Book of Essays on Tradition of Retelling Ramayana, now free-to-read online!
Many Ramayanas: The Diversity of a Narrative Tradition in South Asia, a collection of scholarly essays edited by an author named Paula Richman is available free-to-read online.
The book was published in 1991 and I’ve read it before as well as referred to it in my Author’s Introduction to the Indian edition of my Ramayana series. It’s a fascinating collection of diverse essays on the tradition of retelling the Ramayana over and over again, with drastic, often amusing variations, in various languages and cultures of South Asia.
If you have any interest in the Ramayana and this tradition of retelling, you’ll enjoy it very much.
Oh, and here’s an interesting footnote. Apparently, this book is on the curriculum of Delhi University and recently a political group took strong objection to the book, citing is as being offensive to majority sentiments. So if you like your books controversial as well, there’s another reason to check it out.
I personally think the controversy is more about the book being on the curriculum, and the fact that it’s edited by a foreigner, and has essays by several other foreigners, than about its actual contents.
It’s true that some essays, like the one by Ramanujan, have a somewhat ironic tone that could be misinterpreted as ‘offensive’, and that there is a very fine line between mockery and irony sometimes, and that epics like the Ramayana in particular and Hinduism in general seem to be favourite whipping boys of academics and mediapersons.
But I only mention these facts because it led me to find the text of the book online, and free-to-read, and that’s much too good an opportunity to be passed up!
So check it out at the link above or below, and read about the tradition of retelling the Ramayana by authors other than a certain AKB.
MYR Teaser back on YouTube
Watch the MYR teaser on YouTube now.
And here it is, as promised.
The link to the first MYR (Maha Yoddha Rama) teaser trailer, currently featured on YouTube. Remember that this is just a teaser trailer which gives you no details of the story, the cast, nothing else.
It’s just a brief scene showing Ravana before he acquired all his famous powers, ten heads, etc, at the end of his long bhor tapasya when Brahma appears before him and asks him what he desires.
The teaser is deliberately made with a washed-out monotone look to contrast with the vivid colour and detail that follows immediately after. It’s intended to serve purely as a ‘teaser’ and you will still have to wait to see the second ‘proper’ trailer which will be released next month.
But meanwhile, here it is, in a low-res version on YouTube, but still here nevertheless, available to everyone everywhere to see, share, and comment on.
Enjoy!
Note: MYR is not based on my Ramayana series books. It is an original screenplay offering a fresh interpretation of the Valmiki Ramayana for the medium of animation.
Epic India Groups and Forums to restart soon
Those of you who were members of my Epic India Discussion Group will recall our provocative, informative, and enjoyable email discussions on Indian culture, mythology, history, and related matters.
For the past year or so, I had to suspend the group due to my work commitments. But requests for the group to be restarted have never stopped, and I’m finally giving in to popular demand and resuming the group from April 2008.
If you wish to apply to join or rejoin the group, just click on the Yahoo Groups button below. Please wait at least two weeks for your membership to be approved, as I’ll be managing the group myself and will only start approving memberships in late March. Thanks, and look forward to seeing you on the EI Group!
Link removed: See the post above for new instructions on joining the group–or visit the Readerswrite Page.
SLAYER OF KAMSA: Book 1 of The Krishna Coriolis will be out next month (October). Written in a pacier style than my Ramayana Series, this short impactful book details the rise to power of the monstrous Kamsa and his brutal campaign to thwart the birth of the prophesied 8th Child. 