Title: Rise of Kali: Duryodhana's
Mahabharata
Title Series: Ajaya #2
Author: Anand Neelakantan
Published by: Platinum Press
Published on: July 29th 2015
Format: Paperback
Rating: 2 stars
Summary:
"THE MAHABHARATA ENDURES AS THE GREAT EPIC OF INDIA. While Jaya is the story of the Pandavas, told from the perspective of the victors of Kurukshetra, Ajaya is the tale of the Kauravas, who were decimated to the last man.
From the pen of the author who gave voice to Ravana in the national bestseller, ASURA, comes the riveting narrative which compels us to question the truth behind the Mahabharata.
THE DARK AGE OF KALI IS RISING and every man and woman must choose between duty and conscience, honour and shame, life and death…
The Pandavas, banished to the forest following the disastrous games of dice, return to Hastinapura.
Draupadi has vowed not to bind her hair till she washes it in the blood of the Kauravas.
Karna must choose between loyalty and gratitude, friend and Guru.
Aswathama undertakes a perilous mission to the mountains of Gandhara, in search of the Evil One.
Kunti must decide between her firstborn and her other sons.
Guru Drona has to stand with either his favourite disciple or his beloved son.
Balarama, having failed to convince his brother about the adharma of violence, walks the streets of Bharatavarsha, spreading the message of peace.
Ekalavya is called to make the ultimate sacrifice to uphold a woman’s honour.
Jara, the beggar, sings of Krishna’s love while his blind dog, Dharma, follows.
Shakuni can almost see the realization of his dream to destroy India.
As the Pandavas stake their claim to the Hastinapura throne, the Kaurava Crown Prince, Suyodhana, rises to challenge Krishna. As great minds debate dharma and adharma, power hungry men prepare for an apocalyptic war. The women, highborn and humble, helplessly watch the unfolding disaster with deep foreboding. And greedy merchants and unscrupulous priests lie in wait like vultures. Both sides know that beyond the agony and carnage the winner will take all. But even as gods conspire and men’s destinies unfold, a far greater truth awaits"
The author has turned such a great epic into a horrid Retelling.
The story started with Draupadi being dragged from her chambers to the sabha where the unspeakable cheerharan takes place. And the events directly leading after that. Minor characters like Ashwathama are given importance. We get to see Gandhar and their culture which has escaped from the real mahabharata mythology. Dear old Karna always held a soft spot in my heart. Though reading Duryodhana's Mahabharata didn't do justice to him as a character. I know that Mahabharata is about taking the right path. A battle between Dharma and Adharma. But reading the story it was getting a bit drag that the word Dharma kept popping up every tenth sentence. I am a huge fan of Indian Mythology but this book was just wasn't for me. A BIG FAT NO. NO.
I am sorry. I really really really tried loving, liking.... after a while bearing this book but naah I couldn't come to love it. I felt the author was in hurry to finish the story because the ending didn't sit well with me.
And the line "Ekalavya is called to make the ultimate sacrifice to uphold a woman’s honour" in the summary- I think is quite misleading.
And my another which caught my eye was I felt every women shown in this retelling is either oppressed or hysterical or just mentally subdued or shown as power hungry. I mean c'mon the whole time reading this book all I felt was 'Man, Draupadi sounds like a mad hysterical women'. Not a pretty picture.
That is all I could think right now. And probably I will recommend this book to only those people who are new to reading and have lot of time in their hand to actually get into the plot introduced by the author because sure as hell the author wasn't able to entice me into this story.
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