Retelling of Indian mythology

O Rama of unequaled prowess,
This aerial car shining like the sun,
Moves as one pleases, wonderful and excellent;
This Pushpak of Kuber, robbed by Ravan in battle,
Is retained here for your sake;
The yonder aerial car, looking like a cloud,
Stands here and by which transport,
You can reach Ayodhya without any trouble.
May prosperity attend you!
- Valmiki Ramayan

The above verse describes the Pushpak Vimaan, perhaps the most famous airship mentioned in the ancient Hindu literature. Many Sanskrit epics contain references to such flying machines called the Vimaans/Vimanas. These Vimaans were said to be able to travel into space between different planets and were used by various denizens of the higher Lokas. In this post, we shall analyze the evidence in favor of such flying machines being available to the ancients and their similarities to the modern air crafts.

‘Looking back at the Hindu mythological past, just have a look at this cool dude with a majestic  kingdom, where all people liked him. But, his step-mom or something like his aunt, was kind of a bitch as she coerced her husband, the father of this cool dude to send the latter in the jungles. This cool dude was Ram or I should better say, Lord Rama for like more than 10 years or so. He decided to get along with his brother and wife on their request and had a great time together.’

We all have seen that many people come up with the retelling of the classical Ramayana, which is now popular on various social media platforms.  The point of this humorous snippet was to draw attention to an omnipresent phenomenon in Indian literature today –retelling of mythology.

At Lelobooks, we regularly review the latest books published by both new and experienced authors and has made this trend a popular one for some time now. More and more authors are coming up and taking upon themselves the task of re-construing classics and mythological figures, and giving us contemporary translations of them. For a relatable example, look no further than the Shiva trilogy as it surprised me by the portrayal of Sati, which has another angle that led it to be one of those stories which are different from the bedtime stories that I has always listened to.

So just see what is actually behind this trend? Are we just running out of new material and turning to tried-and-tested sources of wisdom for new stories or are we re-uniting with our pedigree in a newfangled way, while bringing in our thoughts to what might have been? As born and brought up in this cultural country, I would  like to believe and accept our gods and heroes in a more human light. These days, younger readers prefer their heroes to have both the shades of innocence and greys, including calmness and contentedness on one hand and human passions and weaknesses along with flaws and idiosyncrasies, on the other,  in order to civilize rather than glorify them. The whole process will make the people able to understand the how and whys of mythology with a more realistic and logical approach, in preference to recognize through unquestioning compliance or fear is fascinating and is also a positive development.

Author Devdutt Pattanaik is famous for his commonsensical and straightforward portrayal of the figures in ancient wisdom, and he goes so far as to state that mythology can be used as a tool to foster better business practices. This points to an interesting transition in the place accorded to mythology in our lives – from a means of remembering what has passed, to an almost textbook-like material which is very genuine and offers us something concrete that is very applicable to our daily lives.

So give it a thought that will this continue in future as well? Are we going to have more and more wannabe authors taking to ambiguous ancient texts in a bid to make a name for themselves? In light of the success that the present ones are enjoying will bring some change in the world? Well, it depends on how skilled the versions are. For every success story, there is also a handful of books that didn’t make it big, in spite of having tried out the same basic formula. While it lasts though, let’s enjoy the kaleidoscope of insight that this genre provides!

If interested in the genre we have highlighted, then explore this genre of books available at lelobooks.com, an online bookstore in India, which includes Sita: An Illustrated Retelling of the Ramayana and Shashi Tharoor’s The Great Indian Novel.