“It will not make sense to your logical mind. You will say, a parent is a parent, whether you are father or mother. But it is not the same. I cannot explain. You have to experience it. All I know is what I feel. I feel, while there is sweetness when your son calls you “father”, there is more sweetness when he calls you “mother”.”
These are the words of Yuvanashva, a king, who has ‘conceived’ and given birth to a son, and longing to be addressed as ‘mother’. But he is never acknowledged with that, because as per tradition, only a woman can be a mother and a woman can never be a king. Faced with this dilemma, will the ‘dharma’ validate Yuvanashva’s wishes? Will society accept him the way he has come to be?
The Pregnant King is a work of fiction by Dr. Devdutt Patnaik. Though the author’s other works encompassing his research on rituals and symbols abundant in Hindu mythology are considered non-fiction, this novel of his narrates the story of the King of Vallbhi, Yuvanashva. Vallbhi was the neighboring kingdom to Hastinapur according to the ancient text Mahabharata. The events mentioned in the book chronologically go parallel to the events that happened in lives of the Pandvas and Kaurvas.
The style of writing and narration is very easy to follow, and though the plot sounds bulky, the writer has skillfully knitted every story into the narration. Another notable thing in this book is the fact that there are many places where sexual terms could have gone explicit, and in these places the symbolisms used by the author sound clever. While at times it is fun to read, at others the reader can feel his eyes moistening. This entire novel is an exquisite piece of information and philosophy that is not only understood by intellect but by the heart too.
Concluding, I’ll quote the author’s words that appear in the foreword of the book, “Did the events actually happen? Does it matter? Is it really about Shilavati, Yuvanashva, Shikhandi or Somvati? Or is it about love, law, identity, gender, power and wisdom? The impossibility of universal fairness?”
(Written for Pink Pages)
@a shallow poem
ReplyDeleteI simply loved this book! And yes, with the way he portrayed Shikhandi- I think his is the only version of her story that I would truly cherish for a long long time.
:)
O by the way- lovely blog! keep blogging you two!
-Vrinda.
Vrinda, truly said.. I too was quite amazed reading the most heartfelt portion of the book, and it was the story of Shikandi.. before I came across this story, I used to have very absurd notion about this remarkable character of epic.. whenever I heard This name, it was used in derogatory way.. I truly loved other writings on Shikhandi by Devdutt. He has done a wonderful job.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, thanks a ton for your appreciation :)
- Manas