Reader Ritu writes on her Blog:
I had heard good things about Ashok K. Banker’s six-book Ramayana series, and since I had to travel to Chandigarh and back one day, I bought the first two books of the series and settled down to read on the way. Let me tell you, its very rarely that a person like me who would even read labels and ingredients on bottles and the print on paper bags made out of newspapers gets easily impressed. But the talented writer has written a good tale – perhaps better than the blurbs. As Banker himself says in the introduction, this is not a translation of Ramayana. He is retelling the story in his own way or rather re-interpreting it.
Prince of Ayodhya, the first book in the series, deals with the ruling family and the court of Ayodhya. It is a coming of age kind of tale. The young prince Rama’s routine life is altered when the Brahmarishi Vishwamitra comes to Ayodhya to request Dasharath to send Rama with him to his ashram and destroy the rakshasas who hamper the daily activities of the sages and brahmins there. Lakshman insists that he will accompany Rama. Both the brothers are given incredible gift of brahman shakti, and taught how to use dev astras.
What I loved about Prince of Ayodhya is the characterization. Each character has been fleshed out and a lot of detail has been woven in. Banker really must have slept, lived eaten and dreamt Ramayana before starting to write. A lot of thought and effort has been invested in all the major characters, and many new ones have been have been added, enriching the story. Each individual is complex and multifaceted, having believable motives which at times clash. Rama is portrayed as a normal human, just like you and me, someone we can connect and empathise with unlike the the insipid Rama of the TV series, and the mythical Rama of the Valmiki or Kamba Ramayana. And Ravana and Srupnaka are present from the first chapter itself, which adds to the excitement.
Actually the relationships add to the convincing portrayal of the tale. Dasharath is convincing as the aging hedonist. His three wives, so different from each other, the elegant and graceful strength of Kausalaya, the greedy and grasping nature of the warrior queen Kaikeyi, the doe like beauty and purity of Sumitra and their relationships with each other. The love and camaraderie shared between the four princes, the special bond between Rama and Lakshmana and also between Bharat and Shatrughan are so believable.
Oh, how could I forget the description of the hybrids of Tataka and the battle which forms the climax of the book. Amazing!
The pace does not falter, and the book is engrossing. Every Indian is familiar with the tale but one never feels bored. The book is gripping. After a long time I have come across a book that justifies the clichéd term on the blurbs “SIMPLY UNPUTDOWNABLE”
