I have never read the Mahabharata but as a kid I religiously watched B.R. Chopra’s version of the epic on telly. The one character that fascinated me was Draupadi, and it wasn’t just because of the five hubbies. While not as common as polygamy, polyandry has been the norm in many societies, specially ones where life is a constant struggle, aka Ladakh. No, what always intrigued me was how does it feel to be “responsible” for causing a battle that killed millions; to know that history will always remember and malign one. The soap did not pay much attention to this aspect. So I wondered about it for a while and then gradually forgot about Draupadi. That was till I started reading The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. This is, as the book cover states, “Panchaali’s Mahabharat,” and the Palace being referred to is none other than her palace of Indraprastha which became the catalyst for the great war.With Palace of Illusions, for the first time perhaps, Divakaruni sets off to explore the feelings, the inner turmoil, the actions and reactions of the woman who was born “to change the course of history.” How heavy was the responsibility? How dreadful the knowledge?What kind of insecurities did one who knew the moment she stepped out of the magic fire that she was unwanted, grow up with? What were the fears of a young girl who knew that the only person who loved her – her brother -was born as an instrument of revenge, a revenge that he did not seek and that would probably kill him? Divakaruni’s Draupadi makes the reader realise that she was not just an intrument of destruction; a temperamental, egoistical queen who goaded her husbands into revenge thereby unleashing great destruction. She was perhaps a normal human trying to cope with the role that history and her unfathomable friend Krishna, had assigned her. Her fears, her insecurities, her bursts of temper, her love for her brother, her unrequited love for Karna (yes, surprise surprise)- all make her distinctly human and real. Therein lies Divakaruni’s strength. She brings reality to a completely mythical setting. Children popping out of the sacred fire, socresses who train a princesses in the art of survival, magicians who build enchanted palaces, divyaastras, people having the boon of deciding their own death, the ever cryptic Krishna. And in the midst of this “fantastical millieu,” a normal girl struggling to come to terms with the fact that she will break all social norms by having five husbands, that she will cause many innocents to die, that she will be responsible for causing the death of many of her loved ones.
Divakaruni’s book traces the evolution of Draupadi from an insecure girl who avoided social contact due to her dark skin to a great queen who not just voiced her opinion but even managed to get her husbands to heed it. And her Draupadi is so real that the reader can’t help emphatising with her, and her actions. Her unrequited love for Karna, her heart break at his indifference, her quiet rivalry with her mother-in-law, her pain at not being able to capture Arjun’s heart. Here finally is the story of a woman who has been much maligned and misunderstood – and all because she was being human, reacting like a normal person in what were no doubt abnormal circumstances. It is a story that is just right in its length. It does not drag. Simply written with just the right measure of background information – neither too overwhelming nor too inadequate- the Palace of Illusions makes for an interesting read even for those who are not familiar with the Mahabharata or its plot. It has all the ingredients of a nice fantasy story – intrigue, battle, jealousy, magic, romance. If anything, it will intrigue you enough to pick up other books or wiki on the characters and events mentioned. I know I did. And if you are familiar with the Mahabharata, it will show you the characters in a new light, a new perspective. How true is Divakaruni’s rendition to the original epic by Vyasa? I do not know yet but I would love to find out.
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February 5th, 2011 at 3:15 pm
Sounds like an interesting book. By the way I think you have a thing for books anchored in mythology. First Shiva and now Draupadi. But I enjoy reading your reviews. They are different. Not the usual plot summary followed by 2 good things and 2 bad things about the book. Seems like you actually make the effort to read the books that you review. Good job!
February 7th, 2011 at 6:52 am
Very nice blog.
February 8th, 2011 at 3:23 pm
Palace of Illusions was one of first readings of the Mythological Indian literature. As a kid I also used to watch B.R. Chopra’s Mahabharata very religiously but am not sure how much I really got it then.What I particularly found interesting about this book was first it was a Draupadi’s version of Mahabharata. And although it might be because of my lack of awareness and reading, but I always found these Mythological stories very men centric, reading it from a Woman and that too Draupadi’s perspective made it a very enlightening experience for me. The second thing about this book that I really liked was that all the characters seemed very real. They were not as many times portrayed larger than life, neither were they all white or all black. They had their grey shades too which made them much more believable.
In all its a highly recommended book from my side!
February 9th, 2011 at 12:06 pm
is this another piece of feminist literature or is it fiction?
February 9th, 2011 at 1:46 pm
Was the Mahabharata fact or fiction? Myth or some form of history? This is a retelling of the Mahabharata. I won’t call it feminist literature. After all we do not call a narration of the Mahabharata by Krishna or one of the Pandavas as Masculine literature, do we? It is just the Mahabharata through the eyes of one of the main protagonists, who is a woman.