Like any other 21st century urban Hindu, I have only the briefest of knowledge about the Hindu mythology. To be more precise, I was aware of the fact that Menaka was a beautiful Apsara and that Vishwamitra was some accomplished sage whose name appeared somewhere in the Ramayana. However, my perception of all Apsaras was that they were sent to distract rishis from their tapasya and that these rishis were all really old, grumpy men with Santa Claus beards.
So when I came across a modern fiction novel written about the romance between Menaka and Vishwamitra, I was curious.
I will not lie, I was looking for a passionate love story full of seduction and physical intimacy. I mean, the crux of it is an Apsara sent to distract the Rishi with her beauty, isn’t it? However, I had my doubts about how much of passion and seduction can an Indian writer put in a book dealing with Hindu mythological characters. Those two don’t really get accepted together. To my surprise, The author doesn’t disappoint her contemporary readers on this account. Themes of lust, eroticism and sex are described in detail without using euphemism or leaving it for the reader to assume.
In fact, some of the scenes of this book are much more vivid and captivating than many of the novels written under the ‘erotica’ banner. I listened to the audio book, and the narrator, Meetu Chilana, does justice to the text.
Speaking of the narration, at some places it is so well done that you don’t need the description of non verbal cues that follows dialogues in fiction to bring out the emotion being portrayed. She audibly sighs when the character says something with a sigh, speaks in clipped tone when they are angry and drawls when Menaka knows she has got the overhand.
I must mention that the story drags just a little towards the end. Some new plots are introduced and it is almost like the author rushes to conclude them without exceeding her word limit. The story of Shakuntala for example, (knowing the author leans towards writing books based on Hindu mythology) I wish she had started this story in this novel and then written an entire sequel about Shakuntala and Dushyant.
Over all, it is an interesting read, especially for people who are vaguely familiar with these characters. The description of the Samudra Manthan, daily life in heaven and what actually drove these Rishis to take up tapasya for decades, all make up an exciting plot. I feel that Kavita Kane brings to centre stage the stories of those characters who serve only supporting roles in the major Hindu mythologies. And she does that well in this book, throwing light on the tales of Apsaras who are only depicted as beautiful singers and dancers. The book brings to fore what happened before and after an Apsara seduced a Rishi.
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