A scintillating discussion on The One Who Had Two Lives , writer Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan’s second fictional narrative in her Girls of the Mahabharata series, had the writer maintain that she conceived the work as an epic girl’s fantasy a la The Hunger Games , with a spin on The Mahabharata character of Amba.
Amba, reborn as warrior Shikhandi, arguably the first transgender man in epic literature, held unquestionable relevance in contemporary times, which witnessed discussions on gender fluidity. That apart, essential questions like ‘what does it mean to be a woman’ nudged her to write it, said the author in a discussion with writer Sangeetha Sreenivasan.
She wanted to present Amba, Ambika, and Ambalika, the three sisters finding passing mention in the epic, as fully-formed people. The book was written in a language that was lucid and evocative to make it appealing and accessible to the reader, Ms. Madhavan said.
The discussion was organised by H&C Readers’ Forum.
