Book Review - Sister of my Heart

Chitra Banerjee is an artist with words. She knows how to keep reader indulging and entertaining in her spell of words. Her style of writing is beautiful throughout the Novel. The “Sister of my Heart” is the story of two cousins Anju and Sudha who happen to be best friends and leaving in the same household of Calcutta. The plot revolves around these two girl’s life. The first half is very strong, somewhere in the second half the plot goes week but the style of  writing keeps you lost in the book. Anu is a dreamer, and Sudha is a story teller. Anju get wild and sometimes scary dreams which make her wake up from the sleep and scream. Sudha sees herself as a princess in story and believes a prince will come to rescue her take her with him. Anu's dreams and Sudha's stories are used aptly to explain the situation effortlessly. They have three mothers and no father.  They are born on the same day as the girls get mature, Anju thinks of Collage and Sudha thinks of Children and marriage.  Due to ill health of Anju’s mother she is also getting married early discontinuing her collage. Arrange marriage on the same day separates the friends. Now Anju is adjusting in California with a man she deeply loves but who lusts for Sudha. Sudha is adjusting in her new home where her Mother in law is torturing her and visiting temples to fill Sudha’s barren womb than see a doctor to treat her sterile son. The first half of the part is about girsl’s life in Calcutta while the second part is about Anju’s life in America and Sudha’s with her in Laws and husband. When Sudha learns about her father and that she doesn’t have to right his wrong she realizes her love for Anju is pure. Some of the scenes and conversations have turned out so beautiful that you actual feel to be part of their life and feel related to the characters. The conversation between Sudha and Anju when Anju calls from America and the bill is bulging with every minute so they are talking fast and hastily. Even for that part of conversation our sped of reading the novel increases unknowingly. Somewhere when we feel the plot is derailing and boring, Chitra's mesmerizing narratives sustain it well.

Book Review - The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Divakurni

It’s been past 4 weeksI have started to read “The Palace of Illusions” by Chitra Banerjee Divakurni. It is the depiction of Mahabharata through Draupadi’s lenses. Writer has mighty pen to take us in the age Draupadi lives. While reading book I was feeling as if Draupadi is my best friend and is telling me what all she has gone through in her life. Each chapter is interesting and indulging. Dedicated chapters are written for the important characters in Mahabharata who has influenced Draupadi’s life. Some of the characters which are not much elaborated and given importance in Mahabharata but which are important from Draupadi’s perspective are explain detailed in the book.  For Example Dri, Draupadi’s brother is explained nicely in bits and pieces in first ten chapter. Some characters which are described noble and good hearted in Original version of Mahabharata but if they are not the same from  Draupadi’s view, writer had written them in that dimension.  Chitra’s Draupadi is rebellious. She is not ready to surrender herself to destiny. She asks questions(unlike what we read in most of the ancient dramas,  woman are born to obey there fathers, brothers and husband and are not allowed to question them). She believes she has much more things to do in her life than other princess of her age and her times. She likes Shikhandi who is neither woman nor man because she is mighty and brave.  We find Draupadi a regular teenager when she find Karan’s portrait attractive before her swayamwar because of his golden arms and earings. She expresses her desire to have access to his portrait whenever she desires. We can easily relate ther struggle to imitate her father’s queen and to look good and confident in all the court ladies. Ms banerjee has the strong hold on language and puts the every aspect asthetically and aptly thus it improves the impavt of Draupadi more on readers. She never looses her focus on Draupadi not even for “Krishna”. All the characters come in book when they come in Draupadi’s life. But some of the facts are little bit taken away from Mahabharata like Drupad (Draupadi’s father) was not so happy to get a girl out of Yagya. And the fact that Draupadi was brown and not much fair and beautiful as we read in much of the books.  But given the fact that these descriptions actually take us nearer to Chitra’s Draupadi and understand her psychology better as most of us are the brown women in today’s India using faireness creams to get that white, bright and tight look(You naughty, don’t think anything else I mean our face here :)).
             In India it is said that every woman must have three relations in her life. A woman should have a mother, a sister and a daughter. As these three are the persons who understand her and give her valuable advices timely. Draupadi is a woman who doesnot have either of these relations. The characters in this novel are humanistic whereas the characters in Mahabharata are more about demigods, Princes and prince. But Chitra's Draupadi is strong, rebellious, intelligent and thinking. She prefers to be called as a Panchali opposing the egoistic name of Draupadi given by her father. She is a woman who loved one man all her life and was married to other five men. She has made choices in her life. But still at some points we can make out though she was strong and respectful the place of woman in that society was no different from what it is today. Her husbands and other respectful men in the Hastinapur who never came to her rescue when she was being sexually assaulted in the court, for them Dharma and their words were more important than the dignity of women in their family. But when it came to war they forgot all the rules to win the battle. Some of the instances and scenes of this novel are missing from original Mahabharata but they are so perfect fitting at that particular situation that we can easily accept writer's imagination. The chapters and their heading are also very interesting and apt. As the pages unfolds Chitra's Draupadi captures our soul and mind completely. Even after finishing the book Chitra's Draupadi lingers in our thoughts.