JAYAM MAHABHARATHAM ORU MARUPARVAI (Jayam Mahabharatam A Re-examination) -- Devdutt Patnaik -- Tamil translation by Charukesi (Vikatan Prachuram, 757, Anna Salai, Chennai 600 002; 2011; 496 pages; Rs. 160)
Balancing between logos and mythos, Devdutt Patatnaik has allowed the equilibrium to be favourable to the latter. His strength is not only his ability to gulp down large chunks of our cultural heritage but also a penchant for making line drawings and hurricane around as the Chief Belief Officer of the Future Group. So many facets to the Science of Management!
Amazingly prolific even in this era of computers and cut-and-paste culture, Devdutt is the delight of the omnivorous reader. ‘Jayam…' is a tribute to the thousands of story-tellers who have given us new versions of the original story of a fratricidal war. Rich in branch-stories, Vyasa's epic has sustained and survived centuries of retelling, as proved by Devdutt. His version has a crystalline flow. In Charukesi's effortless Tamil, I could be a teenager listening to my grandmother in the twilight of a vanishing day on the pial of our village on the banks of Tamirabharani.
Tidbits from other versions dot the substantial production. Like the five villages Krishna asked for the Pandavas: Paniprastha (Panipat), Sonaprastha (Sonepat), Dilprastha (Dilpat), Vrikshaprastha (Baghpat) and Indraprastha (Delhi). Khazi Nasrul Islam has written lyrics for Manoranjan Bhattacharya's drama, ‘Chakra Vyuha'. The importance of the ninth night of the War. The Indonesian fable of an asura hidden inside King Salya's body. The tale of Angaraparna and Kumbinaasi.
Never a non-fable moment in this delectable reservoir of a familiar tradition. Three cheers!
