A review by srivalli
Love, Pride, Virtue, and Fate by Bharat Krishnan

medium-paced

2.0

 2 Stars 

One Liner: Oh, well; got a few good things, though

The book is a collection of tales from Hindu epics retold in contemporary language for middle-graders. It starts with the creation of the universe and ends with the Mahabharat battle. Given the versatility of our epics and the countless versions available, there will always be contradictions and discrepancies in the events presented. 

Furthermore, this book is a super simplified version, which means we have cookie-cutter retellings in many cases. The book also has lots of action and drama, some of it bordering on absurd. Despite the author’s notes at the end of each story (which are quite interesting), the content, as such, feels removed and distanced from its culture. There’s too much ‘prophet’ and stuff in there that sounds really weird. A few forced attempts at parallels too. 

Krishna’s stories are rather well-written (with a lot of creative liberty), which makes me think that the author has a special love for him. Not surprising. Hard not to fall for Krishna’s charisma. 

I like the inclusion of Kannagi’s story, something native to the author’s native state. This is a very good touch. The book also has B&W illustrations. Some are real good, and a few are okayish. 

However, given the extent of misinterpretations that already exist, I’m not sure if this book would exactly help in clearing any of them. 

A few aspects I noticed: 

  • Sita is seen washing Ravana’s clothes and humming in Lanka where she was held captive. Ugh! Too much creativity (cringe types). 
  • Also, Rama and Sita were technically married for a decade or so before they went to the forests for 14 years. Most retellings remove the time gap between their wedding and Kaikeyi’s demand to grant her boons for convenience. 
  • Pandu’s five children weren’t Kunti’s. She had only three. Nakula and Sahadeva belonged to Pandu’s second wife, Madri. And all five were boons from the gods (not Pandu’s). 
  • Karna was adopted by a charioteer with links to a royal lineage. Contrary to the popular opinion, suta is not a sudra. They were also Kshatriyas (more like a sub-category of the Kshatriya varna). Today’s caste system cannot be equated with the varnas back then. 
  • Also, Karna is more than a decade older than Arjuna. Dhuryodhana wasn’t Arjuna’s colleague. They weren’t in a corporate office. The Kauravas and Pandavas were cousins. 
  • The story of Ganesha (no elephant god, please!!) is quite different from what we read every year during Ganesh Chaturthi. Needless to say, I like the version I know (mainly coz it is much more dramatic and has more lessons to offer). 
  • How Hanuman (no monkey god, please!!) finds Sita in Lanka is a special part of Sundarakanda. This one in the book reads like a badly scripted daily soap. *shudder*
  • Samudra manthan or churning the ocean was done with a mountain (mandara) not a tree. Also, Vishnu took kurmavatar (a tortoise) when they realized that the mountain was slipping due to a lack of solid foundation at the bottom. The mountain was held in place by the gigantic tortoise. Many items came up during this process. Amritam (ambrosia) was the last to come out. 

The writing is easy to read and follow. I can see this being an easy book for kids and adults. Except that the content is not something I’d recommend to anyone who has no idea about Hindu epics. This would fare much better when the reader knows at least one or two older versions. And most importantly, someone who knows that retellings are categorized as Fiction. 

To summarize, Love, Pride, Virtue, and Fate is an interesting collection of Hindu epic retellings but something to take with an entire barrel of salt. 

My thanks to the author, Bharat Krishnan, for a complimentary copy of the book. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book. 

***
 
P.S: Though the book doesn't cover the topic of Holika-Dhahran, I'll add that Holika is king Hiranyakashipu's sister. She is not a Bahujan or dalit who was burnt alive by the gods. Both Holika and Hiranyakashipu were brahmins born to Rishi Kashyapa and Diti, his wife.
 
Holika has a boon that fire doesn't burn her and decides to help her brother kill her nephew (Prahalad) for worshipping Vishnu. Because of her ill intentions, her protection shawl (the one that saved her from fire) slips off her shoulders when she fits in the firepit with Prahalad (who was 5-6 years old) on her lap and she ends up burning to death. It’s what people call a classic case of karma. 

In fact, Ravana and Balichakravarthi were also born to brahmin sages. Asuras are not dalits. Please spare us modern-day activism.