the palace of illusions

i have always loved reading the mahabharata. it is such an incredible, complex and multi layered tale with innumerable upa-kathas. every time i read it there is a new perspective that is gained - to life, to our desires, to what motivates and shapes our actions.

this book tells the tale from the perspective of draupadi who helped define the events that led to the war of kurukshetra. a child born of fire with only a twin brother as companion in her childhood, draupadi is brought up as a princess without too many of the shackles of being a 'female'.

the deft recital lays emphasis on the fiery nature of draupadi - which is not very strongly tethered to the conventional stereotypes of being a 'woman'. how can it be when she is the only one married to five men simultaneously, the only woman born of a sacrificial fire invoked to wreak vengeance on her father's enemy, the only princess who has maya to build her a palace, a queen who was invited to the palace of the kauravas and humiliated by being disrobed in the mahasabha while her five husbands and all the elders watched mutely, the only queen who gave up being a mother to her five sons so that she could accompany her husbands into exile and fan their hatred of the kauravas for 12 long years, the only woman blessed with divine vision to watch the 18 day kurukshetra war...

the story is one which can fascinate five year old children to wise old individuals. the author's skill is in projecting the events as largely shaped by draupadi. the other novel aspect is the way in which a love interest between draupadi and karna is interwoven into the tapestry - karna, the character who evokes universal sympathy in the mahabharata.

'the palace of illusions' reveals some of the ways in which events and individuals transcend the boundaries that society sets for stereotypes of - gender, good and evil, duty and love. i would recommend this book to anyone who is fascinated by the mahabharata.