Author: Namita Gokhale
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 935118420X
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 360
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Book Description
Sita is one of the defining figures of Indian womanhood, yet there is no single version of her story. Different accounts coexist in myth, literature and folktale. Canonical texts deify Sita while regional variations humanize her. Folk songs and ballads connect her timeless predicament to the daily lives of rural women. Modern-day women continue to see themselves reflected in films, serials and soap operas based on Sita’s narrative. Sacrifice, self denial and unquestioning loyalty are some of the ideals associated with popular perceptions of Sita. But the Janaki who symbolized strength, who could lift Shiva’s mighty bow, who courageously chose to accompany Rama into exile and who refused to follow him back after a second trial, is often forgotten. However she is remembered, revered or written about, Sita continues to exert a powerful influence on the collective Indian psyche. In Search of Sita presents essays, conversations and commentaries that explore different aspects of her life. It revisits mythology, reopening the debate on her birth, her days in exile, her abduction, the test by fire, the birth of her sons and, finally, her return to the earth—offering fresh interpretations of this enigmatic figure and her indelible impact on our everyday lives.
Author: Volga
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 9352775023
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 93
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Book Description
Valmiki's Ramayana is the story of Rama's exile and return to Ayodhya, of a triumphant king who will always do right by his subjects. In Volga's retelling, it is Sita who, after being abandoned by Purushottam Rama, embarks on an arduous journey towards self-realization. Along the way, she meets extraordinary women who have broken free from all that held them back: husbands, sons, and their notions of desire, beauty and chastity. The minor women characters of the epic as we know it -- Surpanakha, Renuka, Urmila and Ahalya -- steer Sita towards an unexpected resolution. Meanwhile, Rama too must reconsider and weigh his roles as the king of Ayodhya and as a man deeply in love with his wife. A powerful subversion of India's most popular tale of morality, choice and sacrifice, The Liberation of Sita opens up new spaces within the old discourse, enabling women to review their lives and experiences afresh. This is Volga at her feminist best.
Author: Valmiki .
Publisher: World Scientific
ISBN: 9811232008
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 100
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Book Description
Exiled from his homeland, Prince Rama must brave through an odyssey in search of his wife, Princess Sita. She's been captured by a demon that Rama must overcome before taking his place as the rightful ruler. A dramatic tale of love, abduction and battle will play out in a world thronged by heroes, deities and demons. The timeless Ramayana has thrilled readers and listeners since the fourth century B.C.
Author: Lindsey Collen
Publisher: Feminist Press at CUNY
ISBN: 9781558613942
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 242
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Book Description
The US premiere of an internationally acclaimed a novel, called "beautifully written, powerful, and wise." --Booklist
Author: Samhita Arni
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781554981458
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
The Ramayana is an epic poem by the Hindu sage Valmiki, written in ancient Sanskrit sometime after 300 BC. It is an allegorical story that contains important Hindu teachings, and it has had great influence on Indian life and culture over the centuries. Children are often encouraged to emulate the virtues of the two main characters -- Rama and Sita. The Ramayana is frequently performed as theater or dance, and two Indian festivals -- Dussehra and Divali -- celebrate events in the story. This version of The Ramayana is told from the perspective of Sita, the queen. After she, her husband Rama and his brother are exiled from their kingdom, Sita is captured by the proud and arrogant king Ravana and imprisoned in a garden across the ocean. Ravana never stops trying to convince Sita to be his wife, but she steadfastly refuses his advances. Eventually Rama comes to her rescue with the help of the monkey Hanuman and his army. But Rama feels he can't trust Sita again. He forces Sita to undergo an ordeal by fire to prove herself to be true and pure. She is shocked and in grief and anger does so. She emerges unscathed and they return home to their kingdom as king and queen. However, suspicion haunts their relationship, and Sita once more finds herself in the forest, but this time she is pregnant. She has twins and continues to live in the forest with them. The story is exciting and dramatic, with many turns of plot. Magic animals, snakes, divine gods, demons, sorcerers and a vast cast of characters all play a part in the fierce battles fought to win Sita back. And in the process the story explores ideas of right vs. wrong, compassion, loyalty, trust, honor and the terrible price of war.
Author: Athena Kashyap
Publisher: Stephen F. Austin University Press
ISBN: 9781622889051
Category : Indian mythology
Languages : en
Pages : 80
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Book Description
Athena Kashyap's newest collection, Sita's Choice, explores issues relating to women, especially in India. Taking off from Sita, the main female character in the Ramayana, explores her decision to leave her husband, Ram, and return to her mother, Earth. These mythical and magical poems examine the duality of nature, the sacrifices women make daily, and the deeper societal ills such as female foeticide, dowry deaths, violence against women, and the role of the media, "Ravan's hundred thousand eyes," in perpetuating this violence. The book also explores motherhood through poems that look at the mother-child bond, "the formless, uncharted shape of love," as well as the pain of childbirth, "It rises--multi-hued, magnificent."
Author: Amit Majmudar
Publisher: Penguin Random House India Private Limited
ISBN: 9353054540
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 200
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Book Description
Countless retellings, translations, and reworkings of the Ramayana's captivating story exist-but none are as vivid, ingenious and powerful as Amit Majmudar's Sitayana. Majmudar tells the story of one of the world's most popular epics through multiple perspectives, presented in rapid sequence-from Hanuman and Ravana, down to even the squirrel helping Rama's army build the bridge. However, above all, Majmudar focuses on the fierce resistance of Sita, letting us hear her voice as we have never heard it before.
Author: Sita Singh
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0593116461
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 21
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Book Description
Differences are gorgeously illustrated in a heartwarming picture book about a colorless peacock who learns to love himself in a jungle full of color. Mo has always felt a little different. While all the other peacocks grew bright, bold, beautiful feathers in rich greens and vibrant blues, Mo's feathers grew in a snowy white. And even though Mo's friends try to include him in their playtime, Mo doesn't like to be reminded that he's different from his friends. But when a storm threatens to ruin the group's annual celebration, Mo must learn to stand tall, strut his stuff, and shake his brilliantly glowing tail feathers--in a way only he can--to help his friends and set things right. From debut author Sita Singh, and brought to life by Stephanie Fizer Coleman, comes a story about finding strength in the things that make us different, and beauty in all its forms.
Author: Bhanumathi Narasimhan
Publisher: Ebury Press
ISBN: 9780143455288
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
Sita by Bhanumathi-ji is deeply stirring and weaves an intricate tapestry of sensitivity with strength and wisdom as the story unfolds
Author: Devdutt Pattanaik
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 9351183254
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 343
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Book Description
It is significant that the only character in Hindu mythology, a king at that, to be given the title of ekam-patni-vrata, devoted to a single wife, is associated with the most unjust act of abandoning her in the forest to protect family reputation. This seems a deliberate souring of the narrative, made even more complex by Ram’s refusal to remarry despite the pressure on royalty to produce an heir. The intention seems to be to provoke thought on notions of fidelity, property and self-image. And so mythologist and illustrator Devdutt Pattanaik narrates the Ramayan, drawing attention to the many oral, visual and written retellings composed in different times by different poets, each one trying to solve the puzzle in their own unique way. This book approaches Ram by speculating on Sita—her childhood with her father, Janak, who hosted sages mentioned in the Upanishads; her stay in the forest with her husband who had to be a celibate ascetic while she was in the prime of her youth; her interactions with the women of Lanka, recipes she exchanged, emotions they shared; her connection with the earth, her mother; her role as the Goddess, the untamed Kali as well as the demure Gauri, in transforming the stoic prince of Ayodhya into God.
