‘I
don’t need a man, I really don’t, not now that I am not trying to manage all
five of you at the same time, I feel like I might want one. Is that so wrong?
To
want someone to share my life with? To be in a loving, monogamous relationship?
Other people do it. Everyone, except me! Don’t I deserve to have a
chance at true love, just like everyone else?’
‘Misters Kuru’ is a fascinating and delectable read. Trisha Das really depicts what the form of retelling and imagination can do. The book pondered over the very idea of vulnerability. Trisha Das travels through time and space with her characters and resets Mahabharata in the contemporary setting, Kalyug in Delhi.
Basically, the story of this Mythological Fiction begins with searching of Draupadi and her friends, who come down to Delhi from heaven and leading an independent life here only. After getting aware about lives of ‘their’ women, Pandava brothers follow them to delhi. This book is all about a journey to convince ladies to come back to heaven. It is an outer motive though, while practicing this, Pandavas come to know about many misjudgments, suffering, and injustices, these women had faced in routine life.
In
an Interview, Trisha Das shared her motivation to write ‘Misters Kuru’, ‘I wanted to give these characters another shot at
their lives, at reshaping their destinies. So many of them were forced into
living lives they didn’t want to – being stripped of their kingdom, exiled, et
cetera. I thought it would be fun to see what kind of lives they would choose,
given the choice.’
My attraction to Trisha Das’s reimagining Mahabharata is rooted
to her potential to examine anxieties of woman life without dulling its energy.
There comes a moment where Kunti, now running an orphanage in
Delhi, confessed to Draupadi, “My dear,
the injustices you suffered from being the common wife of the Pandavas are
because of my words. Words that I refused to take back. For that, I am deeply
sorry. Let me do better now. From this moment forth, the Pandavas will have no
more claim over you. You are free, Draupadi. To belong to yourself or another.”
Amidst such chaos, I liked the comic timing in prose. Each character has soul that occupies various emotions, as love, jealousy, romance, curiosity, wit and the power of human nature.
‘The three brothers walked stoically down the road towards the building that housed Draupadi’s place of work. The road itself was a grim canal of stone, metal, flesh, fumes and assorted debris. A mass of both human and animal bodies weaved around on its sides while a mass of vehicles, emitting a mind – numbing cacophony of sound, weaved precariously around each other at its centre. Heat and dust completed the setting to present a potent picture of the Kalyug in action.
At one point even Arjuna, almost convinced and forgot about his purpose to come to Delhi, He resolved the discussion without questioning Draupadi’s choices. He decided to be supportive and give her all the space she needed.
I want to make sure, this is not The Mahabharata, if you have been expecting one, it is more like a world with flawed people. Trisha Das takes creative freedom and fabric of an epic tale, while representing it as an entertaining read. The writing is flawless and absorbing.
Adding to this, there is a moment where you found Yudhishthira being questioned for his life choices; I loved that part, where Trisha Das explored a fresh perspective and unfolded the truth of society.
‘Why
did you insist on marrying Draupadi when she was won by Arjuna?
Why
did you agree to the dice game?
Why
did you stake your kingdom, brothers and Draupadi?
Why
did you allowed Draupadi to be disrobed in court?
Why
did you love a dog more than your own brothers and wife at the end of your
life?’
‘Misters Kuru’ is an invitation to all who really want to understand lives without judging people for their life choices. This book is bold and delightful read with devouring humor. It can be your weekend read. It is published by Harper Collins India.
Reader’s Moment
He focused on her eyes. His own wary and a little wounded. ‘Why didn’t you come back to heaven?’
The
question threw her off, but she recovered quickly. After a pensive moment, she
replied, ‘I could sit here all evening and give you reason after reason.
Because I wanted to be my own person, because I wanted to help other women,
because the world has become infinitely more interesting, because I finally
found a purpose to my life that didn’t involve the men I was married to. But I
think the real reason I didn’t come back to heaven was that I was having fun
too. She tilted her head coquettishly ‘why? did you miss me?’
About Author
Trisha Das is the author of The Mahabharata Re-imagined, The Art of the Television Interview and the internationally acclaimed How to Write a Documentary Script. She has written and directed over forty documentaries in her filmmaking career. Trisha has also won an Indian National Film Award (2005) and was UGA's 'International Artist of the year' (2003).
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