Additional Director General of Police B. Sandhya’s second book ‘Ithihaasathinte Ithalukal’, a re-interpretation of the Ramayana, was released at the Vyloppilly Samskrithi Bhavan here on Thursday. Writer and politician M.P. Veerendra Kumar handed over the first copy to writer K.R. Meera.
Mr. Veerendrakumar said that there is no other epic in the world with as many interpretations as the Ramayana.
“Each place has its own interpretation of Ramayana. In Wayanad, my birthplace, the popular version is the Pulpally Ramayana. Many of the people there believe that the entire Ramayana happened within Pulpally. A.K. Ramanujan has written about three hundred different Ramayanas, which are different from each other. In Buddha Ramayanam, Seetha and Rama are children of Dasaratha,” he said.
“But now there are attempts being made to present Ramayana as a monolithic story, with just one interpretation. How can it be said that we should see this story and its characters through just one viewpoint?” he asked.
Writer K.R. Meera said that the Ramayana story is being analysed using contemporary democratic values in Sandhya’s book.
“She interprets it from a woman’s point of view and uses the current lens of women’s empowerment to interpret the story. There is so much research that has gone into this, from poring over several related books and by visiting the places where the events are believed to have taken place. I am jealous of her that she could still find time to write such a work, even amid her busy schedule,” she said.
Writer George Onakkoor who presided over the function said that Malayalis have ingrained the message of the Ramayana, more than any other populace.
“What I find most interesting in this book is how she disproves the theory that Rama belonged to the Aryan race. She goes into the etymology of the word ‘Aryaputhra’ and proves that it is unrelated to the Aryan race. This is an important find,” he said.
