Reading the Ramayana

guys, after hari had written a little bit about the first book of the ramayana which madangopal brought back from india, i couldnt help but pick it up myself.

it is entitled prince of ayodhya. what a book! at first, i thought the writer was too concerned with the physicality of the characters - he loves describing the dhoti, the langota, the silk sari, the shape and feel and texture of things, but later, it became obvious that he wanted to make each scene as palpable as possible. he was writing to relate to our senses. and as hari has told you, he starts with rama having a nightmare of ayodhya being raped and plundered by asuras and rakshasas!

rama is drawn carefully, revealing his very centredness slowly. events begin to spark off intense circumstances of danger, intrigue, uncertainty... and in all this, the sage vishwamitra strides in majestically to lead rama away into the forest. throughout the heinous plot of ravana to sack the arya nations of ayodhya and mithila are made known to us right from the beginning. this is very clever because it ties up what we know as the end of the ramayana with the beginning. this looming danger drives the entire plot. but in between, the circumstances of the characters are revealed in an interlacing web of relationships which are challenged by the external forces of both evil and divine.

in the second book, the siege of mithila, we find a beautiful sita, warrior princess, who vibes with rama on every level. this is a beautiful relationship. their chance meeting on the road of adventure, the swayamvara scene which is fraught with danger and excitement because ravana has come in disguise to win sita's hand, and the impending irrevocable destruction of mithila by the demonic army, and the extremely intense beauty of rama's selfless action at the end of this book make these first two books of ashok k banker absolute must reads for all of us.