The Liberation of Sita by Volga (tr. by Vijay Kumar and C. Vijaysree)

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Sita and Rama are the most unfortunate couple in the Hindu mythology. When I was growing up, my mother would often tell me, one must never name their daughters Sita or Janaki. Their fate and life was deplorable. 


Volga, the pen name of Lalitha Kumari, is a noted feminist writer and is a stalwart in the Telugu Literature. And hence, this fictional account is written with its ink dipped in feminism. The right kind, ofcourse. 

This book is set in Valmiki's ashram and Lava and Kusa are now grown up and explore the forest. Sita, along with the mothers in and around the ashram, performs the duties of a mother. However, nudged by fate, she begins her internal journey by meeting Ravana's disfigured sister, Surpanakha, who is now tending to a beautiful garden, Parsurama's abandoned mother, Renuka, the wronged Ahalya, and lastly Urmila. The book ends with the chapter on Rama, who was equally wronged, wrapped in the ethos and pathos of Arya Dharma. Also, my favourite chapter. 

What I loved most about this book was the poetic language, connecting all the women characters and lastly, the man, who was equally hurt and was unfortunate to lose everything, despite having everything: Rama. 

What I wished was the chapters were slightly longer as the non-linear structure, though beautiful, interrupted with the momentum of reading. Volga garu is such a beautiful writer and the translators have done such a fine job. One would not mind reading another hundred pages had some of the chapters such as the one on Renuka and Ahalya been fleshed out completely. 

The Liberation of Sita is also one of the top picks of Harper Perennial to republish it with a new cover page (a beautiful calligraphy by Nikheel Aphale). Though it is a fictionalised account, it immerses you in a world of inner journey. 

My favourite lines:

Change is the sign of life. The course of our future depends on the value he attaches to that change.
- Urmila to Sita, after the vanavasam

As he was reminded of the past, memories of his life in the forest entered Rama's thoughts, like peacocks with their tails spread out
- Rama

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