Indian Mythological Retelling: The Sati Series by Koral Dasgupta

Posted On August 21, 2023

Hi Readers! Here is one post with five book reviews! The Sati Series by Koral Dasgupta comprises of five books based on the five Pachkanyas; Ahalya, Kunti, Draupadi, Mandodari and Tara. These books are supposed to be a retelling with a modernist perspective that shine these women in a fairer, more feministic light. To truly understand how well a retelling is written, you need to know very well about the original stories. I did do a few Wikipedia searches before reading each of these books just to get a background of what I was getting myself into. Unfortunately, for the first three books, what I read on Wikipedia in 10 lines was what was described in the book in 200 pages albeit with a captivating first person narrative and lyrical prose. The only ones that stood out were Mandodari and Tara.

It did not feel like a retelling to me, perhaps, because I had not read the original stories in depth. But, isn’t that what fiction is supposed to do? Take something from an age-old era and make it fascinating and relevant for readers in the 21^st century? For me, at least, the first three books did not live up to the enormous expectations I had built of them, but the fourth one was definitely satisfying. For context, I have added a small paragraph with the original story taken from Wikipedia.

“She called it ‘Sati’. A pursuit to remain loyal and committed to one’s truth and never deflect by greed or guile. To own up with conviction and turn away from deceit. To recognize the voice of the self without pretence and resist being touched by alien assassins inducing cynicism. To express with dignity, to comprehend in totality. To love without reservations. To give and not be affected by the pride of giving. To know, to value, to rise, to shine. To find the joy of life in little nothings. To identify beauty in the mundane.”

~~AHALYA~~

~~The Original~~

Ahalya, also known as Ahilya, is the wife of the sage Gautama. Ahalya is described as to be created by the creator-god Brahma as a flawless beauty. Many Hindu scriptures describe her legend of seduction by Indra, her husband’s curse for her infidelity, and her liberation from the curse by Rama. This is the extent of the story in the book as well.

~~The Retelling~~

There were a few parts where it felt like the story was progressionist such as Ahalya’s exploration of her body before being intimate with men. It talks about the themes of purity, chastity, seduction and redemption but the nuance is so faded that it doesn’t always feel seen. At times, it gets philosophical where we get inspirational dialogues about living life outside of our comfort zones, how everything is always changing and how to make the most of this life, how to continue the pursuit of knowledge, how to learn the art of patience and how to be extraordinary. Without any guidance from Gautama, we see Ahalya own up tasks and gradually become a part of his life. We see her effort to be approved by a man she didn’t even like but was stuck with.

It felt like praise for this book was not really applicable to the book I read. “An enthralling rendition”, “a unique take”, “brilliant and intriguing”. All I could see was how it read exactly like a story of that era. With a wife doing her wifely duties, following her husband, satisfying his needs, being cursed, absolution of guilt from another man. Even though the writing had an allure to it, after a point, it became quite mundane and all the characters felt unidimensional. The only “modern context with a feminist consciousness” aspect was for five pages towards the end. I wished the story was braver and more reimagined in its retelling, going above and beyond the realms of what it means to be a wife to what it means to be a woman. I rated Ahalya by Koral Dasgupta at 3/5 stars.

~~KUNTI~~

~~The Original~~

Kunti one of the prominent characters of the Hindu epic Mahabharata. During her teenage years, she impressed the sage Durvasa and was blessed with the knowledge of a divine mantra. She used the mantra to invoke the sun god Surya, and was blessed with a son named Karna. Because her son was born out of wedlock, Kunti had to abandon him to save herself from dishonor. Later, Kunti, upon her husband’s request, used her mantra and was blessed with three children – Yudhishthira, Bhima, and Arjuna. Later, she shared her mantra with Madri, who was blessed with Nakula and Sahadeva.

~~The Retelling~~

The second book was perhaps slightly more nuanced with its nonlinear writing style. It had a similar prose which helped me read it in a day. In this one, we have a bit of real retelling of the story. From the matriarchal perspective, we see how Kunti’s dalliance with Surya before marriage is written with wit. We come to appreciate Kunti’s intelligence; logical, mental, emotional and human. The way she works out an equation to find the divine mantra. The way she approves and even encourages her husband Pandu to marry another woman which could improve him. The way she takes Pandu and Madri on an exile so she could have children. The way she helps Madri have children with the help of the mantra. Now, that’s a story worth reading, with a female perspective of a mythological woman about the parts of her life that are usually overlooked.

However, this one was a disappointment as well. With so much to work on with such a brilliant character, I don’t think it was explored much. I would have loved to read more about Kunti’s mathematical prowess or her critical thinking or her relationship with others in the family. The characters, aside from Kunti, felt very unidimensional in this book too. I rated Kunti by Koral Dasgupta at 3/5 stars!

~~DRAUPADI~~

~~The Original~~

Arjuna won Draupadi’s hand in marriage, but she had to marry the five brothers because of her mother-in-law’s misunderstanding. An attempt is made by Dushasana to disrobe her, but she is saved by the divine intervention of Krishna. Following the subsequent episodes, Draupadi and the Pandavas are exiled for 13 years. The exile is followed by the Kurukshetra War, where Draupadi loses her father, brothers, and her five children. After the war, she resumes her role as the empress for 36 years, after which she retires to the Himalayas along with her husbands.

~~The Retelling~~

When I started reading this book, I thought it would be magnificent because it’s Draupadi! And, for some duration, it did read a lot better than the earlier books. There was no discrimination against Draupadi because she had dark skin. In fact, she was appreciated for it. The portrayal of comfort and ease between Draupadi and Arjun matched that of modern relationships. The characters came alive on the page in the first half of the book, especially Draupadi, Kunti and Bhishma. Even the chats with Krishna and Krishnaa throughout the books gave an added charm to the story.

But, after Indraprastha is built, it all kind of faded away. I read it all, but felt like what I was reading did not leave any trace behind. And then, it all came to a rushed end very soon. In this one as well, I did not feel the intrinsic essence of a feministic retelling for almost the entirety of the book, excluding maybe a few pages. I rated Draupadi by Koral Dasgupta at 3/5 stars.

~~MANDODARI~~

~~The Original~~

Mandodari was the queen consort of Ravana, the king of Lanka. Mandodari was the daughter of Mayasura, the King of the Asuras (demons), and the apsara (celestial nymphs) Hema.

~~The Retelling~~

Finally, the fourth book in the Sati Series had my heart. I truly enjoyed reading it because I could finally feel that it was a retelling with Mandodari’s point of view magnified and female consciousness explored. Having known who Mandodari was before picking up the novel definitely helped me in understanding how the story would be outlined. Yet, I was fascinated while reading Mandodari’s pre-Ravan days. I loved how she was portrayed as an intelligent, artistic, creative, logistic and amazing woman of the times. As Ravan mentions in the book, Mandodari’s ‘insensitive frankness’ was something I kept cheering for. I liked how there was talk of gender inequality in the most subtle way. I was conflicted in my emotions while reading this. Because though technically Mandodari was Ravan’s wife and she did vouch for Sita’s freedom, she was after all portrayed as someone from the enemy camp. But, that’s the power of words. It expands our perspectives and most of all, makes you an empath.

This one was a bit longer than the other ones. At 278 pages, I felt that some of the story could have been edited better with some pages removed. But, even so, I truly loved reading this book. I have rated Mandodari by Koral Dasgupta at 4/5 stars!

~~Tara~~

~~The Original~~

Having obtained a boon that allowed Bali to receive half the strength of his opponents, Bali was a formidable fighter. He banished his brother Sugriva who had assumed his throne, believing him to be dead. Sugriva sought the assistance of Rama, an avatar of Vishnu, to intervene in their conflict. In a duel between the brothers, Rama shot Bali in the chest with an arrow.

~~The Retelling~~

I love how in all the five books, the original text is all about the men, which is why it only made sense to have the retelling all about the women. In the fifth book of the Sati series, we get to know Tara, the wife of Bali and Queen of Kishkindha and also the pishachini she was known to be before Bali even entered her life. Unlike passing references in Ramayana, in this short book, we are introduced to her as a brilliant woman-monkey with a sharp presence of mind and an empathetic heart. We read about the enemies to lovers story between Tara and Bali, which I was not expecting but enjoyed nonetheless. We read about Bali’s death with a new light to it. And we read about conversations between Bali and Tara after his death.

This book was perhaps the most tender in its retelling because it aimed to position Bali as a hero in Tara’s story instead of a villain in Ram’s story. And, it did a wonderful job of it because readers come to see Bali in that light too. We see his devotion to Tara, his use of intellect and his fondness towards his younger sibling, when we have only heard of all these things the other way round since ages. I was almost heartbroken to see the separation between Bali and Tara, two times! While I knew Rama’s perspective, I was so glad to know one side of what Bali’s perspective could have been. And, most of all, it was heartening to read of Tara’s perspective, her journey from a timid child to a responsible queen of the vanar kingdom, a devoted yet individualistic wife to Bali, a friend to Ruma and most loyal towards her family and friends in Kishkindha.

In terms of the writing, I found it difficult to get into it in the initial pages, but once I got a track of the past and present story lines, it was an easy read. I think in terms of the definition of a retelling, this one was just as good as Mandodari, if not better. It had everything to it: poetic writing, an actual retelling which did not shy away from taking a bold view, emotions written with feelings to make it a truly worthwhile read. And, lastly, I loved how the book picked from the last one with a letter from Queen Tara to Queen Mandodari and it came full circle with Ahalya meeting Tara at the end. I have rated Tara by Koral Dasgupta at 4/5 stars!

From my childhood, I had known the story of Ramayana in detail. But, the story of Mahabharata was seldom talked about. It could be because I knew Ramayana so much, I understood Mandodari and Tara better than Kunti and Draupadi which are based on Mahabharata. And, Ahalya, while having a miniscule touch with Ramayana, is still an entirely different story. Could be this reason or could be just that the author’s writing matured with each new book, but I finally felt something while reading the last two books, which was an integral part missing from my reading experience in the earlier books.

Until next time,