Sitayan
When I was a kid, I loved listening to the tales from Ramayan and Mahabharat (after I learnt to pronounce them). I am pretty sure my grandparents had started inventing details along the way, ‘cause there is no way Nani knew if Sita was wearing a pink lehenga or a red one! I think I was around 10 when I learnt what happened after Ram ji rescued Sita Mata. They didn’t jump on a unicorn and ride off into the sunset. I guess I was too young to understand the aftermath. But I do know that I did not take up reading Ramayana again, on my own, till recently when I was gifted " The Forests of Enchantments " by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni or, as she and I like to call it- the Sitayan. The book showed Sita in a new light. Ever since I had originally listened to Ramayan (Grandparents version), and though my memory is musty, Sita came across as the neighbourhood’s Sharma ji’s perfect daughter, beautiful, obedient “ sanskari”. But, this book described her as a...