Popularly perceived as the pure and sacrificing, feminine reflection of Rama, Sita takes centre stage in a patriarchal world in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s new novel, The Forest of Enchantments . “I set quill to leaf. In red ink I began to write – in crooked, effortful lettering because it had been so long since I’d composed anything – the Sitayana,” reads an excerpt from the book. Set amidst the boundaries of the Ramayana, but traversing far beyond, Divakaruni writes through the eyes of Rama’s beloved, Sita.
Contemporary resonance
Eleven years after the release of Divakaruni’s novel, The Palace of Illusions, which retold the Mahabharata through Draupadi’s perspective, the author tackles Valmiki’s vision to make it relevant for contemporary times. It took Divakaruni over three years to complete the book after getting past her initial fear of taking on a rather exhaustive task. She says, “I continued to discover myself through Sita, who for me has always been at the height of the Ramayana.” The preliminary idea to play with the narrative of the epic had been simmering in her mind since the past ten years.
To recreate an epic whose story has been passed on for generations, was no mean feat. It was while writing, that Divakaruni decided to flesh out her female characters with more complexity, making them powerful and relatable. Strong, and empathetic. “You haven’t understood a woman’s life, the heartbreak at the core of her joys, her unexpected alliances and desires, her negotiations where, in the hope of keeping one treasure safe, she must give up another,” says Sita, while in conversation with Valmiki.The author also combines the collective voices of Kaikeyi, Surpanakha, Mandodari, and Urmila amongst other women in the epic, who were often misunderstood or stood at the margins of the epic. Sita is heard saying, “Yes, I’ll write your stories as best as I can, for without them, mine can’t be complete.”
Outside of home
Divakaruni taps into contemporary issues to talk about the condition of women in both India and the world. “I wanted to show Sita’s desire to experience a world outside the confines of just taking care of her in-laws. She was not about to be left behind as her husband took off on a grand adventure; something I think modern women would resonate with,” she shares.
The graver issue – when Rama considers Sita as impure after her abduction by Ravana – is not neglected, “We’re in the time of #metoo, how is victim shaming alright? My protagonist from centuries ago voices the same thoughts,” she emphasises.
For the writer who has lived away from India since 1976, and now resides in Houston, it’s nostalgia for the motherland that draws her to immersing herself in Indian settings. “When we’re far away, we tend to see things more clearly. I often remember my grandfather telling me the stories of the epics as a child. I now want to pass them on to my children,” says Divakaruni. During her research, it was these childhood tales, folk songs, and scholarly interpretations of the Ramayana that helped her build her characters. “I extensively read different versions of the Ramayana by Tulsidas, the Krittivasi Ramayan, and the Kambaramayanam, from Tamil Nadu,” shares the author. What was truly fascinating for her was how each rendition took the same characters, and made them personal.
Nurtured by nature
In a more visual representation of Sita’s persona, Divakaruni deliberately selected an intricate portrait of her protagonist amidst nature, as the cover of her novel. The scene belongs to a Kangra school of painting from the 18th century, and shows Sita embracing a large lotus leaf, her source of strength and consolation. “As soon as I saw the painting, [I felt it] was significant of the moment in Sita’s life where she was alone, a captive of Ravana in Lanka, and nothing to comfort her except her surroundings. Which was fitting for her, the one who was born out of the Earth,” elaborates Divakaruni. And just like she puts it in her novel, the author’s story is testament to the words, “But now the planets were shifting. Everything was about to change again.”
The Forest of Enchantments will be launched on January 16, at Crossword Kemps Corner at 6 p.m. On January 17, the author will be in conversation with writer Ashwin Sanghi at G5A, Mahalaxmi at 6.30 p.m.
