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Book Review: Lanka's Princess by Kavita Kane

by Enakshi J
(Bangalore)




Title: Lanka’s Princess
Author: Kavita Kane
Publisher: Rupa Publishers
Rating: 4/5

“Fate is inevitable. But it is our actions and the perception that pave our path for success.” Much has been read and talked about the mythological characters. Much has been hypothesized. There are beliefs and there are myths. But what if these beliefs help in materializing the character from mythology? Shurpnakha was born with a silver spoon in her mouth, yet she spent her childhood in solitude. Neglected by her father, she always doubted her self-worth and this probably played a major role in shaping up her character.

‘Lanka’s Princess’ is a fabulous book because the purpose is not objective, rather the authoress tries to highlight the loopholes in Shurpnakha’s life that molded her personality. Much has been read already about how she conspired against Sita, how she became the reason of conflict between Ram and Lakshman. But seldom does anybody talk about how she was mangled by Ram and Lakshman. We tend to take it lightly justifying this action as an apt one for her deeds, but if we think deeper, we are bound to realize that it was wrong. This is the whole idea of the novella- to creatively bring out the character of Shurpnakha. Nowhere does the authoress use an indifferent tone. She balances all her justifications and the biggest plus point is the narrations from the perspective of Shurpnakha.

Shurpnakha faced obstacles at every point of her life and always ended up burying the hatchet. With lucid narration and a proper sequence of events, the book doesn’t fail to hold the readers’ interest. But the frequent typos and editing errors were not expected from Rupa.

Overall, a good read.
Best wishes to the authoress!

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