Lanka's Princess by Kavita Kane makes us enter into the most intimate part of the femininity of Surpanakha to understand the reasons behind her behaviour, that begins quietly with her growing years in the first part, and finally develop into a more real and truthful discovery of her.
Surpanakha is one of the main characters in the Ramayana, who has been described as wicked and ugly. Had there been no Surpanakha, there would have been no war with Ravana. So Surpanakha was the cause who sets a chain of events in motion that ended Ravana. Thus most liked to depict her as the evil.
Surpanakha was the youngest child of Vishrava and his second wife Kaikesi. When she was born, she got the name Meenakshi. She was as beautiful as her mother Kaikesi and her grandmother Tataka. Surpanakha married Vidyutjihva, who was later killed by Ravana, making her displeasure grow against Ravana.
Surpanakha as a widow spent her time in the forests of southern India where she plotted to burn down Lanka and on one of these occasions to avenge her husband she induced Rama and Lakshmana, who lived in exile in the woods and made his way to Ravana to tell him about Sita's virtues and beauty, paving the way to the abduction of Sita by Ravana. This event led to the war described in Ramayana.
Surpanakha decided to play her brother against Rama, when she was sure that no one but Rama could kill Ravana. So she staged the scene with the kidnapping only to raise and ensure the death of her brother.
Through the story, the author reveals the soul of Surpanakha and is a valuable aid to those seeking to know her better. There are no words to describe this book that is filled with emotions in the true sense of the word that associate the figure of Surpanakha with a personality that is very pleasant.
The fluid narrative and the flow of pages relieve a deep and poignant theme as that of interpersonal relations of Surpanakha that lead to an intimate reflection on herself, and her needs. In short, every second is very stimulating because she had a completely different destiny and undoubtedly suffered more than others.
Everything is fascinating about this book from the theme, the way to treat it, the meaningful choices and the cultural references. The author approaches this lady with a delicacy and an extraordinary respect, addressing her status as a women without sentimentality.
Some of the pages are of sublime delight while other is more stringent and rigid, possibly conventional. That mythology is in itself a fascinating world that is with us always, with the book grasp the profound meanings and offer it to the reader in an enjoyable way without forgetting the intensity.
The book is enjoyable and powerful as the lady we all know, but whose intrinsic personality is here addressed in an original way. At the same time with a simple writing in a beautiful and powerful book, it takes us into a trip to the mythology but not limited to the rediscovery of a lady. The read is short, smooth and insightful with much food for thought.
