The Liberation of Sita

Superb!👌👌 Enjoyed the liberating ideas presented in the book!

One of my favourite books from one of my favourite withers. Amazing translation, great stories. Worth every rupee.

“The thing women have yet to learn is nobody gives you power. You just take it. ” ----Roseanne Barr Popuri Lalita Kumari, who writes award-winning Telugu poems and stories under her pen name Volga, has penned yet another terrific and feminist tale revolving around India's most popular mythological tale Ramayana, called, The Liberation of Sita. In this book, the author meticulously weaves a story about the characters from Ramayana with their struggles, hardships and challenges that they underwent through during their life times and how that made them the way we see them now. Mostly revolving around Sita's life after abandonment with her husband and her ordeal with the test of chastity, among with other notable characters like Surpanakha, Ahalya and many more. Synopsis: Valmiki’s Ramayana is the story of Rama’s exile and return to Ayodhya, 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 to 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 out 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. Sri Ramachandra's wife, Sita endured a lot of pain and challenges all through out her life time, even though being the queen of Ayodhya and the daughter of Mother Earth. In this book, the author strikingly brings out the inner soul of the most popular female mythological characters whom people pray and follow till this day. Sita is an epitome of beauty and purity, but she is so much more than just a beautiful and law-abiding wife to Rama. This book traces her journey through motherhood, abandonment, salvation, kidnapped days and womanhood. Her sacrifices for herself as well as for her kingdom sets her apart from being a mere human being, thereby making her divine and immortal in the eyes of the common man. This book not only revolves around Sita, but also around a Gautama Rishi's wife named, Ahalya, who was blindsided by a wretched man to make her think that the man is her husband in order to make love to her. After which, her husband abandoned her, but this incident never once deterred her immense beauty and grace that made many great men go weak in their knees. shunned by the society as a characterless woman, Ahalya grasped the knowledge of nature and enlightening herself with deep wisdom about life, which after meeting Sita in Valmiki's forest, she helped Sita see the inner meaning of life and nature without the support of any man. Though Sita initially never found any meaning to Ahalya's words, but at a later stage after her separation from her husband, it made Sita believe the words of Ahalya strongly be heart. There's another lesser known character, whom the readers barely get to see or explore while reading the Ramayana and she is Surpanakha, the younger sister of the evil and ten-headed kind of Lanka, Ravana. Disfigured by the Kayastha brothers, Rama and Laxman of Ayodhya, Surpanakha, the proud woman of her beauty and charm, was left heart broken and depressed, but gradually she herself uplifted her spirit and learnt to embrace whatever beauty she is left with as well as with her fate too. She too came across Sita while Sita's stay in Valmiki's forest with her two sons, and Surpanakha's journey through self-realization gives Sita the much-needed strength and hope to lead her life alone. There are also other two characters, Renuka and Urmila, the wife of Laxman, who too guides and enlightens Sita with their lives' struggling paths carved out by themselves. In the beginning, the readers will get an innocent image of Sita and gradually this character endures a lot of experience and pain, that ultimately turns her into a mature, thoughtful and self-enlightened woman. And most surprisingly, the Ramayana depicts Sita mostly as a damsel in distress with her prince and prince's brother always saving her from harm and danger. But in this book, she is the exact opposite of that damsel instead her thoughts and approaches her laced with feminism and bravery that makes her look inspiring in the eyes of the readers. Here she faces her challenges alone and boldly, unlike in Ramayana. This book gives a partially flawed characterism of the great Lord Rama, whose each act during the 14 years of Banawas was to provoke the Lanka king in order to empower his kingdom. This provocation of his becomes his own enemy when Sita is abducted and never ever returns to him truly in a free body and mind. Rama's distress and fight to get his wife back will make the readers realize about men's basic nature to use women as pawns and to dominate over them. In a nutshell, this is a compelling book surrounding the life and time of Sita along with some notable characters from one of the greatest Indian mythological tale, Ramayana.

Despite the fact that I have loads of unread books on my shelf as well as kindle, I end up buying more books and reading them as soon as I receive them. I think this is the case with the majority of us. Same happened on the occasion of world book day yesterday. While browsing through offers on the website, I chanced upon this beautiful collector’s edition of The Liberation of Sita by Volga, translated by T. Vijay Kumar and C. Vijayasree. Unable to bear the self-imposed “no book buying until I finish off the lot I already have”, I succumbed to greed and had the book in my hands today, and needless to say, I devoured it in a couple of hours and now, here I am writing it’s review. When I had bought this book, I thought it would be a re-telling of Sita’s life after her abandonment by Rama. But what I found in it was something very different - a collection of 5 stories, with 5 different female central characters, who had minor roles in the Ramayana, retold from the point of view of Sita, and the impact it has on her as she tries to make peace with the life she has been given. The first narration is “The Reunion” centering on Sita’s chance encounter with none other than Shurpanakha. When Luva and Kusha first tell Sita about a beautiful garden maintained by a mutilated woman, a woman with holes in the place of her nose and ears, Sita instantly knows that it must be Shurpanakha. Asking her sons to take her to the garden, Sita comes face to face with the former princess of Lanka and discovers the woman she is now, mature and wise for her age. Sita is surprised to learn that the woman, who was a victim of the patriarchal rivalry between two kingdoms, has come to forgive them both and accepted what fate has given her. Of course the maimed one has had her share of struggles, the hard truth of looking at herself in the mirror and finding a reflection that is disfigured, from being the envy of other women to a hideous one, from having lovers to finding herself all alone, but she wins over her negatives to emerge a stronger and beautiful person from within. Despite the fact that her beauty is no longer with her, she meets her soulmate in Sudhir, who respects her for what is under her skin instead of what is on it. Having conquered her humiliation and rage over it, Sita finds Shurpanakha to be at peace with what she has created, focusing her energy on creating a beautiful garden which she considers her child. It is her that makes Sita think about her sons and realize that the non-dependent joy which Shurpanakha has is much more satisfying than what she herself has. Sita first meets Ahalya during her exile in the forest with Rama. “The Music of the Earth” retells the story of this accused woman, a woman who is found guilty of infidelity and cursed by her husband, when the imposter Indra, ever so lusting after her takes his place and has her. Though we have been told that the woman pleads with her husband to take pity on her and soften the punishment, this version throws light on Ahalya’s self-respect. Throwing caution to the notions of female chastity, Ahalya tells Sita that a woman’s loyalty is not the issue, but what is, is that a man’s ability to question and put it to test, be it for any reason. Advising the exiled woman to not bow down to any such demands ever in future, Ahalya leaves Sita bewildered. It is only after her fire trial and later the abandonment by Rama that Sita understands the truth behind the words Ahalya spoke to her years ago. Now, crying in the older woman’s lap in the ashram of Sage Valmiki, Sita knows better than to grieve over spilled milk. After her son Parasurama beheads her at the orders of his father, her husband, Renuka takes to the forest where she is saved by a group of people. Now years later, when Sita comes to her shrine, she finds herself fascinated with her. “The Sand Pot” is the encounter between Renuka and Sita with the former giving an important lesson to the latter, that of self-identity. One fleeting moment of temptation for another man led to Renuka’s character being questioned, years of her loyalty to her husband and her love for her son, all lost in that single moment. Wiser from the experience, she advises Sita to free herself of any boundations to another person, anchoring herself will only mean heartache. Although Sita doesn’t like her advice, she does understand and find it useful when she gives her sons to their father and is called upon to claim her position in front of the entire court, which she refuses saying that it isn’t necessary. Cutting off all ties with them and she goes back into the embrace of her mother. The namesake story of the title of the book, “The Liberated” speaks of the meeting between Sita and Urmila after the elder one returns from exile. On knowing that her beloved younger sister has not been in touch with anyone since the day her husband left her to accompany his brother and herself, Sita is devastated and immediately rushes to meet her. What transpires leaves Sita to astound. Having isolated herself in rage over her husband’s behavior, Urmila soon realizes that she can’t do anything for what has happened, but only change the way she looks at it. Her feeling of anger, jealousy, sadness - all relates to being dependent on her husband, which she ultimately breaks free off by meditating for the past 14 years and finding solace within. When Rama does the Aswamegha Yagya, Sita worries herself over the fact that the said ritual needs both husband and wife to be together to be able to perform. It is then that Urmila asks her to let herself go off the shackles that are still binding her to Rama, whether or not Rama has taken another wife should not be a concern to her. This meeting with Urmila ultimately allows Sita to liberate herself from Rama and establish her own identity independent of any man in her life. “The Shackled” is the last story to be told, however, it doesn’t include Sita in its active form. Having handed over their sons to Rama, Sita refuses to come back and goes back to where she came from, to her mother Earth, liberating herself. On the other hand, Rama, who has always been bound by dharma since birth, leaving the years when he was in banishment with his beloved Sita, finds himself yet again bound to their sons for the sake of the kingdom, to rear and bring them up as worthy rulers in future. Though Sita herself gains liberation, she sets the path for her Rama too, of breaking the bonds when the time comes to hand over the reins to Luva and Kusha. Who knew that Rama, who protects his kingdom, will have his protection from his wife? While reading through the stories, I found a beauty in the language, as if I was reading some poetry. The flow was smooth and easy and I was floating with the words. The characters of this collection are interpreted in a way that is new to me. Leaving the conventional notions behind, the author sketches the women in a manner that is unheard of - strong-headed, independent and content with the way their lives have turned out to be. Repeating myself for the nth time now, I don’t know how much truth is held within the pages of our mythological epics, but what I know is that they do hold great wisdom. With numerous authors trying to interpret the characters in their own way, it does get a bit complicated to choose one’s own favorite, but this version, hands down is my best read till date. The concept resonates with me and is close to my heart, having become closer after this read. All the stories, though speak about different incidences in Sita’s life are bound by one ultimate goal, that of steering the daughter of the Earth towards her liberation. Each holds a concept that is crucial in a woman’s journey, beauty, fidelity, chastity, motherhood, and independence, from the time of being born to the day she dies. The other females, all victims, and sufferers at the hands of the patriarchy, knowingly or unknowingly, make Sita realize the importance of self-realization and an identity independent of anyone else, be it her father, her husband or her sons.

The book is a retelling of Ramayana from the Sita's point of view; the times when Sita faced hardships in her life. It has a collection of five stories which is different yet connected. The first four short stories show Sita's encounter not so prominent yet powerful female characters from Ramayana (Surpanakha, Ahalya, Renuka, and Urmila) who take center stage in educating Sita and shows her the journey towards liberation. The last one is from Ram's point of view on how he has to forsake his feelings under the weight of the crown. This book questions the patriarchy that women are facing since ancient times. It talks about the plight of Sita and other women which are often overlooked. Not only this, but it also shows how the patriarchal society has been unkind to the Men as well such as how Ram was feeling guilty for his decision and he lost Sita because of it yet he couldn't do anything because of societal expectations. The writing and language used are simple and easily understandable. The book is fast-paced and didn't contain unnecessary information which makes it an interesting read. Also, to be noted that this book is a translated version of the Telugu novel. So, the reading might be a little bumpy but it doesn't matter much. I highly recommend this book to everyone.

I wonder why a book about women and their lives, written by women are termed "feminist", aren't they just as important as the others? Is patriarchy so deep that the other Equal-half needs a special term or identity or a tag. Nevermind, these were my thoughts after reading this wonder. Volga has written a beautiful book about Sita and her life, being a daughter, wife, sister and a mother. The book has stories and wisdom from the lives of Surpanakha, Ahalya, Renuka Devi and Urmila as short and meaningful encounters in Sita's life. These women just like Sita have been victims of patriarchy in some way or the other and have found their true selves after their suffering and have learned to live with dignity. Fidelity and motherhood become the sole identity of a woman coupled with the sorrow of separation is what you'll learn from here. What stung me hard was the last chapter which spoke about Ram being a victim of patriarchy too! His birth as the first born and duty to honour his father's word made his life as sorrowful as Sita's. Though they belonged to each other they couldn't be together. This epic has so much to reflect on and one thought that kept coming to my mind while I read this book was- though Ram is the hero of the epic, Sita is his saviour! A must read.😊 P.S. This book has two of my summer favourites: Mangoes and this bewitching book by Volga.❤

The stories were so realistic that I searched for the stories whether they really happened in the epics . The message from the author was conveyed in a subtlest way including the most ignored female characters of the epic.Their meeting with Swetha and how they stand for each other at tough times was beautifully narrated. Short and sweet read.

Popuri Lalita Kumari is a well known poet and writer, her works especially deal with the feminist aspect of the Indian society. Her pen name Volga was actually the name of the writer's sister who passed away tragically. Liberation of Sita is a fresh take on Sita's story. Picking up at different points in her life, the author creates a narrative between Sita and several other female characters from the epic Ramayana, treating these key moments in her life in a new light to help her understand the implications of the trials she has borne or will bear. There are many many layers in what is such a simply written no-frills narrative. "Volga does not use re-visioning merely as a strategy to subvert patriarchal structures embedded in mythical texts but also as a means to forge a vision of life in which liberation is total, autonomous and complete." What I loved about this book was the solidarity shown between Women, often books tend to show females as envious creatures who can never have true friendships or meaningful relationships with each other, here we see the opposite, and that in itself is much more realistic and beautiful. The book shows how women help each other and come together in times of need. The only minor drawback I feel is the translation, it could have been a little better in places but it’s still a wonderful book, I'd still urge people to pick up this tiny book and give it a read. For those of you who are not familiar with Ramayana, Volga gives enough background to each character and events that it won't be an issue.