half of the story appears to be based on some versions of Ramayana, although not based on the original Valmiki Ramayana. However, the other part of the story where the author explains how Rama and his associates won the battle, do not appear to be from any version of Ramayana. It seems to be me that the author is carried away by the illusion that unless he portrays Rama and his people as evil, he could not do justice to his protagonist Ravana. I feel it could have been written differently without twisting some incidents from the original Ramayana.
Overall it is a good read. My best wishes to the author to come with many such interesting books and this book to become one of the best selling books in India.
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