Book Review: Sita's Sister by Kavita Kane

Like numerous Indians, I have also grown up with tales from two Hindu epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Tales that made me laugh, cry and taught lessons on life. Personally, I prefer Mahabharata over Ramayana. I learnt more things from Mahabharata than Ramayana. It may be due to my despise of the character Rama. From the childhood, I love Krishna more than Rama. Krishna was like the boy around the corner, with whom you can laugh, tease, learn or walk parallel. But Rama? Rama will lead you to melancholy by his deeds, be it famous agni-pariksha or his forced exile of pregnant Sita.

Anyway, I am an ardent fan of mythology. From Shiva’s Trilogy by Amish to Chitra Banarjee Divakaruni’s Palace of Illusion, I have devoured everything. So, when I learnt about the new book Sita’s Sister by Kavita Kane, I could not resist myself despite the book is on Ramayana. Or to be specific, the book is based on the most neglected characters of the epic, Sita’s sisters. A tale told by Sita’s sister Urmila, laxman’s wife, the book incorporates the events before their marriages and up to the end of the exile of Rama, Sita and Laxman. The book basically deals with the despair, sorrow and struggle of the female characters that were left out in the palace of Ayoydha after Rama’s exile.

Urmilla, who was termed as the glue among the sisters, also revive the circumstances of the Ayoydha with her charms and patience. Though Rama, Sita and Laxman suffer in the jungle, all the other characters suffered amidst the comfort of the palace too. The book has shown Sita’s sisters journey from intellectual and impartial environment in Mithila to Ayoydha where women were not equal to man, rather they are not even expected to utter their opinions. It has shown how someone’s (Read Manthara) ill talk can put malice in pure hearts if the person is with some insecurities.

Regarding the cover, it could be more attractive than the present one. The book is dotted with spelling errors here and there.

The book is readable for the mythology lovers but if you are not so keen into this genre, you can also skip it. Overall, the book deserves a simple read.

Book: Sita's Sister
Publisher: Rupa
Genre: Mythological fiction
Pages: 309
Price: 295

You can get the book here