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Epic of the Kaurava Clan #1
Ajaya: Roll of the Dice
CROSSWORD TOP 10 BOOK OF 2013 & 2014
CROSSWORD AWARD 2014 SHORTLISTED
THE MAHABHARATA ENDURES AS THE GREAT EPIC OF INDIA. But while Jaya is the story of the Pandavas, told from the perspective of the victors of Kurukshetra; Ajaya is the narrative of the ‘unconquerable� Kauravas, who were decimated to the last man.
***
At the heart of India’s most powerful empire, a revolution is brewing. Bhishma, the noble patriarch of Hastinapura, is struggling to maintain the unity of his empire. On the throne sits Dhritarashtra, the blind King, and his foreign-born Queen � Gandhari. In the shadow of the throne stands Kunti, the Dowager-Queen, burning with ambition to see her firstborn become the ruler, acknowledged by all.
And in the wings:
* Parashurama, the enigmatic Guru of the powerful Southern Confederate, bides his time to take over and impose his will from mountains to ocean.
* Ekalavya, a young Nishada, yearns to break free of caste restrictions and become a warrior.
* Karna, son of a humble charioteer, travels to the South to study under the foremost Guru of the day and become the greatest archer in the land.
* Balarama, the charismatic leader of the Yadavas, dreams of building the perfect city by the sea and seeing his people prosperous and proud once more.
* Takshaka, guerilla leader of the Nagas, foments a revolution by the downtrodden as he lies in wait in the jungles of India, where survival is the only dharma.
* Jara, the beggar, and his blind dog Dharma, walk the dusty streets of India, witness to people and events far greater than they, as the Pandavas and the Kauravas confront their searing destinies.
Amidst the chaos, Prince Suyodhana, heir of Hastinapura, stands tall, determined to claim his birthright and act according to his conscience. He is the maker of his own destiny � or so he believes. While in the corridors of the Hastinapura palace, a foreign Prince plots to destroy India. And the dice falls�
CROSSWORD AWARD 2014 SHORTLISTED
THE MAHABHARATA ENDURES AS THE GREAT EPIC OF INDIA. But while Jaya is the story of the Pandavas, told from the perspective of the victors of Kurukshetra; Ajaya is the narrative of the ‘unconquerable� Kauravas, who were decimated to the last man.
***
At the heart of India’s most powerful empire, a revolution is brewing. Bhishma, the noble patriarch of Hastinapura, is struggling to maintain the unity of his empire. On the throne sits Dhritarashtra, the blind King, and his foreign-born Queen � Gandhari. In the shadow of the throne stands Kunti, the Dowager-Queen, burning with ambition to see her firstborn become the ruler, acknowledged by all.
And in the wings:
* Parashurama, the enigmatic Guru of the powerful Southern Confederate, bides his time to take over and impose his will from mountains to ocean.
* Ekalavya, a young Nishada, yearns to break free of caste restrictions and become a warrior.
* Karna, son of a humble charioteer, travels to the South to study under the foremost Guru of the day and become the greatest archer in the land.
* Balarama, the charismatic leader of the Yadavas, dreams of building the perfect city by the sea and seeing his people prosperous and proud once more.
* Takshaka, guerilla leader of the Nagas, foments a revolution by the downtrodden as he lies in wait in the jungles of India, where survival is the only dharma.
* Jara, the beggar, and his blind dog Dharma, walk the dusty streets of India, witness to people and events far greater than they, as the Pandavas and the Kauravas confront their searing destinies.
Amidst the chaos, Prince Suyodhana, heir of Hastinapura, stands tall, determined to claim his birthright and act according to his conscience. He is the maker of his own destiny � or so he believes. While in the corridors of the Hastinapura palace, a foreign Prince plots to destroy India. And the dice falls�
456 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 2013
491 people are currently reading
5,587 people want to read
About the author
Anand Neelakantan
30books1,716followersAnand Neelakantan is an Indian author, columnist, screenwriter, and public speaker. He is known for writing mythological fictions and has authored ten books in English and one in Malayalam. He follows the style of telling stories based on the perspective of the antagonists or supporting characters of a larger work. His debut work Asura: Tale of the Vanquished (2012) was based on the Indian epic Ramayana, told from the perspective of Ravana—the first book in his Ramayana series. It was followed by series of books based on characters from Mahabharata and Baahubali. His books have been translated to different languages such as Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Bengali , Gujarati, Assamese, English and Indonesian Bahasa.
Anand's Asura is one of the 100 books to be read in a life time as per Amazon.[1] The book has sold more than half a million copies across the years. Three of his books have been shortlisted for Crossword Book Award during the respective years. He was listed as one among the "100 top celebrities in India" in 2015 and 2017 by Forbes India. Anand also writes a column for The New Indian Express on current affairs and his fortnightly column is called "Acute Angle".
Anand's Asura is one of the 100 books to be read in a life time as per Amazon.[1] The book has sold more than half a million copies across the years. Three of his books have been shortlisted for Crossword Book Award during the respective years. He was listed as one among the "100 top celebrities in India" in 2015 and 2017 by Forbes India. Anand also writes a column for The New Indian Express on current affairs and his fortnightly column is called "Acute Angle".
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 587 reviews
January 12, 2014
Like almost everyone else, I grew up worshipping Pandavas and Krishna. They were my heroes. I remember how as a kid I used to make bow and arrows from sticks and pretend to be Arjuna.
So, I was a little skeptical when I picked this book. But having read the first book by the same author (Asura), I wanted to give him a chance. And he didn't disappoint at all! By the time I reached the end of the first part, (second part has not yet released), I began questioning everything that I knew about Mahabharata. Suddenly, Pandavas and Krishna are no longer the heroes, and Duryodhana (Suyodhana) and Kauravas are no longer the villains I thought them to be. They are all mere human beings, with shades of grey.
The only reason Duryodhana is considered a villain is because he lost the war, and with that his image. After all, history is written by victors and the losers are always remembered the way victors portray them.
So, I was a little skeptical when I picked this book. But having read the first book by the same author (Asura), I wanted to give him a chance. And he didn't disappoint at all! By the time I reached the end of the first part, (second part has not yet released), I began questioning everything that I knew about Mahabharata. Suddenly, Pandavas and Krishna are no longer the heroes, and Duryodhana (Suyodhana) and Kauravas are no longer the villains I thought them to be. They are all mere human beings, with shades of grey.
The only reason Duryodhana is considered a villain is because he lost the war, and with that his image. After all, history is written by victors and the losers are always remembered the way victors portray them.
February 17, 2017
There are always two sides to a story and depending upon the narrator, one gets to live the story the way the narrator sees it. Then again, it is mostly the victor’s side of the story that gets narrated to generations after generations until someone tells the other side of the story. And no one does it better than Anand Nelakantan. If you have already read his debut novel, ‘Asura�, then you know� If you are yet to pick up an Anand Neelakantan book then pick up one because as a reader you can only live this experience by reading his narration.
‘Ajaya� tells us the story from Suyodhana’s, or as we all know him more commonly as Duryodhana, point of view. Yes, Once again the author has gone and done it by telling the story of Mahabharata from a different point of view over the more common version of Padava’s. As we delve into the pages, we come to a realization, Bhishma wasn’t all good, Karna was indeed mistreated and was more of an honorable man than depicted earlier and that there were very important reasons behind every single act that we took as a general course of the story. The fact that no one is made of only light or only darkness is highlighted over and over again as we see the lighter sides of the ‘accepted� villains of the story and the darkness within our heroes. The superstitions and hypocrisy of the society then reflects how little we, as humans, have actually developed over time.
The author’s language and narration remains crisp as ever. His view can be described as radical as he takes us on the journey to question our heroes and give a chance to the other characters to explain their situation, their point of view and their dilemmas. I love the fact that he encourages and makes us question everything that we know about Mahabharata and its cast. At the same time he brings certain freshness to the same old story that every Indian has grown up reading.
I thoroughly enjoyed the insights to the other side through the author’s quill and you will too if you pick this book up with an open mind. I will be eagerly waiting for the next installment.
July 1, 2018
Why it is always the ones who are defeated tagged "villains" while the winners are always the heroes? Why losers are ridiculed all through-out the pages of history ?
Pandavas fought for a kingdom which did not belong to them at first place, they gambled their wife away in the gambling-court of men, they broke and deceived all the rules of the greatest war which was ironically named the Dharma-yudh. And they emerged as the heroes of history.
Kauravas, the righteous heirs of the throne of Hastinapur, waited and waited and waited, only to be tagged as evils in the pages of history. I always admired Duryodhan more than Yudhistir (let alone the Vastraharan) and Karna more than Arjun who relied on Krishna for his victories ! If the Kauravas are not the righteous, then why did Bhishma, Vithur, Kripacharya, Dronacharya and Karna take their side in the Kurushetra war ?
Ajaya : The epic of Kaurava clan by Anand Neelakantan glorifies Suyodhan (“Dur”yodhan) all through the book. The dark side of the wealthy kingdoms and the result of king’s ignorance, the slums of Hastinapur and Indraprasta are beautifully and tragically explained. I never imagined that I will ever read a book that’ll give prime importance to the hunter Jara and the deceived Ekalaiva. Hats off to the writer for bringing them into the picture. The cold war between Kunthi and Gandhaari, I loved it. Duryodhan & Banumathi’s romance is well captured �
The foreign prince, Sakuni, always holds prime importance in mahabarat related stories and once again, he doesn’t disappoint here. The book ends with stupid Yudhistir gambling away all he had which includes his puppet brothers and common wife Draupati while the foreigner Sakuni watches the scene with a glee. Draupati’s fate is in Duryodhan’s hands now and I am already waiting for "Ajaya II: Rise of Kali" to explain the rest of the story justifying Duryodhan’s actions.
Pandavas fought for a kingdom which did not belong to them at first place, they gambled their wife away in the gambling-court of men, they broke and deceived all the rules of the greatest war which was ironically named the Dharma-yudh. And they emerged as the heroes of history.
Kauravas, the righteous heirs of the throne of Hastinapur, waited and waited and waited, only to be tagged as evils in the pages of history. I always admired Duryodhan more than Yudhistir (let alone the Vastraharan) and Karna more than Arjun who relied on Krishna for his victories ! If the Kauravas are not the righteous, then why did Bhishma, Vithur, Kripacharya, Dronacharya and Karna take their side in the Kurushetra war ?
Ajaya : The epic of Kaurava clan by Anand Neelakantan glorifies Suyodhan (“Dur”yodhan) all through the book. The dark side of the wealthy kingdoms and the result of king’s ignorance, the slums of Hastinapur and Indraprasta are beautifully and tragically explained. I never imagined that I will ever read a book that’ll give prime importance to the hunter Jara and the deceived Ekalaiva. Hats off to the writer for bringing them into the picture. The cold war between Kunthi and Gandhaari, I loved it. Duryodhan & Banumathi’s romance is well captured �
The foreign prince, Sakuni, always holds prime importance in mahabarat related stories and once again, he doesn’t disappoint here. The book ends with stupid Yudhistir gambling away all he had which includes his puppet brothers and common wife Draupati while the foreigner Sakuni watches the scene with a glee. Draupati’s fate is in Duryodhan’s hands now and I am already waiting for "Ajaya II: Rise of Kali" to explain the rest of the story justifying Duryodhan’s actions.
March 13, 2014
Mahabharata from Duryodhana's eyes! What a refreshing thought. The thought itself held so much promise. And so it was that I proceeded to buy the book against sage advice from those who had read the author's previous book, Asura.
The best thing about the book is the promise of the premise - that of the view point of the vilified, the Kauravas. The worst thing about the book is that it is an opportunity squandered. A glorious opportunity squandered.
To be fair to the author, he makes several good points, several relevant points. The exploitation of the downtrodden, the untouchables at the hands of the higher castes are very valid points. Had it been a fictional account, or even historical account of these aspects, it would have been a good read. However, in Ajaya, we have these societal aspects mingled with the story of the Mahabharata with Duryodhana as the protagonist.
There is nothing wrong in that. Except that it would have been better off as two books - one a book about the exploitation of the downtrodden and how a prince, against all odds, stands up for them and is ultimately vanquished by those wanting to uphold their false sense of the ancient order. The second book should have been about Duryodhana and trying to interpret the events of the Mahabharata from his point of view - why he did what he did.
Unfortunately, this was not to be. So we have a book where Duryodhana is the epitome of all that is good, is manipulated by his devious uncle Shakuni and the Pandavas are cast as evil (with the inexplicable exception of Arjuna). Aiding them, or rather driving them is Krishna who is stripped of his divinity (that is not what my complaint is) and is a conniving schemer working his own agenda.
Unfortunately, simply reversing the roles of the good and the bad IS NOT Mahabharata from the view point of the vanquished. No character in the Mahabharata is clearly black and white. That left so much to explore. Ajaya simply casts Duryodhana and co. in pure white and Pandavas and co. in pure black. Shakuni is painted an extra shade of black. While this makes it very easy to glorify Duryodhana, for those who are familiar with the story of the Mahabharata, it is wholly unconvincing. Further, in order to paint the characters in his choice of colours, the author has twisted events to suit his purpose. That takes away from what the book could have been.
Making matters worse is poor execution. The language itself is simple and contemporary and this is admirable. However, narratives do not flow smoothly into each other, there are gaps in and mixing up of timelines, disjointed narratives etc., The worst part is the inconsistency in characterisation. For example, Subhadra who is deeply in love with Duryodhana, begins to hate him and falls in love with Arjuna. The reason? Because Duryodhana crowned Karna as king of Anga and thereby insulted Arjuna!
This is compounded further. There are events that are inconsistent too! For example, Drona orders Duryodhana to conquer Panchala and capture Drupada. Duryodhana does not wish to wage war against a friendly state. So he goes to Kampilya with only a few divisions of the army and conveys to Drupada the reason for Drona's anger and a repentant Drupada sends gifts with Duryodhana. He also appreciates and admires Duryodhana for his handling of the event. So far so good. An annoyed Drona orders the Pandavas to capture Drupada. Inexplicably, the entire Hastinapura army accompanies the Pandavas! Further, Arjuna captures Drupada and his sons Shikhandi and Dhrishtadyumna (there is an error here but more later) and presents them before Drona. Strangely, this angers Drupada and his sons against Duryodhana! Now why would Drupada get angry against one who treated him with respect and not one who insulted him? Furthermore, it is only now that Bhishma, who is running the affairs of the kingdom himself, comes to know of the mis-adventure of the Pandavas and comes to apologise to Drupada! So what was the Grand Regent who would have overseen the army doing while first Duryodhana assembles a few platoons and marches to Kampilya (as per the narrative, the whole exercise would have taken the Kauravas a week) and then the Pandavas mobilise the whole army and march off to invade a neighbouring kingdom!
The author also mixes up the timelines. A couple of instances: in this book, Duryodhana arrives at the rajasuya yagna AFTER Shishupala is killed by Krishna. This is incorrect. Duryodhana was appointed as the person to collect gifts from visiting kings - a very high honour. Therefore, he was present when Shishupala was killed. This is a glaring inconsistency in the book.
Another instance: the book states that Arjuna bound Drupada, Shikhandi and Drishtadyumna in chains and presented them before Drona. This is incorrect. Drupada, captured by Arjuna and insulted by Drona, performs a yagna to get a valiant son who will avenge him. Drishtadyumna (fully grown) emerges from the fire of the yagna as a result. The supernatural theme notwithstanding, this means that at the time of his defeat at the hands of Arjuna, Drishtadyumna DID not exist as a son of Drupada. He may have been adopted later or may have been the son of a close relative who was later adopted for his valour, but clearly, he was nowhere in the picture during Drupada's defeat.
There are also instances - important ones - that the author skips completely. Yudhishthira was crowned as the crown prince soon after the show of skill (when Karna makes his appearance) but BEFORE they proceed to the house of lac. This is a critical event that the author has completely missed.
In summary, this books over dramatises, twists events simply so that the Kauravas can be painted as righteous (I am not saying they weren't) and the Pandavas as evil (again, I am not saying they weren't), is marred by poor execution, inconsistent characterisation, errors in the story etc.,
The only silver lining is the depiction of the plight of the untouchables and the downtrodden - that is deserving a book in itself. There is little in the book about Duryodhana himself - most of the times he is depicted as a clueless fellow who lets himself be manipulated easily. Had the title of the book been Mahabharata - the untold story of the downtrodden AND did not have the errors and inconsistencies mentioned above, it could have been a much better book.
I really, really wish the brilliant opportunity to tell a good story not been squandered.
The best thing about the book is the promise of the premise - that of the view point of the vilified, the Kauravas. The worst thing about the book is that it is an opportunity squandered. A glorious opportunity squandered.
To be fair to the author, he makes several good points, several relevant points. The exploitation of the downtrodden, the untouchables at the hands of the higher castes are very valid points. Had it been a fictional account, or even historical account of these aspects, it would have been a good read. However, in Ajaya, we have these societal aspects mingled with the story of the Mahabharata with Duryodhana as the protagonist.
There is nothing wrong in that. Except that it would have been better off as two books - one a book about the exploitation of the downtrodden and how a prince, against all odds, stands up for them and is ultimately vanquished by those wanting to uphold their false sense of the ancient order. The second book should have been about Duryodhana and trying to interpret the events of the Mahabharata from his point of view - why he did what he did.
Unfortunately, this was not to be. So we have a book where Duryodhana is the epitome of all that is good, is manipulated by his devious uncle Shakuni and the Pandavas are cast as evil (with the inexplicable exception of Arjuna). Aiding them, or rather driving them is Krishna who is stripped of his divinity (that is not what my complaint is) and is a conniving schemer working his own agenda.
Unfortunately, simply reversing the roles of the good and the bad IS NOT Mahabharata from the view point of the vanquished. No character in the Mahabharata is clearly black and white. That left so much to explore. Ajaya simply casts Duryodhana and co. in pure white and Pandavas and co. in pure black. Shakuni is painted an extra shade of black. While this makes it very easy to glorify Duryodhana, for those who are familiar with the story of the Mahabharata, it is wholly unconvincing. Further, in order to paint the characters in his choice of colours, the author has twisted events to suit his purpose. That takes away from what the book could have been.
Making matters worse is poor execution. The language itself is simple and contemporary and this is admirable. However, narratives do not flow smoothly into each other, there are gaps in and mixing up of timelines, disjointed narratives etc., The worst part is the inconsistency in characterisation. For example, Subhadra who is deeply in love with Duryodhana, begins to hate him and falls in love with Arjuna. The reason? Because Duryodhana crowned Karna as king of Anga and thereby insulted Arjuna!
This is compounded further. There are events that are inconsistent too! For example, Drona orders Duryodhana to conquer Panchala and capture Drupada. Duryodhana does not wish to wage war against a friendly state. So he goes to Kampilya with only a few divisions of the army and conveys to Drupada the reason for Drona's anger and a repentant Drupada sends gifts with Duryodhana. He also appreciates and admires Duryodhana for his handling of the event. So far so good. An annoyed Drona orders the Pandavas to capture Drupada. Inexplicably, the entire Hastinapura army accompanies the Pandavas! Further, Arjuna captures Drupada and his sons Shikhandi and Dhrishtadyumna (there is an error here but more later) and presents them before Drona. Strangely, this angers Drupada and his sons against Duryodhana! Now why would Drupada get angry against one who treated him with respect and not one who insulted him? Furthermore, it is only now that Bhishma, who is running the affairs of the kingdom himself, comes to know of the mis-adventure of the Pandavas and comes to apologise to Drupada! So what was the Grand Regent who would have overseen the army doing while first Duryodhana assembles a few platoons and marches to Kampilya (as per the narrative, the whole exercise would have taken the Kauravas a week) and then the Pandavas mobilise the whole army and march off to invade a neighbouring kingdom!
The author also mixes up the timelines. A couple of instances: in this book, Duryodhana arrives at the rajasuya yagna AFTER Shishupala is killed by Krishna. This is incorrect. Duryodhana was appointed as the person to collect gifts from visiting kings - a very high honour. Therefore, he was present when Shishupala was killed. This is a glaring inconsistency in the book.
Another instance: the book states that Arjuna bound Drupada, Shikhandi and Drishtadyumna in chains and presented them before Drona. This is incorrect. Drupada, captured by Arjuna and insulted by Drona, performs a yagna to get a valiant son who will avenge him. Drishtadyumna (fully grown) emerges from the fire of the yagna as a result. The supernatural theme notwithstanding, this means that at the time of his defeat at the hands of Arjuna, Drishtadyumna DID not exist as a son of Drupada. He may have been adopted later or may have been the son of a close relative who was later adopted for his valour, but clearly, he was nowhere in the picture during Drupada's defeat.
There are also instances - important ones - that the author skips completely. Yudhishthira was crowned as the crown prince soon after the show of skill (when Karna makes his appearance) but BEFORE they proceed to the house of lac. This is a critical event that the author has completely missed.
In summary, this books over dramatises, twists events simply so that the Kauravas can be painted as righteous (I am not saying they weren't) and the Pandavas as evil (again, I am not saying they weren't), is marred by poor execution, inconsistent characterisation, errors in the story etc.,
The only silver lining is the depiction of the plight of the untouchables and the downtrodden - that is deserving a book in itself. There is little in the book about Duryodhana himself - most of the times he is depicted as a clueless fellow who lets himself be manipulated easily. Had the title of the book been Mahabharata - the untold story of the downtrodden AND did not have the errors and inconsistencies mentioned above, it could have been a much better book.
I really, really wish the brilliant opportunity to tell a good story not been squandered.
May 3, 2020
Video Review -
From childhood we heard heroic stories of Pandavas & Krishna, along with evil stories of Kaurava and Shakuni. 'Ajaya' - Mahabharata from Duryodhana (or Suyodhana) point of view was never brought to us.
Anand has depicted how story could be if Suyodhana was not an evil person. Anand used all loopholes in conventional Mahabharata stories presented as divine intervention either by Krishna or God, and presented them as how it would be if there were no divine force other than tempering actual fact. Starting from birth of Pandavas, to Khanva-forest, to Jarasandh-killing etc. Anand has also given weight on characters like Eklavya and Jara in details.
Anand has wonderfully colored Suyodhana and circumstances that made him look evil.
I hope next part that I am going to start is as thrilling as this one.
From childhood we heard heroic stories of Pandavas & Krishna, along with evil stories of Kaurava and Shakuni. 'Ajaya' - Mahabharata from Duryodhana (or Suyodhana) point of view was never brought to us.
Anand has depicted how story could be if Suyodhana was not an evil person. Anand used all loopholes in conventional Mahabharata stories presented as divine intervention either by Krishna or God, and presented them as how it would be if there were no divine force other than tempering actual fact. Starting from birth of Pandavas, to Khanva-forest, to Jarasandh-killing etc. Anand has also given weight on characters like Eklavya and Jara in details.
Anand has wonderfully colored Suyodhana and circumstances that made him look evil.
I hope next part that I am going to start is as thrilling as this one.
January 15, 2014
I was quite disappointed with it actually. I went into the book expecting a saga of family and politics minus the divinity and righteousness . but instead I got the picture of a author who only wished to turn the tables and make proverbial good guys appear bad and vice versa. instead of making the protagonist appear like a doe eyed idealist making him as unbelievable as the traditional adaptations of Mahabharata make the pandavas and Krishna. the constant references to social evils were exhausting and frankly the concept of " foreign hand" being the cause of all trouble is far too clichéd.
June 2, 2015
The greatest achievement of Anand's books is that they trained our minds to see the other perspective.... And people have embraced his books with both their hands... That goes to show that our society is truly liberal... We openly accept the other perspective even on epics which have been ingrained in the common physche of the society for thousands of years.... this is what modern India is like - open minded and liberal.... many thanks Anand for writing these books.... And he says that his latest book Ajaya is a tribute to Vyasa - thats so true - because Vyasa originally painted his characters in grey - years and years of interpolations made them black and white.... Anand has actually revived the true spirit of the Mahabharat which was never a goody goody tale - it was actually a harsh take on human nature - and human life.... Thanks to Anand again!
January 20, 2014
Book Review: AJAYA by Anand Neelakantan: Roll of Dice has Begun
AJAYA Epic of the KAURAVA Clan Book 1: Roll of Dice by Anand Neelakantan is the second book from the same author that I have read and reviewed. Earlier book Asura: Tale of Vanquished: The story of Ravana and his People was an excellent read that was quite engrossing and proved Anand to be an excellent writer who does extensive research before writing his book and takes his own time to sip and drink to finish the bottle with no hurry. And that is when I became a complete fan of Anand Neelakantan and eagerly started waiting for his next book AJAYA. Anand loves to touch Indian mythical and epic stories with a totally different kind of touch to provide an entirely different perspective but not without doing his homework well with good amount of research in his subject.
And that is where I started closely following Anand to find out about his next ventures. I participated in cover release for AJAYA, then an exhaustive Prelude and then requested him for an author interview. This is the first time any author has got so many posts on my blog. It has been an excellent journey for me with Anand Neelakantan.
Now about AJAYA. AJAYA is the story of Duryofhana, the eldest son among Kaurava Clan. The story is based on famous Indian mythological epic story Mahabharata but has been presented in a very different manner. Duryodhana has been presented as a positive character whom so far we have always seen as the biggest villain and most negative characters in all TV serials based on Mahabharata and almost all the books so far written on the same subject. So far prior to this book we have found innocent Pandavas as victims in the hands of Kauravas who are presented as crooked and cunning in all their deeds.
That is the strength of Anand Neelakantan to take huge challenges of changing the main characters to their extremities and presenting it so well that the reader almost get engrossed in such a way that the whole outlook about the character that was there in the mind changes by 180 degrees. As far as writing style of Anand is concerned, it is undoubtedly and unchallenged. He has the art of creating big picture and then taking to the journey with the magic of his writing to extreme depths. Duryodhana in AJAYA is the lead character and is with neat intentions, and good deeds. Whatever he had to do was in response to the acts from the opposite end. His defeat in the hands of Pandavas does not prove that he was the villain and Pandavas were heroes.
Anand Neelakantan even took the challenge of playing with the characterization in a different style. We all read so far, for instance, about Shakuni, as a short, harsh and not too good appearing character. Shakuni, we see, in AJAYA, as a totally different character - tall, handsome and good looking. So is with many other characters. We saw Bhadra in his earlier book ASURA as one of the main characters who is born from nowhere but plays a substantial role in the whole book. The same happens in AJAYA too, here we find a character Jara, a beggar, along with his blind dog Dharma and has played a substantial role in the book.
Overall a very interesting read with some great lessons and insights on life. For instance a conversation happening between Karna and Kripacharya on pages 68-69 is excellent in learning about the caste system, the purpose why it was built initially and how it got misinterpreted subsequently over the period of time when one caste became the enemy of another instead of the reality that one could not survive without the other.
Though there are many excellent quotes in the book, one out of them I would like to place here on life what Acharya Kripa told to Karna after saving him from a suicidal attemp - "Life is a gamble. You do not know how the dice will fall. But once they have, how you move the pieces is in your hands."
One thing that I could not digest is about the absurd talks by Acharya Kripa and Acharya Drona against Vidhura, Bhishma, Duryodhana and the blind king Dhritrashtra to an extreme insulting extent and that too quite openly. After all they both were the servants in the kingdom and were paid for their services. It cannot happen even in today's scenario, how could that happen in those times?
And finally there is a proof reading mistake on page 15 when "few" is used twice in a sentence.
Final Verdict: A fantastic, interesting and engrossing read to learn an insight of Mahabharata in an entirely different perspective.
January 25, 2014
Great book!!!
The worst part is that u have to wait for its second part due release in august. The viewpoint of anand has completely baffled my understanding of mahabharata. Its really GOOD!!! For those who are not conservative and welcomes a different perspective, this is the book to go for!
Won't disaapoint you!
The worst part is that u have to wait for its second part due release in august. The viewpoint of anand has completely baffled my understanding of mahabharata. Its really GOOD!!! For those who are not conservative and welcomes a different perspective, this is the book to go for!
Won't disaapoint you!
December 28, 2013
4.5 stars
I had loved, Asura when I had read it, albeit much later than a lot of people. History is not very easy to write about, or re-write, with a fresh perspective. Neelakantan had taken a villain and put him in a fresh light for us, made him lovable and relate-able. In Ajaya, personally, I felt that Neelakantan has outdone himself. This time his muse is Duryodhan.
The book begins with Bhishma and how his actions based on his beliefs, actually proved wrong for others. It all began when he almost forced Gandhari to be wed to blind Dhritarashtra. We have read about how righteous the Pandavas and Kunti were, but Neelakantan has spun his web on a different spine. Questions like why was Karna treated the way he was, why did he have to keep proving himself, why was Eklavya insulted, why was Khandiva forest destroyed.
This book is about Duryodhana. Suyodhana, actually. What surprised me was, how Suyodhana and Subhadra had fallen in love, sadly it didn't work out. Ajaya is a book, once should read. Mainly because we have always read one version of the Mahabharata and a story is not complete, unless it's heard from all sides. I am waiting for the next book in the series, now.
I had loved, Asura when I had read it, albeit much later than a lot of people. History is not very easy to write about, or re-write, with a fresh perspective. Neelakantan had taken a villain and put him in a fresh light for us, made him lovable and relate-able. In Ajaya, personally, I felt that Neelakantan has outdone himself. This time his muse is Duryodhan.
The book begins with Bhishma and how his actions based on his beliefs, actually proved wrong for others. It all began when he almost forced Gandhari to be wed to blind Dhritarashtra. We have read about how righteous the Pandavas and Kunti were, but Neelakantan has spun his web on a different spine. Questions like why was Karna treated the way he was, why did he have to keep proving himself, why was Eklavya insulted, why was Khandiva forest destroyed.
This book is about Duryodhana. Suyodhana, actually. What surprised me was, how Suyodhana and Subhadra had fallen in love, sadly it didn't work out. Ajaya is a book, once should read. Mainly because we have always read one version of the Mahabharata and a story is not complete, unless it's heard from all sides. I am waiting for the next book in the series, now.
July 3, 2020
I still don't know if I'll be able to do enough justice to this book by writing this review. I feel this book is too underrated, so had to write it this big. I have read this book year back and its next part and the series was and still is a 5-star rating for me. For a person like me who never read a book in childhood, this book has immensely helped me to fall in love with books. It looked challenging for me as it has got more than 400 pages yet it was quite reminiscing, delightful and I remember being utterly hooked into it.
This work is about the great Mahabharata from Duryodhana's (Suyodhana) POV. In this book, Kauravas are the protagonists and Pandavas are the antagonists. The author embellishes Duryodhana as a good person right from his childhood and how he always wanted to create a society without caste system, thereby showing that the fate of a person shouldn't be determined by his caste from his birth, but rather must be made through his hard work and actions. Yet his dream remains a utopia. Despite being such a person who was always against the caste system, people all over consider him to be a sacrilegious person to date. I feel it's quite true when people say, there is nothing that didn't happen in Mahabharata which will happen in the future, like how certain heinous crimes happen amongst loved ones out of greed, ill-treatment against women in a patriarchal society, the prevailing caste system, injustices happening, etc.
I vividly remember when I told my friend that I was reading this book and Duryodhana was a good person, she said, "oh, he has got good qualities too?". I agree that there is no fault of my friend to think in such a way. From childhood, we have always been seeing how few dull-witted serials and movies portray him as the greatest villain in Indian history, like having a wicked smile, monstrous laughter, and despicable background music whenever he enters into the scene. I get it that through these gestures they want the audience to understand that he is a very bad person from the very beginning. But what I don't get it is, why didn't they show his positive side? Or why is it too imperative for these serials to show that heroes are never flawed and villains are always flawed? Why is it so important to show a person as a villain in every story from the very beginning rather than making people know about what were the circumstances did those villains face? And now for those reasons, I feel a little betrayed. It's also true that no person is too bad or too good, and almost everybody has got their reasons for turning into a cold-hearted person. So, all these "whys" have been answered by this author, which is the main reason why I loved this book so very much. After reading, I really felt it's very important for each one of us to know a story from two sides.
Coming to the:
-characters: He has mentioned many characters that most of us are unmindful of.
My most favorites are Balarama and Karna.
-writing: it's very simple, engaging, and a page-turner. Anybody can easily get along with and the description of all the characters is just exemplary.
I so want to write 2 reviews on this book, like one without spoilers and the other with spoilers. 😛 Also, I regret not reviewing this book before.
This work is about the great Mahabharata from Duryodhana's (Suyodhana) POV. In this book, Kauravas are the protagonists and Pandavas are the antagonists. The author embellishes Duryodhana as a good person right from his childhood and how he always wanted to create a society without caste system, thereby showing that the fate of a person shouldn't be determined by his caste from his birth, but rather must be made through his hard work and actions. Yet his dream remains a utopia. Despite being such a person who was always against the caste system, people all over consider him to be a sacrilegious person to date. I feel it's quite true when people say, there is nothing that didn't happen in Mahabharata which will happen in the future, like how certain heinous crimes happen amongst loved ones out of greed, ill-treatment against women in a patriarchal society, the prevailing caste system, injustices happening, etc.
I vividly remember when I told my friend that I was reading this book and Duryodhana was a good person, she said, "oh, he has got good qualities too?". I agree that there is no fault of my friend to think in such a way. From childhood, we have always been seeing how few dull-witted serials and movies portray him as the greatest villain in Indian history, like having a wicked smile, monstrous laughter, and despicable background music whenever he enters into the scene. I get it that through these gestures they want the audience to understand that he is a very bad person from the very beginning. But what I don't get it is, why didn't they show his positive side? Or why is it too imperative for these serials to show that heroes are never flawed and villains are always flawed? Why is it so important to show a person as a villain in every story from the very beginning rather than making people know about what were the circumstances did those villains face? And now for those reasons, I feel a little betrayed. It's also true that no person is too bad or too good, and almost everybody has got their reasons for turning into a cold-hearted person. So, all these "whys" have been answered by this author, which is the main reason why I loved this book so very much. After reading, I really felt it's very important for each one of us to know a story from two sides.
Coming to the:
-characters: He has mentioned many characters that most of us are unmindful of.
My most favorites are Balarama and Karna.
-writing: it's very simple, engaging, and a page-turner. Anybody can easily get along with and the description of all the characters is just exemplary.
I so want to write 2 reviews on this book, like one without spoilers and the other with spoilers. 😛 Also, I regret not reviewing this book before.
January 18, 2015
ஆண்டாண்டுகளா� கேவலப்படுதப்பட்ட ஒர� கதாபாத்திரத்தின் உள� ஆழத்தில் சென்று பார்க்கும் போது அந்த கதாபாத்திரத்திற்கு நேர்ந்� நியா�- அந்நியாயங்கள� புலப்படும். தோற்றவனின் கதைய� படிக்கும� போது தான் வென்றவனின் சாதுர்யம� புரியும். இதுவரை நேர்த்தியானவர்கள� என நாம் நம்பிய கதாபாத்திரங்களின� நயவஞ்சகம� புரியும். இதுவரை நாம் வேன்றவரையே கதாநாயகர்களாய் பார்த்துள்ளோம். இத� வீழ்த்தப்பட்டவனின் கத�.
சகுனியும� கிருஷ்ணனும� மி� சிறந்த தேர்ந்� political strategists ! இவர்கள� இருவருக்கும் இடைய� பகடையாய் உருட்டப்பட்ட� காணாமல� போ� அஸ்தினாப்புரத்து இளவரசன� துரியோதனனின் கத�. தனக்கு எவ்வகையிலும் உரிமையில்ல� அரியணையை கோரி� பாண்டவருக்கும், உரிதானவற்ற� அடைய தட� தகர்க்� முற்பட்ட துரியோதனனுக்கும் இடைய� நடந்� கத�.
"கௌரவன் - உருண்ட� பகடைகள�" மி� நேர்த்தியா� துரியோதனனின் நியா� தர்மங்கள� எடுத்துரைக்கின்ற�. கௌரவர்கள� ஏற்கனவ� வடித்த� வைக்கப்பட்� நீதிகள� கேள்வி கேட்காமல� ஏற்றுகொள்வது ஆகாத� என்ற கொள்கையோடு வாழ்பவர்கள�. வர்ணசாஸ்திரத்த� கடுமையாக எதிர்த்த ஒர� சத்ரியன் என துரியோதனனை மட்டும� காண்பிக்� முடியும்.
நேர்மைக்கு பெயர� போ� விதுரர�, சாஸ்திரங்களில் தேர்ந்� கிருபாச்சாரியார், கங்கையின� மைந்தன� பீஷ்மன�, நூறை ஒதுக்க� ஐந்துக்க� முக்கியத்துவம் அளித்த துரோணர�, கிருஷ்ணரின� சகோதரன� பலராமன�, மேலும் பல சிற்றரசர்கள்... இவர்கள� அனைவரும் துரியனுக்க� சாதகமாய் நிற்� காரணமென்� ?
பொதுவா� காரணத்தை நாம் அறிவோம�. அந்த காரணங்களுக்க� முற்றிலும் புதிதா� ஒர� கோணம� காட்டி துரியன� ஒர� பட� மேலுயர்த்துகிறார� ஆனந்த் நீலகண்டன�. காந்தாரி, திரிதராஸ்திரர், கர்ணன், அஸ்வத்தாமன�, பானுமத�, துரியனின� சகோதரர்கள் என இத� கௌரவர்களின� தூண்களைய� நெருடி செல்கிறத�. பொன்னால் வேயப்பட்� அத்தினபுரியின் சேரிகளிலும�, தெருக்களிலும� வாழ்த்� மூன்றாம், நான்காம் வர்ணத்தவரின் கத� இத�. சூளுரைத்து நாசம� கண்ட சகுனியின� பகடைகள� உருண்ட கத�.
இரண்டாம் பாகத்தில� திரௌபத� துகிலுரித்தலும� அதற்கு துரியனின� பக்க வாதங்களும் எடுதுரைக்கப்படலாம். போரும், சகுனியின� தாயத்திற்கான முடிவும் அதிலேய� அமையும�. :)
மகாபாரத்தில் மிகவும� இழிவுப்படுத்தப்பட்� (வஞ்சிக்கப்பட்ட என கூறுவதைய� நான் விரும்புகிறேன்) ஒர� கதாப்பாத்திரத்தின் கத� என்பதினாலோ என்னவோ, பக்கங்கள� யாவிலும் ஒர� வி� வல� எதிரொலிக்கின்றது. சமாளிப்ப� சால்ஜாப்போ எதிலும� இல்ல�. சி� நேரங்களில் கா� மாறுதலுக்க� இணங்� சரித்திரம் மாற்றி அமைக்கப்பட தான் வேண்டும் ! மறைக்கப்பட்டவற்றிக்க� கோணம� வழங்கப்ப� தான் வேண்டும்.
சகுனியும� கிருஷ்ணனும� மி� சிறந்த தேர்ந்� political strategists ! இவர்கள� இருவருக்கும் இடைய� பகடையாய் உருட்டப்பட்ட� காணாமல� போ� அஸ்தினாப்புரத்து இளவரசன� துரியோதனனின் கத�. தனக்கு எவ்வகையிலும் உரிமையில்ல� அரியணையை கோரி� பாண்டவருக்கும், உரிதானவற்ற� அடைய தட� தகர்க்� முற்பட்ட துரியோதனனுக்கும் இடைய� நடந்� கத�.
"கௌரவன் - உருண்ட� பகடைகள�" மி� நேர்த்தியா� துரியோதனனின் நியா� தர்மங்கள� எடுத்துரைக்கின்ற�. கௌரவர்கள� ஏற்கனவ� வடித்த� வைக்கப்பட்� நீதிகள� கேள்வி கேட்காமல� ஏற்றுகொள்வது ஆகாத� என்ற கொள்கையோடு வாழ்பவர்கள�. வர்ணசாஸ்திரத்த� கடுமையாக எதிர்த்த ஒர� சத்ரியன் என துரியோதனனை மட்டும� காண்பிக்� முடியும்.
நேர்மைக்கு பெயர� போ� விதுரர�, சாஸ்திரங்களில் தேர்ந்� கிருபாச்சாரியார், கங்கையின� மைந்தன� பீஷ்மன�, நூறை ஒதுக்க� ஐந்துக்க� முக்கியத்துவம் அளித்த துரோணர�, கிருஷ்ணரின� சகோதரன� பலராமன�, மேலும் பல சிற்றரசர்கள்... இவர்கள� அனைவரும் துரியனுக்க� சாதகமாய் நிற்� காரணமென்� ?
பொதுவா� காரணத்தை நாம் அறிவோம�. அந்த காரணங்களுக்க� முற்றிலும் புதிதா� ஒர� கோணம� காட்டி துரியன� ஒர� பட� மேலுயர்த்துகிறார� ஆனந்த் நீலகண்டன�. காந்தாரி, திரிதராஸ்திரர், கர்ணன், அஸ்வத்தாமன�, பானுமத�, துரியனின� சகோதரர்கள் என இத� கௌரவர்களின� தூண்களைய� நெருடி செல்கிறத�. பொன்னால் வேயப்பட்� அத்தினபுரியின் சேரிகளிலும�, தெருக்களிலும� வாழ்த்� மூன்றாம், நான்காம் வர்ணத்தவரின் கத� இத�. சூளுரைத்து நாசம� கண்ட சகுனியின� பகடைகள� உருண்ட கத�.
இரண்டாம் பாகத்தில� திரௌபத� துகிலுரித்தலும� அதற்கு துரியனின� பக்க வாதங்களும் எடுதுரைக்கப்படலாம். போரும், சகுனியின� தாயத்திற்கான முடிவும் அதிலேய� அமையும�. :)
மகாபாரத்தில் மிகவும� இழிவுப்படுத்தப்பட்� (வஞ்சிக்கப்பட்ட என கூறுவதைய� நான் விரும்புகிறேன்) ஒர� கதாப்பாத்திரத்தின் கத� என்பதினாலோ என்னவோ, பக்கங்கள� யாவிலும் ஒர� வி� வல� எதிரொலிக்கின்றது. சமாளிப்ப� சால்ஜாப்போ எதிலும� இல்ல�. சி� நேரங்களில் கா� மாறுதலுக்க� இணங்� சரித்திரம் மாற்றி அமைக்கப்பட தான் வேண்டும் ! மறைக்கப்பட்டவற்றிக்க� கோணம� வழங்கப்ப� தான் வேண்டும்.
December 10, 2013
In Neelakantan’s retelling, the ‘dharma� of the Pandavas is not about ‘duty� or ‘justice� � it is actually about rigidly and unquestioningly following caste rules. Their antagonists, on the other hand, are the egalitarian Kauravas, represented mainly by Suyodhana, who believes in equality, personal merit and accomplishments, charity towards the poor etc. Read more:
February 21, 2017
Pandavas and Krishna need not be painted negative just to show Duryodhana in positive light. One of the worst books I have read.
January 19, 2018
Mahabharat and Ramayan are two of the most loved epics from our part of the world and I have read almost half a dozen of the new-age versions in the name of Mythological Fiction which sells like a hot cake in today's time. Some of them are damn interesting, some I totally loved, liked and even lived with but there are a very few which I actually end up hating for various personal reasons (call it my personal opinion, like or dislike) and this one unfortunately falls in that sad category where I don't want any book to put in as far as I can. But this one is an epic disaster of sorts for so many reasons that I would not be able to point out in here because if I really do that, it will not remain a blabber but will turn out to be a book of epic proportions and a comedy of errors of sorts. Also, there are a very few books which make me furiously sad and I swear in the end to never pick anything else from the same Author ever in future, how so much critical acclaim they may gather as they have had indeed shot down some of my all time favorite and loved characters in the name of fiction and fame. This is one such book, if you intend to read this because you may have heard of so much praise for it, you can stop here and get back to doing what you were doing and I will go on blabber a little more about this unfortunate accident and I am not even talking about poor editing (or lack of it - I love this term), spelling mistakes or cringe-worthy grammatical mistakes - I am no expert on any of them anyways, still couldn't not notice.
I love my mom to teach me one thing very clearly and that is engraved somewhere deeper in my heart that to make my line longer, I am not supposed to erase someone else's line and make it shorter. If I have to succeed I do not have to make others to fail. Unfortunately I couldn't say the same for Anand or his parents may have taught him differently, so in quest of telling Duryodhan's version of the Epic Mahabharat, he has gone overboard in making almost every other character a solid villain and he is pretty good in sketching those characters damn dark. He actually succeeded big time as so far from the versions that I have read, Karn is my all time favorite and now he has made Suyodhan to become my second favorite for sure with his book but unfortunately everything else is a disaster in this story (call it mytho fiction as that's precisely what this is). I just couldn't believe my eyes when I read something like Bhim calling Suyodhan a "Blind fool, Son of a blind fool", howsoever hatred he may have for his father in his heart, this is impossible. The terrific lines his characters kept on mouthing like "I will make an offer you will not be able to refuse", or Karn trying to bribe the security guards to enter a Kingdom. Pandava's walking besides Uncle Vidhur and trying not to touch him mistakenly since he was an "Untouchable". Or the epic disaster of Suyodhan kissing Subhadra (mind it - lip to lip) right below the nose of brother Balaram, that was like a "Wow" moment of the entire book. Or even the best archer of the world mighty Arjun, blinding a dog to prove his prowess in archery or blinding the lover birds at the drop of a hat. I mean, you get a hang right? he left no stone upturned in turning the Pandava's or almost everybody else from the epic to be a villain and the hero is only one man and that is the great "Suyodhan" who was misunderstood all this while. Guess the Author actually found a temple of Suyodhan down south in India where people treat him like a god, I believe him as that is awesome.
Of-course in the name of Mythological Fiction and retelling anything and everything is allowed since there is no censor board so far monitoring the kind of literature coming out from anyone's pen. This one actually left the same taste in my mouth as a movie like "Slumdog Millionaire" leaves on every Indian's mouth of showing India in poor light even in bloody 21st century. Indraprastha (Pandava's part) and Hastinapur (Kaurava's part) was no better than the current Dharavi of Mumbai (Asia's biggest slum) if you already not know that. The epic details in which he has covered the life of downtrodden untouchables from the two states and holds Krishna and Bhishma responsible for what happens in the story is simply beyond me. On the positive side as always the case is with these fictional accounts, I will give him his due by calling it a very smartly written book with a damn good pace that it almost works like a good page turner. I just couldn't keep it down or trash it mid-ways, had to complete it to know how he decides to end it. This one unfortunately ends at at a point where the reader is totally stuck to know what happens next and the rest would be covered in the sequel that I have sworn not to read (over my dead body). But the damn sad or good thing is that he has converted me into fan of Suyodhan, I would never be able to call him Duryodhan again ever. The guy was totally misunderstood is what I always believed but that does not makes everybody else a villain, I am sure of it.
Some priceless lines and mentions that I will remember for life from this book will be like Balaram telling Karn "Godspeed Karn". And Suyodhan shouting back on Guru Drona saying "You have eaten Hastinapur's Salt....". And I already mentioned the legendary God Father's line mouthed by Mama Shakuni was the best of the lot. Karn actually getting an Armour as a gift from the followers of Lord Sun :). Lord Indra living a life of a recluse with untouchables as for some reason he was no good to be a God anymore.
If you have read this and loved it, I welcome the brickbats but if you have hated it like I did, here is a Hi5. But if you haven't read it so far, I will seriously say, stay away man! As we have far better versions to read about the epic. I will definitely move on to Mrityunajaya soon as that's been on my TBR for quite a while, saying this before everyone jumps and recommends the same to me :). But do let me know your thoughts on the book if you have read it. It's a Goodbye Good-riddance to Anand Neelakantan from me here.
I love my mom to teach me one thing very clearly and that is engraved somewhere deeper in my heart that to make my line longer, I am not supposed to erase someone else's line and make it shorter. If I have to succeed I do not have to make others to fail. Unfortunately I couldn't say the same for Anand or his parents may have taught him differently, so in quest of telling Duryodhan's version of the Epic Mahabharat, he has gone overboard in making almost every other character a solid villain and he is pretty good in sketching those characters damn dark. He actually succeeded big time as so far from the versions that I have read, Karn is my all time favorite and now he has made Suyodhan to become my second favorite for sure with his book but unfortunately everything else is a disaster in this story (call it mytho fiction as that's precisely what this is). I just couldn't believe my eyes when I read something like Bhim calling Suyodhan a "Blind fool, Son of a blind fool", howsoever hatred he may have for his father in his heart, this is impossible. The terrific lines his characters kept on mouthing like "I will make an offer you will not be able to refuse", or Karn trying to bribe the security guards to enter a Kingdom. Pandava's walking besides Uncle Vidhur and trying not to touch him mistakenly since he was an "Untouchable". Or the epic disaster of Suyodhan kissing Subhadra (mind it - lip to lip) right below the nose of brother Balaram, that was like a "Wow" moment of the entire book. Or even the best archer of the world mighty Arjun, blinding a dog to prove his prowess in archery or blinding the lover birds at the drop of a hat. I mean, you get a hang right? he left no stone upturned in turning the Pandava's or almost everybody else from the epic to be a villain and the hero is only one man and that is the great "Suyodhan" who was misunderstood all this while. Guess the Author actually found a temple of Suyodhan down south in India where people treat him like a god, I believe him as that is awesome.
Of-course in the name of Mythological Fiction and retelling anything and everything is allowed since there is no censor board so far monitoring the kind of literature coming out from anyone's pen. This one actually left the same taste in my mouth as a movie like "Slumdog Millionaire" leaves on every Indian's mouth of showing India in poor light even in bloody 21st century. Indraprastha (Pandava's part) and Hastinapur (Kaurava's part) was no better than the current Dharavi of Mumbai (Asia's biggest slum) if you already not know that. The epic details in which he has covered the life of downtrodden untouchables from the two states and holds Krishna and Bhishma responsible for what happens in the story is simply beyond me. On the positive side as always the case is with these fictional accounts, I will give him his due by calling it a very smartly written book with a damn good pace that it almost works like a good page turner. I just couldn't keep it down or trash it mid-ways, had to complete it to know how he decides to end it. This one unfortunately ends at at a point where the reader is totally stuck to know what happens next and the rest would be covered in the sequel that I have sworn not to read (over my dead body). But the damn sad or good thing is that he has converted me into fan of Suyodhan, I would never be able to call him Duryodhan again ever. The guy was totally misunderstood is what I always believed but that does not makes everybody else a villain, I am sure of it.
Some priceless lines and mentions that I will remember for life from this book will be like Balaram telling Karn "Godspeed Karn". And Suyodhan shouting back on Guru Drona saying "You have eaten Hastinapur's Salt....". And I already mentioned the legendary God Father's line mouthed by Mama Shakuni was the best of the lot. Karn actually getting an Armour as a gift from the followers of Lord Sun :). Lord Indra living a life of a recluse with untouchables as for some reason he was no good to be a God anymore.
If you have read this and loved it, I welcome the brickbats but if you have hated it like I did, here is a Hi5. But if you haven't read it so far, I will seriously say, stay away man! As we have far better versions to read about the epic. I will definitely move on to Mrityunajaya soon as that's been on my TBR for quite a while, saying this before everyone jumps and recommends the same to me :). But do let me know your thoughts on the book if you have read it. It's a Goodbye Good-riddance to Anand Neelakantan from me here.
December 13, 2013
The mark of a great epic is the ways it can be endlessly interpreted.... this is one of the most credible versions insofar as it overturns and inverts the conventional wisdom and ably stresses how outmoded customs, a tyrannical social order, boundless ambition and manipulative people can take the whole epoch to a monumental disaster... The parallels with the present day or the roots of present day malaises are well-done though a trifle overdone
December 30, 2013
Well done Anand Neelakandan ....
Ajaya:ROll of the Dice (Book 1 )is a novel which describes the famous rapscallion of Mahabhratha, Suyodhana known as Duryodhana, in a different dimension,
In authors note section of this book Anand describes a temple dedicated for Dhuryodhana in a village called Poruvazhi, which is very near to my birth place.
The festival every year was during my school summer vacation and once I visited the place with my father during the festival .
As a kid I was wondered why people worship anti gods like Dhuryodhana, and I asked my father about that .He replied “Dhuryodhana was a great king who lost the war and the image�
That time I couldn’t understand what my father meant .
When you interpret history with unbiased agenda yes villains become heroes and heroes become villains !!!
What's is the biggest evil humankind ever produced ? Sure it’s not the nuclear bomb ? Its the Varnasrama based on Sanathana Dharma that is a byproduct of our great Indian culture !! Millions got affected and millions are still under the dark grip of it. Claims of avatars had happened to protect it whenever few revolutionary human being tried to challenge it. They had been sidelined as asuras and subjected to genocide. Neither Ravana nor Mahabali nor Suyodhana couldn’t escape from that. Poets became paid copywriters to glorify the carnage .
This Book Ajaya is a well expressed writing with an excellent plot. The Author speaks as a philosopher and as a radical humanist many occasions . The real and fictitious characters of Ajaya are precisely formulated. One character requires special mention here is the whimsical , epigrammatic , insurgent Kripa . Anand carved Kripa’s character with sharp edge of rationalism and polished with sense of banter which can be seen in Kerala traditional art forms like Thullal , Koothu and modern day theater mimicry�.
I am sure that this book will blow your thoughts and unnerve your mind . waiting for the second part of this book�
Ajaya:ROll of the Dice (Book 1 )is a novel which describes the famous rapscallion of Mahabhratha, Suyodhana known as Duryodhana, in a different dimension,
In authors note section of this book Anand describes a temple dedicated for Dhuryodhana in a village called Poruvazhi, which is very near to my birth place.
The festival every year was during my school summer vacation and once I visited the place with my father during the festival .
As a kid I was wondered why people worship anti gods like Dhuryodhana, and I asked my father about that .He replied “Dhuryodhana was a great king who lost the war and the image�
That time I couldn’t understand what my father meant .
When you interpret history with unbiased agenda yes villains become heroes and heroes become villains !!!
What's is the biggest evil humankind ever produced ? Sure it’s not the nuclear bomb ? Its the Varnasrama based on Sanathana Dharma that is a byproduct of our great Indian culture !! Millions got affected and millions are still under the dark grip of it. Claims of avatars had happened to protect it whenever few revolutionary human being tried to challenge it. They had been sidelined as asuras and subjected to genocide. Neither Ravana nor Mahabali nor Suyodhana couldn’t escape from that. Poets became paid copywriters to glorify the carnage .
This Book Ajaya is a well expressed writing with an excellent plot. The Author speaks as a philosopher and as a radical humanist many occasions . The real and fictitious characters of Ajaya are precisely formulated. One character requires special mention here is the whimsical , epigrammatic , insurgent Kripa . Anand carved Kripa’s character with sharp edge of rationalism and polished with sense of banter which can be seen in Kerala traditional art forms like Thullal , Koothu and modern day theater mimicry�.
I am sure that this book will blow your thoughts and unnerve your mind . waiting for the second part of this book�
December 11, 2013
Anand Neelakantan’s second Book ‘Ajaya � Roll of the dice� is the story of Jaya, or Mahabharata as we popularly know it. However there is a twist, the tale is a narration from the Kaurava’s angle. History has always been from the side of the victorious as the losers never have a chance to elaborate their plot. Ajaya � Roll of the Dice gives them that power of speech to tell their story and not the ‘His story� version.
The Author beautifully portrays the mindset, lifestyle and caste dominancy of the Mahabharata times through a series of pre battle coaxes and doings that caused the epic to unfold in the first place. The fact that Arjuna was not the first to win the contest in getting Draupadi, but rather Karna, King of Anga who won it; the fact that Krishna created hatred towards Suyodhana and love for Arjuna in the heart of Shubadhra; the fact that based on Vedic laws a woman can only marry four men and beyond that, would term her a prostitute however for the sake of not creating strife between The Pandavas that rule was overlooked!
The book ends with a call for Draupadi to be presented to the Kaurava Clan where her fate lies in their hands. Anand Neelakantan’s second part to Ajaya � Roll of the Dice is set to release some time in 2014 and is sure to be as eye opening as its predecessor.
The Author beautifully portrays the mindset, lifestyle and caste dominancy of the Mahabharata times through a series of pre battle coaxes and doings that caused the epic to unfold in the first place. The fact that Arjuna was not the first to win the contest in getting Draupadi, but rather Karna, King of Anga who won it; the fact that Krishna created hatred towards Suyodhana and love for Arjuna in the heart of Shubadhra; the fact that based on Vedic laws a woman can only marry four men and beyond that, would term her a prostitute however for the sake of not creating strife between The Pandavas that rule was overlooked!
The book ends with a call for Draupadi to be presented to the Kaurava Clan where her fate lies in their hands. Anand Neelakantan’s second part to Ajaya � Roll of the Dice is set to release some time in 2014 and is sure to be as eye opening as its predecessor.
November 2, 2014
Ajaya is a book, which shows Suyodhana (popularly known as Duryodhana) as a compassionate and righteous hero and Pandavas and Lord Krishna in a negative shade. According to this book what Krishna and Hindu Scriptures called 'Dharma' is nothing but upholding the caste system ruthlessly and the meaning to "Karma" is to stick to the rules of Dharma without application of mind. If you believe in Mahabharatha as commonly known and understood, you may be shocked to read this book, which reverses the roles of Pandavas and Kauravas.
However, if you don't 'believe' in the Mythologies and consider those as stories, you would know the other side to the story as well and perhaps stop thinking Krishna as God.
A long book of 430 pages. Read this book, if you have time and patience to learn the counter-intuitive and perhaps the full truth of Mahabharatha.
However, if you don't 'believe' in the Mythologies and consider those as stories, you would know the other side to the story as well and perhaps stop thinking Krishna as God.
A long book of 430 pages. Read this book, if you have time and patience to learn the counter-intuitive and perhaps the full truth of Mahabharatha.
October 9, 2017
Interpolation has its limits. This book has crossed all of them and produced something completely unrecognizable.
If pandavs practiced such cast based based rigidity, then how come Yudhisthira married Devika a vaisyan tribal girl, Bheem married Hidimbaa the rakshashi and arjun married Ulupi the Naga princess. All the mentioned women are very low caste compared to Kshatriyas. If Karna was such a great guy why did he gave his donations to brahmins only not others? What was he doing when all kinds of criminal activities like sex trade etc. were happening in Anga desh? And before you say it is a lie, read Karna parva it is mentioned in a conversation between Karna and salya. Why did Duryodhan treated his brother Yuyutsu so badly in mahabharata, if he was such a stalwart champion of low caste people?
If pandavs practiced such cast based based rigidity, then how come Yudhisthira married Devika a vaisyan tribal girl, Bheem married Hidimbaa the rakshashi and arjun married Ulupi the Naga princess. All the mentioned women are very low caste compared to Kshatriyas. If Karna was such a great guy why did he gave his donations to brahmins only not others? What was he doing when all kinds of criminal activities like sex trade etc. were happening in Anga desh? And before you say it is a lie, read Karna parva it is mentioned in a conversation between Karna and salya. Why did Duryodhan treated his brother Yuyutsu so badly in mahabharata, if he was such a stalwart champion of low caste people?
December 31, 2013
BRILLIANT !!! !
Absolutely Brilliant ....
Anand has written the Epic from a whole new angle. The characters are same but each one of them is a different shade of gray in Anand's version.
I am completely floored by this Mahabharata ... let me tell you that this Mahabharata is different from any other Mahabharata that you might have read or seen till date. Duryodhana is not the villain and there are no Gods or Sons of Gods in the story. The story is not about the war for land or kingdom ... its actually the story about India ravaged by the Caste system and how it was destroying the country from within.
Anand has come up with a BRILLIANT version of the Mahabharata which is both intriguing and refreshing !!!
Absolutely Brilliant ....
Anand has written the Epic from a whole new angle. The characters are same but each one of them is a different shade of gray in Anand's version.
I am completely floored by this Mahabharata ... let me tell you that this Mahabharata is different from any other Mahabharata that you might have read or seen till date. Duryodhana is not the villain and there are no Gods or Sons of Gods in the story. The story is not about the war for land or kingdom ... its actually the story about India ravaged by the Caste system and how it was destroying the country from within.
Anand has come up with a BRILLIANT version of the Mahabharata which is both intriguing and refreshing !!!
February 20, 2014
The flavor of the season seems to be Mahabharata reteelings, and after reading a half baked highly insipid retelling by Kavita Kane in Karna's wife (read my review here /review/show...), I picked up Ajaya, with a lot of expectation, but with also a fear that it may disappoint.
Ajaya does not disappoint. Like in Asura, Neelakantan has created a remarkable counterworld, where the voice of the villains seem right. He has made the story consistent with his worldview, and has taken perfectly acceptable creative liberties with the story. Also, he is not interested in remaining true to the era of the story. So his characters speak in modern language, seem to sprout Marxist ideology, all of which is perfectly acceptable. He mixes timelines, and speaks of an India, when the the notion of India as a nation state did not probably exist, but that again is acceptable. Amish Tripathi did a similar thing with his Shiva trilogy, and Neelakantan has taken on a tougher job. Tripathi merely tried to humanize a god and show his heroic splendor, Neelakantan is consistently making the villains the heroes. Neelakantan succeeds better than Tripathi, because his writing is better, though not perfect, and he mostly avoids trite, filmy situations.
The only problem with Ajaya is that the hero is quite anaemic. In an effort to make him a good guy, the author seems to have sacrificed all the passion of Suyodhana. Even Vyasa's Mahabharata appreciated this passion. It has been acknowledged that Duryodhana was a just and benevolent ruler. But here, he is constantly mentioned as a just man, but seldom really shown to be that. His famous charisma is evident in some scenes, like when he crowns Karna king. His sense of justice is evident when he fights on behalf of Ekalavya or he takes offense at the living conditions of the poor in Indraprastha, but the author does not let these speak for itself. He is instead constantly propped as a good guy, every other page mentions that he visits the slums and gives alms to the poor, and all these props somehow stifle the hero. We dont get the passionate, full-blooded, impetuous, benevolent and just man, which Duryodhana was even in Vyasa's Mahabharata. His love for Subadhra is evident, but the scene where he stops himself from going too far with her, even though she seems willing, is frankly laughable. It adds no value. I am not saying that Duryodhana should have gone ahead and consummated the relationship, just that the scene is one of the props to show Duryodhana is a nice guy, when actually, there are enough other scenes where it emerges quite naturally.
That is the major problem with this book. The author is clearly on ths side of Duryodhana and therefore constantly tries to assert that he is a great guy. Draupadi's vastraharan is not described here at all, it is awaited in the sequel, but there are enough clues to show that Shakuni, Karna and Dushasana will take all the blame here and Duryodhana will be absolved. Some of the Karna retellings have done the same thing, absolving Karna completely of any wrongdoing. But the point is both Duryodhana and Karna had a part is Draupadi's humiliation (if not disrobing) and they acted in ways which were natural and true to their character. A retelling has to accept this fact, because this is what adds complexity to the character. Duryodhana is too impetuous to take Draupadi's laughter lying down and for Karna Draupadi's insult at the Swayamvara was probably the culmination of all the insults and missed opportunities in his life. It is only natural that they will hit back if they have an opportunity. Neither are saints, and we dont want retellings which refuse to acknowledge these realities. Vyasa's mahabharata did acknowledge that Yudhishtra was an inveterate gambler, and his own brothers, specially Bhima and his wife constantly threw the fact at him. Arjuna even questions his valour at one point in the war, practically saying that it is upto him and Bhima to win the wars, so that Yudhishtra can rule. In fact, while Vyasa's Jaya did have a pro pandava tilt, it was definitely far more complex and gray. It is only Amar Chitra Kathas and the TV serials which established Pandavas as holier than thou. Trying to establish Duryodhana as holier than thou therefore does not really serve the purpose.
I am surprised Neelakantan did this, because in Asura, both Ravana and Bhadra are complex and real characters, not the paragons of virtue. Ravana is righteous in many ways, but he is also arrogant, proud and obsessed with himself. He fought the war with Rama, for the sake of his 'daughter' Sita, and led the entire asura clan to destruction. Bhadra was a common man, struggling to make sense of life. He had his strengths and his faults.
But these are minor quibbles. Overall, the book is quite commendable. There are some interesting plot angles like Karna and Parashurama and the manhunt for Karna. There are also some interesting new perspectives which will probably be explored at a later time. For instance, there is a point when Bhanumathi, when she thinks of Karna has a premonition that if there is a point when he has to choose the welfare of his friend over fame and glory, he will choose the fame and glory. This is a very interesting take on Karna's character, something with Iravati Karve has also explored in her collection of essays Yuganta. I grew up idolizing Karna, but while everyone, including Duryodhana himself lauds him for sticking to Duryodhana even against his own brothers, in what way did he stick to him. He could not give his all in the war, just like Bhishma and Drona never did. He repeatedly spared Pandava lives. He went into the war with the knowledge, nay even the desire to just die and be done with it. None of it makes him bad, they are quite human. But the point is him sticking to Duryodhana was merely symbolic. In fact Kunti's cruelest treachery against Karna was not her abandonment and subsequent non-acknowledgement. It was that by telling him the truth at the time she did, she ended up making Karna untrue to Duryodhana in his death, when he had spent most of his life being true to him. S L Bhyrappa also explores the dilemma of Karna quite well in his Parva, and the mental struggles which go on when he makes his decision/non-decision to stick with Duryodhana is quite engaging.
Also, Arjuna's repeated questioning of what is Dharma and whether they are doing right is interesting, and foretells his final indecision quite well. I am sure that when the Gita is finally discussed, it will be discussed in a more critical way than the 'word of god' which it seems to have become now. In fact Amartya Sen makes an interesting point in the Argumentative Indian, that actually, the voice of the pacifist Arjuna is never suppressed in the Mahabharata. He may have fought the war, but he repeatedly had doubts,and after the war, all the Pandavas had their doubts. It is only when there is a divine origin granted to the Gita that Arjuna's perfectly valid doubts get suppressed.
I have rambled quite a lot in this review, but I really want to congratulate Neelakantan on a job well done. The book is engaging, it makes you want to know more and yes, it shares the other viewpoint quite well. I hope in part two, he makes Ajaya a genuine countertelling of Vyasa's complex Jaya and not a retelling of an Amar Chitra Katha or a B R Chopra version.
Ajaya does not disappoint. Like in Asura, Neelakantan has created a remarkable counterworld, where the voice of the villains seem right. He has made the story consistent with his worldview, and has taken perfectly acceptable creative liberties with the story. Also, he is not interested in remaining true to the era of the story. So his characters speak in modern language, seem to sprout Marxist ideology, all of which is perfectly acceptable. He mixes timelines, and speaks of an India, when the the notion of India as a nation state did not probably exist, but that again is acceptable. Amish Tripathi did a similar thing with his Shiva trilogy, and Neelakantan has taken on a tougher job. Tripathi merely tried to humanize a god and show his heroic splendor, Neelakantan is consistently making the villains the heroes. Neelakantan succeeds better than Tripathi, because his writing is better, though not perfect, and he mostly avoids trite, filmy situations.
The only problem with Ajaya is that the hero is quite anaemic. In an effort to make him a good guy, the author seems to have sacrificed all the passion of Suyodhana. Even Vyasa's Mahabharata appreciated this passion. It has been acknowledged that Duryodhana was a just and benevolent ruler. But here, he is constantly mentioned as a just man, but seldom really shown to be that. His famous charisma is evident in some scenes, like when he crowns Karna king. His sense of justice is evident when he fights on behalf of Ekalavya or he takes offense at the living conditions of the poor in Indraprastha, but the author does not let these speak for itself. He is instead constantly propped as a good guy, every other page mentions that he visits the slums and gives alms to the poor, and all these props somehow stifle the hero. We dont get the passionate, full-blooded, impetuous, benevolent and just man, which Duryodhana was even in Vyasa's Mahabharata. His love for Subadhra is evident, but the scene where he stops himself from going too far with her, even though she seems willing, is frankly laughable. It adds no value. I am not saying that Duryodhana should have gone ahead and consummated the relationship, just that the scene is one of the props to show Duryodhana is a nice guy, when actually, there are enough other scenes where it emerges quite naturally.
That is the major problem with this book. The author is clearly on ths side of Duryodhana and therefore constantly tries to assert that he is a great guy. Draupadi's vastraharan is not described here at all, it is awaited in the sequel, but there are enough clues to show that Shakuni, Karna and Dushasana will take all the blame here and Duryodhana will be absolved. Some of the Karna retellings have done the same thing, absolving Karna completely of any wrongdoing. But the point is both Duryodhana and Karna had a part is Draupadi's humiliation (if not disrobing) and they acted in ways which were natural and true to their character. A retelling has to accept this fact, because this is what adds complexity to the character. Duryodhana is too impetuous to take Draupadi's laughter lying down and for Karna Draupadi's insult at the Swayamvara was probably the culmination of all the insults and missed opportunities in his life. It is only natural that they will hit back if they have an opportunity. Neither are saints, and we dont want retellings which refuse to acknowledge these realities. Vyasa's mahabharata did acknowledge that Yudhishtra was an inveterate gambler, and his own brothers, specially Bhima and his wife constantly threw the fact at him. Arjuna even questions his valour at one point in the war, practically saying that it is upto him and Bhima to win the wars, so that Yudhishtra can rule. In fact, while Vyasa's Jaya did have a pro pandava tilt, it was definitely far more complex and gray. It is only Amar Chitra Kathas and the TV serials which established Pandavas as holier than thou. Trying to establish Duryodhana as holier than thou therefore does not really serve the purpose.
I am surprised Neelakantan did this, because in Asura, both Ravana and Bhadra are complex and real characters, not the paragons of virtue. Ravana is righteous in many ways, but he is also arrogant, proud and obsessed with himself. He fought the war with Rama, for the sake of his 'daughter' Sita, and led the entire asura clan to destruction. Bhadra was a common man, struggling to make sense of life. He had his strengths and his faults.
But these are minor quibbles. Overall, the book is quite commendable. There are some interesting plot angles like Karna and Parashurama and the manhunt for Karna. There are also some interesting new perspectives which will probably be explored at a later time. For instance, there is a point when Bhanumathi, when she thinks of Karna has a premonition that if there is a point when he has to choose the welfare of his friend over fame and glory, he will choose the fame and glory. This is a very interesting take on Karna's character, something with Iravati Karve has also explored in her collection of essays Yuganta. I grew up idolizing Karna, but while everyone, including Duryodhana himself lauds him for sticking to Duryodhana even against his own brothers, in what way did he stick to him. He could not give his all in the war, just like Bhishma and Drona never did. He repeatedly spared Pandava lives. He went into the war with the knowledge, nay even the desire to just die and be done with it. None of it makes him bad, they are quite human. But the point is him sticking to Duryodhana was merely symbolic. In fact Kunti's cruelest treachery against Karna was not her abandonment and subsequent non-acknowledgement. It was that by telling him the truth at the time she did, she ended up making Karna untrue to Duryodhana in his death, when he had spent most of his life being true to him. S L Bhyrappa also explores the dilemma of Karna quite well in his Parva, and the mental struggles which go on when he makes his decision/non-decision to stick with Duryodhana is quite engaging.
Also, Arjuna's repeated questioning of what is Dharma and whether they are doing right is interesting, and foretells his final indecision quite well. I am sure that when the Gita is finally discussed, it will be discussed in a more critical way than the 'word of god' which it seems to have become now. In fact Amartya Sen makes an interesting point in the Argumentative Indian, that actually, the voice of the pacifist Arjuna is never suppressed in the Mahabharata. He may have fought the war, but he repeatedly had doubts,and after the war, all the Pandavas had their doubts. It is only when there is a divine origin granted to the Gita that Arjuna's perfectly valid doubts get suppressed.
I have rambled quite a lot in this review, but I really want to congratulate Neelakantan on a job well done. The book is engaging, it makes you want to know more and yes, it shares the other viewpoint quite well. I hope in part two, he makes Ajaya a genuine countertelling of Vyasa's complex Jaya and not a retelling of an Amar Chitra Katha or a B R Chopra version.
November 25, 2018
What does it mean to write a novel on a well-known epic from the perspective of the antagonist? Does it mean to change the story completely from blue to orange to prove the said antagonist isn't bad? Or does it mean, sticking to the plot as honestly as possible but provide an alternate perspective to the same? This is something which most authors fail to grasp. Anand Neelakantan, sadly is one of them.
It is difficult to define "facts" from Mahabharata to a common reader. On one hand, there is the canonical Sanskrit manuscripts which Neelakantan categorically dismisses as Brahmanical propaganda, overlooking their historicity completely. Then there are the subaltern versions (which are later compositions IMO), which he embraces as "more authentic" as they are composed by "lower castes and tribes". And thereby lies the basic foundational error with his book. Anand Neelakantan sees the entire epic of near 100K verses through the uni-dimensional prism of Caste.
Imagine a feminist author writing a novel on Mahabharata, where she completely twists the storyline, and changes the plot to make all men as pathetic villains and all women as saintly victims. How would that fair? No doubt patriarchy is a common theme in Mahabharata, but what if someone reduces the whole epic into a one-shaded Masculine Gender vs Feminine Gender narrative, and vilifies Krishna, Pandavas, Karna, Kauravas as pathetic perverts to prop up the women as saints? It would be extremely problematic, right? It is the same with this novel as well, only the binary in this case is not Man vs Woman, but Upper Caste vs Lower Caste.
To be honest, the premise of Ajaya was very interesting. It is not always that we get to read a book from the perspective of Duryodhan, that also by a reasonably good author like Anand Neelakanatan. But the exercise proves to be futile because of the exceedingly biased treatment of the characters. This is ironic, because, Neelakantan accuses the general renditions of Mahabharata being one-sidedly partial towards Pandavas and unfair to Duryodhan. He shows a similar one-sided approach in his own book as well. The only difference is, his bias is directed towards Duryodhan.
Mahabharata is a very complex story, where no one is complete black or white. Vyasa's Duryodhan has some good traits, Pandavas have some vices. Contrary to what Neelakantan suggests, the greyness is clear to anyone who would read the epic from an unabridged source. I wanted to read the same story but from a fresh perspective through the eyes of Duryodhan. His dilemmas, his thoughts, how he justified himself to his own conscience, his insecurities, his child-like demands a times (during Ghosha Yatra), why he hated the Pandavas so much, etc. But that is not what we get here.
In this book, Duryodhan is a flawless, white saint fighting for the lower rung of the society. And Krishna and Pandavas are absolute pathetic villains, the quintessential "Upper Caste"who loot and oppress the lowborns. In order to establish this narrative, Neelakantan twists and changes plotline, invents new situations and makes up events to his heart's content.
I am all for a "a different perspective" and "reading between the lines", after all creative liberties are must for fictional renditions. But to this extent? This blatant distortion of the story makes one question that does one really have to pull down Pandavas with imaginary situations to make Duryodhan a hero? And if that is the case, and if the author has to "change" the plotline so much to make Duryodhan a hero, then how much heroic was he in the first place?
Ajaya had potential. But it becomes a victim to its author's overwhelming bias against Krishna, and his one-dimensional view of the epic. This book might appear to be "explosive" and "eye-opening" for those who have surface-level knowledge of Mahabharata, courtesy TV serials and a few abridged books from here and there. But for those who have read and studied the epic in its unabridged form, like the Critical Edition, etc, Ajaya will appear to be a poorly researched attempt to support Inversion Theory.
The deviations and bias notwithstanding, I am going with 3 stars solely because of the writing skills. Neelakantan is a good writer, and knows how to write a page-turner.
3 stars only for that.
It is difficult to define "facts" from Mahabharata to a common reader. On one hand, there is the canonical Sanskrit manuscripts which Neelakantan categorically dismisses as Brahmanical propaganda, overlooking their historicity completely. Then there are the subaltern versions (which are later compositions IMO), which he embraces as "more authentic" as they are composed by "lower castes and tribes". And thereby lies the basic foundational error with his book. Anand Neelakantan sees the entire epic of near 100K verses through the uni-dimensional prism of Caste.
Imagine a feminist author writing a novel on Mahabharata, where she completely twists the storyline, and changes the plot to make all men as pathetic villains and all women as saintly victims. How would that fair? No doubt patriarchy is a common theme in Mahabharata, but what if someone reduces the whole epic into a one-shaded Masculine Gender vs Feminine Gender narrative, and vilifies Krishna, Pandavas, Karna, Kauravas as pathetic perverts to prop up the women as saints? It would be extremely problematic, right? It is the same with this novel as well, only the binary in this case is not Man vs Woman, but Upper Caste vs Lower Caste.
To be honest, the premise of Ajaya was very interesting. It is not always that we get to read a book from the perspective of Duryodhan, that also by a reasonably good author like Anand Neelakanatan. But the exercise proves to be futile because of the exceedingly biased treatment of the characters. This is ironic, because, Neelakantan accuses the general renditions of Mahabharata being one-sidedly partial towards Pandavas and unfair to Duryodhan. He shows a similar one-sided approach in his own book as well. The only difference is, his bias is directed towards Duryodhan.
Mahabharata is a very complex story, where no one is complete black or white. Vyasa's Duryodhan has some good traits, Pandavas have some vices. Contrary to what Neelakantan suggests, the greyness is clear to anyone who would read the epic from an unabridged source. I wanted to read the same story but from a fresh perspective through the eyes of Duryodhan. His dilemmas, his thoughts, how he justified himself to his own conscience, his insecurities, his child-like demands a times (during Ghosha Yatra), why he hated the Pandavas so much, etc. But that is not what we get here.
In this book, Duryodhan is a flawless, white saint fighting for the lower rung of the society. And Krishna and Pandavas are absolute pathetic villains, the quintessential "Upper Caste"who loot and oppress the lowborns. In order to establish this narrative, Neelakantan twists and changes plotline, invents new situations and makes up events to his heart's content.
I am all for a "a different perspective" and "reading between the lines", after all creative liberties are must for fictional renditions. But to this extent? This blatant distortion of the story makes one question that does one really have to pull down Pandavas with imaginary situations to make Duryodhan a hero? And if that is the case, and if the author has to "change" the plotline so much to make Duryodhan a hero, then how much heroic was he in the first place?
Ajaya had potential. But it becomes a victim to its author's overwhelming bias against Krishna, and his one-dimensional view of the epic. This book might appear to be "explosive" and "eye-opening" for those who have surface-level knowledge of Mahabharata, courtesy TV serials and a few abridged books from here and there. But for those who have read and studied the epic in its unabridged form, like the Critical Edition, etc, Ajaya will appear to be a poorly researched attempt to support Inversion Theory.
The deviations and bias notwithstanding, I am going with 3 stars solely because of the writing skills. Neelakantan is a good writer, and knows how to write a page-turner.
3 stars only for that.
January 23, 2014
What a book. Seriously what a book. Managed to read it in 3 working days.
What is this book about?
A. This book is about Suyodhana(Yeah he was called Suyodhana) or Duryodhana, as he is popularly known and the Mahabharata from his point of view.
Why is this book interesting?
B. A dumb question which i asked and would anyways love to answer. It first and foremost teaches you a lot more about Mahabharata than the TV series taught us. Most important it talks from the point of view of the vanquished. Also it brings in a lot many other characters who are heroes but got sidelines for say 3000 + years.
C. How is this book different from rest of the mythology based books that are coming out in droves?
This is probably the first time in the world where we actually can get to see the point of view of Kauravas. This book uses logic and makes most of the incidents adhere to real life scenarios. Mostly it will help us to brush up our epics for our kids, nieces etc etc Last and the most important it doesn't bore you for even a minute. Surprisingly it can also teach us that our curse of caste may have resulted in our downfall.
The book is only about Mahabharata so the story is the same. But yet it talks from the losers perspective. It talks from the point of view of justice being denied due to the curse of caste. The whole books premise is based on the maintenance of status quo and people trying to fight it.
What i liked about the book
A. The book is awesome to read. Its as simple as that.
B. Some of the characters who are actual heroes in the original book who have been sidelined a bit are bought to prominence. e.g. Ekalavya
C. The book is realistic, so much so that each and every incident is narrated with minimal fuss and drama. e.g. How did Krishna came to be considered as god.
D. It looks at the good of Kauravas and doesn't exaggerate. AT ALL
E. The character of Shakuni was brought out superbly. Infact he can be called as the most villainous of the all the villains. He waits and gets his work done patiently.
The best thing i liked about this book is, how awesome Hinduism is. I mean if he had written this for any other religion then i am assuming death threats, protests etc etc. This has made me realize how open minded and tolerant we are as culture and race.
What more do i write about... The one request i would make is to please read this book and atleast ensure that good authors are encouraged. I mean Jhumpa Lehari may have won an award for a supposedly awesome book. But Anand Neelakantan has won this aam admi!! Oops no this aam soldiers award for sure. I am scared of aam in any form these days you see. Too much of chaos.
More power to authors like him.. Nothing should be sacred when it comes to inquisitiveness and nothing should be above country and countrywomen and men.
What is this book about?
A. This book is about Suyodhana(Yeah he was called Suyodhana) or Duryodhana, as he is popularly known and the Mahabharata from his point of view.
Why is this book interesting?
B. A dumb question which i asked and would anyways love to answer. It first and foremost teaches you a lot more about Mahabharata than the TV series taught us. Most important it talks from the point of view of the vanquished. Also it brings in a lot many other characters who are heroes but got sidelines for say 3000 + years.
C. How is this book different from rest of the mythology based books that are coming out in droves?
This is probably the first time in the world where we actually can get to see the point of view of Kauravas. This book uses logic and makes most of the incidents adhere to real life scenarios. Mostly it will help us to brush up our epics for our kids, nieces etc etc Last and the most important it doesn't bore you for even a minute. Surprisingly it can also teach us that our curse of caste may have resulted in our downfall.
The book is only about Mahabharata so the story is the same. But yet it talks from the losers perspective. It talks from the point of view of justice being denied due to the curse of caste. The whole books premise is based on the maintenance of status quo and people trying to fight it.
What i liked about the book
A. The book is awesome to read. Its as simple as that.
B. Some of the characters who are actual heroes in the original book who have been sidelined a bit are bought to prominence. e.g. Ekalavya
C. The book is realistic, so much so that each and every incident is narrated with minimal fuss and drama. e.g. How did Krishna came to be considered as god.
D. It looks at the good of Kauravas and doesn't exaggerate. AT ALL
E. The character of Shakuni was brought out superbly. Infact he can be called as the most villainous of the all the villains. He waits and gets his work done patiently.
The best thing i liked about this book is, how awesome Hinduism is. I mean if he had written this for any other religion then i am assuming death threats, protests etc etc. This has made me realize how open minded and tolerant we are as culture and race.
What more do i write about... The one request i would make is to please read this book and atleast ensure that good authors are encouraged. I mean Jhumpa Lehari may have won an award for a supposedly awesome book. But Anand Neelakantan has won this aam admi!! Oops no this aam soldiers award for sure. I am scared of aam in any form these days you see. Too much of chaos.
More power to authors like him.. Nothing should be sacred when it comes to inquisitiveness and nothing should be above country and countrywomen and men.
December 26, 2013
We have heard and seen that there are 2 sides of a coin. When Asura was released, it was seen as the other side of the coin of Ramayana. After hearing about Ajaya I confess spending restless days waiting for the book after hearing that this was going to be another counter story. Giving us Duryodhana, I mean Suyodhana’s point of view sounded exciting. And I am not disappointed with this book at all.
Going back to the coin aspect, I wish to share a new perspective. While there are 2 sides of a coin, what happens when we toss the same coin? It undergoes a simultaneous shift in the vertical plane along with multiple 360 degree circular motions and finally comes down the same height. You can always act smart and argue that with more force the coin moves through greater height. Let us keep things simple for the moment. I believe each position in the journey of the toss gives 2 sides of the same coin. Each set of �2 sides� is distinct from some other position in the coin’s upward or downward journey. Mathematical equations aside, this translates to infinite positions. With this as the base background, fact is that between truth and counter truth, there are infinite shades of truth. The infinite shades are nothing but infinite perspectives. If we take 100 people and make them watch Chennai Express, for example, each person will comment differently. Ask 100 people about Narendra Modi or Rahul Gandhi. The diversity in perspective will be enormous and each perspective or opinion is a position of the coin and from where the individual is looking at the coin. If this is clear, we can appreciate Ajaya and marvel at what Anand has done. He has managed to position himself in a co-ordinate where nobody has been to and told us a story with impressive conviction. When the story is the grandest story of them all, The Mahabharata, the enormity of his achievement gets significantly multiplied. Since childhood, I have believed that certain grey areas in Ramayana and especially, the Mahabharata will need to be explained better. And Anand has done justice to all the characters � the book surely needs to be read with an open mind because Krishna, for example is portrayed as a shrewd strategist and like in Asura, here too blasphemy has to be overlooked.
Go ahead and read the book. I found it very good but Asura had sketches that Ajaya doesn’t. That was a big negative for me. The gyan sessions sometimes get a little too long but overall I will give it 4 / 5 stars. We definitely have an amazing author here and I am looking forward to a signed copy of Part II.
Didn’t want to write a summary of the book and wondering what is next after Part II of Ajaya for Anand.
More reviews and other stuff at
Going back to the coin aspect, I wish to share a new perspective. While there are 2 sides of a coin, what happens when we toss the same coin? It undergoes a simultaneous shift in the vertical plane along with multiple 360 degree circular motions and finally comes down the same height. You can always act smart and argue that with more force the coin moves through greater height. Let us keep things simple for the moment. I believe each position in the journey of the toss gives 2 sides of the same coin. Each set of �2 sides� is distinct from some other position in the coin’s upward or downward journey. Mathematical equations aside, this translates to infinite positions. With this as the base background, fact is that between truth and counter truth, there are infinite shades of truth. The infinite shades are nothing but infinite perspectives. If we take 100 people and make them watch Chennai Express, for example, each person will comment differently. Ask 100 people about Narendra Modi or Rahul Gandhi. The diversity in perspective will be enormous and each perspective or opinion is a position of the coin and from where the individual is looking at the coin. If this is clear, we can appreciate Ajaya and marvel at what Anand has done. He has managed to position himself in a co-ordinate where nobody has been to and told us a story with impressive conviction. When the story is the grandest story of them all, The Mahabharata, the enormity of his achievement gets significantly multiplied. Since childhood, I have believed that certain grey areas in Ramayana and especially, the Mahabharata will need to be explained better. And Anand has done justice to all the characters � the book surely needs to be read with an open mind because Krishna, for example is portrayed as a shrewd strategist and like in Asura, here too blasphemy has to be overlooked.
Go ahead and read the book. I found it very good but Asura had sketches that Ajaya doesn’t. That was a big negative for me. The gyan sessions sometimes get a little too long but overall I will give it 4 / 5 stars. We definitely have an amazing author here and I am looking forward to a signed copy of Part II.
Didn’t want to write a summary of the book and wondering what is next after Part II of Ajaya for Anand.
More reviews and other stuff at
November 14, 2020
Review
Roll of the Dice is the first book in the Ajaya duology by Anand Neelakantan. This book re-imagines the story of Mahabharata from the perspective of the most vilified character of all time, Suyodhana, well known as Dhuryodhana.
Anand Neelakantan had brought about the side of Dhuryodhana which no one has ever dare to showcase ever before in their mythological re-tellings, may it be books or movies or series. The kind of plot he undertook this time was extremely challenging because with Asura, most of us would’ve at least heard a few good things, characteristics and traits of Ravana, so showing him in a good light would’ve been considerably easier and okayish when compared to justifying Dhuryodhana’s character. Because as far as I could remember there isn’t any solid interpretation other than the JAYA by Vyasa itself, nothing or nobody has said a good thing about Dhuryodhana. He is always made to be believed as one evil character who doesn’t have a ounce of goodness in him. He is always evil, selfish, narcissistic and all the bad things in the world represented with Dhuryodhana. So basically casting him from good and heroic light is the most difficult thing but Anand Neelakantan is an expert in the art of showing people from a new light and perspective. And that’s why I’m one of his greatest fans.
The writing style of the author was absolutely wonderful. The way certain sentences and dialogues hits the readers hard on their conscience was extraordinary. Whenever I start reading Anand Neelakantan’s book, I only sit with a pen because I cannot stop myself from highlighting his words and sentences. This book was very descriptive that it almost brought about every single detail in the book vividly in front of our eyes while reading.
What I personally like about Anand Neelakantan’s writing is, while reading the first line a doubt will pop up in your head or your mind might counterattack it with something but when you read the second line the author would’ve written your exact thought without rephrasing it. That’s how in-sync the author and reader relationship will be throughout the book. This kind of satisfaction and sync will not happen that often, at least for me.
What was the most interesting and my favorite part of the book was the way in which each character in the book was introduced. At the end of each chapter, the author would introduce a new character with a massive introduction and it happened for around the first hundred pages but I’m telling you it wasn’t repetitive or boring. Each introduction was one of its kind and all these characters obviously deserves that kind of an introduction.
The characterization of all the characters was absolutely tremendous. I have never really known that much about Kripacharaya but the author showed the true identity and beliefs of Kripa in a great detail. The law abiding and sincere character of Vidhura immediately gained my respect. And also there was this minor character called Jara who also played a significant role. There were lot of characters who were exceptionally good, say for example Jarasandha, Hiranyadhanus, Mayasura and many more. And the character of Balarama was too really inspiring.
So now I really need talk about Suyodhana’s character. I have always liked Dhuryodhana that was mainly because my top most favourite character in the entire epic has always been Karna, just because Dhuryodhana befriended Karna and saved him from the most humiliating moment of his life, I liked Dhuryodhana. But with this book everything changed, now my top most favourite character would be Suyodhana aka Dhuryodhana without a second’s thought.
Karna has been always portrayed as the epitome of friendship and it is something that is often spoken about very proudly in southern parts of India. And almost all the interpretations of the Mahabharata says Dhuryodhana befriended Karna in the first place for his selfish motive of defeating the Pandavas which is not true and with this book you will understand why and how? After reading this book I understood Dhuryodhana is the epitome of friendship because all he had for Karna and Ashwathama was only pure love but in the case of Karna it was a sense of loyalty, gratitude and duty. And we all know love is the most pure and valuable of all.
Dhuryodhana was the only person in the epic who has an unadulterated goodness, he had the sense of righteousness, he always followed equality and fraternity even in those times when varnas and caste were at its peak. He was considered evil and portrayed in a bad light because he didn’t believe in the practice of varnas, castes, inequality, discrimination and untouchability. He was beyond his age and era. He was soft, compassionate and emphatic personality. His maturity level was par excellence when he decided to let go off his love Subhadra when she betrayed and eloped with Arjuna. You will understand Dhuryodhana is the goddamn hero of this entire epic if you read this book.
The book also covered story of Ekalayva, karna and Ashwathama in great detail. It also shows the motive behind Kunti’s behaviours and actions. This book had human-ified every magical aspects of the epic and that made it more relatable and believable. How the author had brilliantly interpreted each and every scenario from Dhuryodhana’s perspective was mind-blowing. It was an eyeopening experience to have read this book. The only problem I faced while reading the book was, it was said “India� very frequently. Since India is the name which was adopted to the country many thousands of years after this epic, it sounded irrelevant and fake because the epic and mythological feelings and settings of the book was sucked out our brains as soon as coming across the word India. The author could’ve used some other words like Bharat or something like that, it would’ve given that epic feel.
And every incidents and situations said in the book seems to be still very much relevant in today’s Indian society. Anand Neelakantan is a scholar who has a tremendous ability to produce an epic in a most relevant and akin manner.
My Views
We all know how obsessed Anand Neelakantan is in telling the story of the vanquished and he is absolutely spectacular in writing the other side of the story way beyond convincingly. I always love seeing things from different perspective and it feels kind of really great and different to read things which are against popular opinion and beliefs. I generally love mythology but after reading Anand Neelakantan, I cannot make myself to read normal conventional Hindu Mythology which more or less tells the same story again and again in the same manner. My appetite to read the other side of the story had increased by gazillion times after encountering Anand Neelakantan’s Books. Today I can boldly and proudly say that Anand Neelakantan is my favourite author and my only favourite Mythology writer. I want to read more from him.
Now it has kind of become a new ritual at home for me and my father. Whenever we come across Anand Neelakantan’s book especially if it is a mythology, we start buddy reading out loudly and discuss endlessly with our family and friends over and over again. Unknowingly Anand Neelakantan had made us form a little informal book club of our own. And whenever someone asks for a book suggestion I introduce mythology and Anand Neelakantan to them. I might have started reading mythology with Amish Tripathi but it was Anand Neelakantan who made me think clearly and analytically. His writings had brought about a lot of positive and good impacts on me. Thank you so much sir. My father and I, we both adore you, your writing style, your way of thinking and the way you correlate the epics with your books.
On the whole, my father and I, we absolutely loved this book to bits and pieces. If you ask me to talk or write about this book or Anand Neelakantan’s writing I would spend all day doing that without getting tired or bored. But I don’t want to prolong this post any further as it is already very long!!!
Our rating for this book would be 5 out of 5 stars
I would recommend this book to all the mythology lovers. It is a must because you need to know the other side of the story as well to come up with your own opinion isn’t it ? And also if you’re someone who loves to read stories from the other side or if you’re someone who loves villains over heroes (though he is not the villain but just a human who had been wronged in the pages of various interpretation by the victors), then this book is for you.
Everyone please read this book!! This man, Dhuryodhana (Suyodhana) deserves to be read!!
I really wish S.S Rajamouli would make a movie out of this book 😀 It would be the best!!
PS : I watched this Mahabharata series that came in Star channels some six seven years back and that had a great impact on me and the casting was so amazing. My mind only materialized all these characters I watched on the series while reading the book.
Roll of the Dice is the first book in the Ajaya duology by Anand Neelakantan. This book re-imagines the story of Mahabharata from the perspective of the most vilified character of all time, Suyodhana, well known as Dhuryodhana.
Anand Neelakantan had brought about the side of Dhuryodhana which no one has ever dare to showcase ever before in their mythological re-tellings, may it be books or movies or series. The kind of plot he undertook this time was extremely challenging because with Asura, most of us would’ve at least heard a few good things, characteristics and traits of Ravana, so showing him in a good light would’ve been considerably easier and okayish when compared to justifying Dhuryodhana’s character. Because as far as I could remember there isn’t any solid interpretation other than the JAYA by Vyasa itself, nothing or nobody has said a good thing about Dhuryodhana. He is always made to be believed as one evil character who doesn’t have a ounce of goodness in him. He is always evil, selfish, narcissistic and all the bad things in the world represented with Dhuryodhana. So basically casting him from good and heroic light is the most difficult thing but Anand Neelakantan is an expert in the art of showing people from a new light and perspective. And that’s why I’m one of his greatest fans.
The writing style of the author was absolutely wonderful. The way certain sentences and dialogues hits the readers hard on their conscience was extraordinary. Whenever I start reading Anand Neelakantan’s book, I only sit with a pen because I cannot stop myself from highlighting his words and sentences. This book was very descriptive that it almost brought about every single detail in the book vividly in front of our eyes while reading.
What I personally like about Anand Neelakantan’s writing is, while reading the first line a doubt will pop up in your head or your mind might counterattack it with something but when you read the second line the author would’ve written your exact thought without rephrasing it. That’s how in-sync the author and reader relationship will be throughout the book. This kind of satisfaction and sync will not happen that often, at least for me.
What was the most interesting and my favorite part of the book was the way in which each character in the book was introduced. At the end of each chapter, the author would introduce a new character with a massive introduction and it happened for around the first hundred pages but I’m telling you it wasn’t repetitive or boring. Each introduction was one of its kind and all these characters obviously deserves that kind of an introduction.
The characterization of all the characters was absolutely tremendous. I have never really known that much about Kripacharaya but the author showed the true identity and beliefs of Kripa in a great detail. The law abiding and sincere character of Vidhura immediately gained my respect. And also there was this minor character called Jara who also played a significant role. There were lot of characters who were exceptionally good, say for example Jarasandha, Hiranyadhanus, Mayasura and many more. And the character of Balarama was too really inspiring.
So now I really need talk about Suyodhana’s character. I have always liked Dhuryodhana that was mainly because my top most favourite character in the entire epic has always been Karna, just because Dhuryodhana befriended Karna and saved him from the most humiliating moment of his life, I liked Dhuryodhana. But with this book everything changed, now my top most favourite character would be Suyodhana aka Dhuryodhana without a second’s thought.
Karna has been always portrayed as the epitome of friendship and it is something that is often spoken about very proudly in southern parts of India. And almost all the interpretations of the Mahabharata says Dhuryodhana befriended Karna in the first place for his selfish motive of defeating the Pandavas which is not true and with this book you will understand why and how? After reading this book I understood Dhuryodhana is the epitome of friendship because all he had for Karna and Ashwathama was only pure love but in the case of Karna it was a sense of loyalty, gratitude and duty. And we all know love is the most pure and valuable of all.
Dhuryodhana was the only person in the epic who has an unadulterated goodness, he had the sense of righteousness, he always followed equality and fraternity even in those times when varnas and caste were at its peak. He was considered evil and portrayed in a bad light because he didn’t believe in the practice of varnas, castes, inequality, discrimination and untouchability. He was beyond his age and era. He was soft, compassionate and emphatic personality. His maturity level was par excellence when he decided to let go off his love Subhadra when she betrayed and eloped with Arjuna. You will understand Dhuryodhana is the goddamn hero of this entire epic if you read this book.
The book also covered story of Ekalayva, karna and Ashwathama in great detail. It also shows the motive behind Kunti’s behaviours and actions. This book had human-ified every magical aspects of the epic and that made it more relatable and believable. How the author had brilliantly interpreted each and every scenario from Dhuryodhana’s perspective was mind-blowing. It was an eyeopening experience to have read this book. The only problem I faced while reading the book was, it was said “India� very frequently. Since India is the name which was adopted to the country many thousands of years after this epic, it sounded irrelevant and fake because the epic and mythological feelings and settings of the book was sucked out our brains as soon as coming across the word India. The author could’ve used some other words like Bharat or something like that, it would’ve given that epic feel.
And every incidents and situations said in the book seems to be still very much relevant in today’s Indian society. Anand Neelakantan is a scholar who has a tremendous ability to produce an epic in a most relevant and akin manner.
My Views
We all know how obsessed Anand Neelakantan is in telling the story of the vanquished and he is absolutely spectacular in writing the other side of the story way beyond convincingly. I always love seeing things from different perspective and it feels kind of really great and different to read things which are against popular opinion and beliefs. I generally love mythology but after reading Anand Neelakantan, I cannot make myself to read normal conventional Hindu Mythology which more or less tells the same story again and again in the same manner. My appetite to read the other side of the story had increased by gazillion times after encountering Anand Neelakantan’s Books. Today I can boldly and proudly say that Anand Neelakantan is my favourite author and my only favourite Mythology writer. I want to read more from him.
Now it has kind of become a new ritual at home for me and my father. Whenever we come across Anand Neelakantan’s book especially if it is a mythology, we start buddy reading out loudly and discuss endlessly with our family and friends over and over again. Unknowingly Anand Neelakantan had made us form a little informal book club of our own. And whenever someone asks for a book suggestion I introduce mythology and Anand Neelakantan to them. I might have started reading mythology with Amish Tripathi but it was Anand Neelakantan who made me think clearly and analytically. His writings had brought about a lot of positive and good impacts on me. Thank you so much sir. My father and I, we both adore you, your writing style, your way of thinking and the way you correlate the epics with your books.
On the whole, my father and I, we absolutely loved this book to bits and pieces. If you ask me to talk or write about this book or Anand Neelakantan’s writing I would spend all day doing that without getting tired or bored. But I don’t want to prolong this post any further as it is already very long!!!
Our rating for this book would be 5 out of 5 stars
I would recommend this book to all the mythology lovers. It is a must because you need to know the other side of the story as well to come up with your own opinion isn’t it ? And also if you’re someone who loves to read stories from the other side or if you’re someone who loves villains over heroes (though he is not the villain but just a human who had been wronged in the pages of various interpretation by the victors), then this book is for you.
Everyone please read this book!! This man, Dhuryodhana (Suyodhana) deserves to be read!!
I really wish S.S Rajamouli would make a movie out of this book 😀 It would be the best!!
PS : I watched this Mahabharata series that came in Star channels some six seven years back and that had a great impact on me and the casting was so amazing. My mind only materialized all these characters I watched on the series while reading the book.
February 12, 2014
Mahabharat have been told in a number of ways by a number of people... Yet the story never cede to capture a reader's attention... And no wonder its my favourite story too... The difference in here is that its told from the view of the lost, the Kauravas... Frankly the book is of neutral view... Hence I loved it even more...
The english is simple... I found just 5 mistakes in entire book - 1 spelling, 2 grammar & 2 punctuation... The flow is beautiful... Dialogues are of different views... Its interesting to see Krishna as bad guy, Yudhishtra incompetent, etc.
Good read... An interesting different beautiful view of the epic Mahabharata...
*About Karna's crowning, against the wishes of all priests and kings, Suyodhana says to his mother, "I did it mother because it was the right thing to do."
*When Vidhura asks Bhishma to stop Yudhishtra from playing further and losing, "I will not stop a fool from losing. Such a fool who wage everything in a game is not competent to rule a kingdom and I see nature eliminating such a fool in it's own way."
*Arjuna sees only the eyes of the parrot, a target, and fires. Suyodhana sees love around the parrot and hence does not fire arrow.
*Character Jara and the blind dog Dharma keep coming at various spots.
*Krishna believes that he is Vishnu avatar, destined to restore dharma. Balarama is worried about this attitude of Krishna.
*Krishna, "Do not be worried about the Untouchables who are going to die. They are saving you Kshatriyaas from burning down in that palace. Don't feel bad. Its apat dharma. In next birth they will be born as Brahmins. I will give them moksha. Now let them die for you."
*Kunti, "Arjuna, whatever prize you got, share it with your brothers." The other four Pandavas look at Draupati with lust.
And... This is just part one... Second part would be coming soon...
Verdict: Preserve in your library
The english is simple... I found just 5 mistakes in entire book - 1 spelling, 2 grammar & 2 punctuation... The flow is beautiful... Dialogues are of different views... Its interesting to see Krishna as bad guy, Yudhishtra incompetent, etc.
Good read... An interesting different beautiful view of the epic Mahabharata...
*About Karna's crowning, against the wishes of all priests and kings, Suyodhana says to his mother, "I did it mother because it was the right thing to do."
*When Vidhura asks Bhishma to stop Yudhishtra from playing further and losing, "I will not stop a fool from losing. Such a fool who wage everything in a game is not competent to rule a kingdom and I see nature eliminating such a fool in it's own way."
*Arjuna sees only the eyes of the parrot, a target, and fires. Suyodhana sees love around the parrot and hence does not fire arrow.
*Character Jara and the blind dog Dharma keep coming at various spots.
*Krishna believes that he is Vishnu avatar, destined to restore dharma. Balarama is worried about this attitude of Krishna.
*Krishna, "Do not be worried about the Untouchables who are going to die. They are saving you Kshatriyaas from burning down in that palace. Don't feel bad. Its apat dharma. In next birth they will be born as Brahmins. I will give them moksha. Now let them die for you."
*Kunti, "Arjuna, whatever prize you got, share it with your brothers." The other four Pandavas look at Draupati with lust.
And... This is just part one... Second part would be coming soon...
Verdict: Preserve in your library
August 6, 2014
I just completed reading Ajaya: Roll of the Dice by Anand Neelakantan and feel obliged to write a review at this site. First, Anand deserves a pat on his back for presenting a different view-point of the great epic Mahabharata and its heroes. He has just turned the things upside down and did it meticulously and after a good deal of research on the subject. The story is already known to most of the readers so I will not summarize what the author has written about. What I couldn't easily digest is the following:
One, Duryodhana or Suyodhana for the author, is shown as innocent, meek, shy, and kind person to the extent that he is even unwilling to shoot the bird on the tree during the training session, which is unlikely of princes or kings who invariably did gaming for fun. Though to an extent we can agree that some injustice was done to Duryodhana by not naming him the crown prince as he was the able-bodied eldest son of his blind father, but he could have been shown as brave, arrogant, and a courageous prince fighting for his dues.
Two, the author has paid too much importance to the caste equations prevalent then that he had not even hesitated to call many of them as 'low caste' including Vidura who was son of the same father as were Dhritrashtra and Pandu, though from a different mother. He has tried to prove that the society then was highly unjust to the people born in the lower strata of it. Most of the time the narratives seem describing the present day casteism in the social structure.
Three, the author is at pains to accept Lord Krishna as a super-human if not God, who plays treacherous, cunning, and dishonest to Kauravas to save his friends and devotees Pandavas. This is just an antithesis what has been a popular acceptance from centuries.
Besides these, there are filmy jerks like Parashurama lying unconscious for weeks on learning that his disciple Karna was not brahmin but a low caste son of a chariot driver.
One, Duryodhana or Suyodhana for the author, is shown as innocent, meek, shy, and kind person to the extent that he is even unwilling to shoot the bird on the tree during the training session, which is unlikely of princes or kings who invariably did gaming for fun. Though to an extent we can agree that some injustice was done to Duryodhana by not naming him the crown prince as he was the able-bodied eldest son of his blind father, but he could have been shown as brave, arrogant, and a courageous prince fighting for his dues.
Two, the author has paid too much importance to the caste equations prevalent then that he had not even hesitated to call many of them as 'low caste' including Vidura who was son of the same father as were Dhritrashtra and Pandu, though from a different mother. He has tried to prove that the society then was highly unjust to the people born in the lower strata of it. Most of the time the narratives seem describing the present day casteism in the social structure.
Three, the author is at pains to accept Lord Krishna as a super-human if not God, who plays treacherous, cunning, and dishonest to Kauravas to save his friends and devotees Pandavas. This is just an antithesis what has been a popular acceptance from centuries.
Besides these, there are filmy jerks like Parashurama lying unconscious for weeks on learning that his disciple Karna was not brahmin but a low caste son of a chariot driver.
January 7, 2014
After the "Asura" masterpiece, "Ajaya" disappoints. Neelakantan seems to have gone overboard to prove a point. In "Asura" he didn't have to deride Ram to elevate Ravana. However, in "Ajaya", he does precisely that. In fact, one wonders why didn't he re-Christian Yudhishtar as "Adharmraj" and Arjun as "Kharjun". He may have well done that to prove his hypothesis.
Even the narration falls short of what Anand achieved in "Asura" or even in the lesser known but brilliantly done in "Karna's Wife" by Kavita Kane.
Anand also manipulates the language and uses the "modern" terminology to explain certain action and events. His use of the term "harem" in the context of Krishna rankles.............but, perhaps, that seems to be one of the objectives of the book.
Episodes and events have been picked up randomly, re-interpreted and woven into a story. All was certainly not right with the Pandavas but this was equally true of Kuaravas. There could be bias attributed to the manner in which Mahabharat may have been narrated so far. But Anand takes it to the other extreme.
With so much already having been written on the events leading to the epic battle (" Place of Illusions" by Chitra Banerjee Devakurni being the one from the perspective of Draupadi and the one mentioned above by Kavita Kane), "Ajaya" becomes a victim of "contrarian bias". The book had to end with Kaurav victory...........And that is how it does with the roll of the dice.
Even the narration falls short of what Anand achieved in "Asura" or even in the lesser known but brilliantly done in "Karna's Wife" by Kavita Kane.
Anand also manipulates the language and uses the "modern" terminology to explain certain action and events. His use of the term "harem" in the context of Krishna rankles.............but, perhaps, that seems to be one of the objectives of the book.
Episodes and events have been picked up randomly, re-interpreted and woven into a story. All was certainly not right with the Pandavas but this was equally true of Kuaravas. There could be bias attributed to the manner in which Mahabharat may have been narrated so far. But Anand takes it to the other extreme.
With so much already having been written on the events leading to the epic battle (" Place of Illusions" by Chitra Banerjee Devakurni being the one from the perspective of Draupadi and the one mentioned above by Kavita Kane), "Ajaya" becomes a victim of "contrarian bias". The book had to end with Kaurav victory...........And that is how it does with the roll of the dice.
September 21, 2014
This is the second mythology series I read after the Shiva Trilogy by Amish, which also I had enjoyed. In the beginning itself the author describes almost all characters in a paragraph each, which was a nice and unique way to start so that you are aware of the characters beforehand. The narration, I felt, was exemplary. The language is colloquial, but the narration is interspersed with exceptional words as well, which makes it worth reading and also helped in improving my vocabulary. I borrowed some relevant words and phrases for my own novel, so thanks to Anand sir for that. I'm not sure whether the entire story is true or not, but its definitely intriguing and captivating. Suyodhana had been painted as a hero, possessing flaws, though, and I really felt pity about his situation and when he is accused of wrongdoings. Bhishma character is also very interesting, just, and lovable. Although Lord Krishna is shown as a scheming character, the real Krishna/God resides within our hearts, which Jara's character shows brilliantly. The story is truly marvelous, and I'm eagerly awaiting the next book. It also is an excellent way of refreshing your knowledge about the epic, Mahabharata. 4 stars from me. Thanks.
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