Title: Ramayana: The Game of Life: Shattered Dreams (Book 2)
Author: Shubha Vilas
Publisher: Jaico Publishing House
ISBN: 978-81-8495-531-6
Number of Pages: 387
Price: 350 [INR]
Genre: Mythology
To Start with, when you see a book with a title something like this, first thought which will come into your mind is it can be another rendition of a mythological tale, but then the the phrase "game of life" which is very nicely fitted into the cover page, hints of something unusual of that usual tale we listened throughout our life. And yes it is, its like a pundit giving life lessons referencing to various events of that epic, Ramayana.
The book is the sequel to the national bestseller, Rise of the Sun Prince, and the story starts with the riveting drama of Rama's exile, subsequent to the twelve years since wedding of Rama and Sita which was covered in the first part.
Before letting you to taste the dish, i would like to you to first smell the aroma. The Book is not about a mythological story, but its a motivational lesson for one towards the hardships of life. With the events which happened with the Rama's life, the author tries to teach us some life lessons, of how to tackle those reversals, of how to proceed with positivity, of how to handle the various temptations, of how to think out of our zone.
The Ramayana story majorly inspired by Valmiki Ramayana, it involves work from Kamba Ramayana and Ramacharitmanas. Along with this it involves the philosophical anecdotes from the Loka Pramana tales , all threaded together to depict the relevance of this ancient epic into modern life.
The Book is divided into nine chapters, all having a lesson to handle the reversals positively.
It all starts with the event when Dasarath asks Rama to leave home, because of the the schemes of Manthara and Kaikayee, the two characters who halted the Dasarath's plans of making Rama, the king, and let the helpless father see his sons leaving home. And yes, no matter how many times you would have listened to these stories, the beautiful description of all the characters and events will surely stick you with the book. The obliged son, Rama who accepted this as an order by his father; the sorrow of the people of Ayodhya; True devotee of his elder brother, Bharatha getting angry over the things, his sincerity; as well as Laxman's undying love to his brother which let Urmila sacrifice; these all events; the writer has done complete justice to the all these scenes and very beautifully described their relevance in the current life scenario on the first hand. These are in the form of footnotes, which include the lessons which we can take from these events. With so many great ideas and lessons with the story, time spent reading these with the events will completely leave you spellbound.
“…she then wove an imaginary garland around Rama’s neck by moving her beautiful eyes and smiled again”.
The Romance of Rama and Sita has been portrayed beautifully with some very poetic lines as given above.
And there is lot more to read which will completely mesmerize you while you turn every new page.
What a fantastic description is given for every character and event which we would have never listened to, no matter how many times we heard this story, you will surely get some interesting new knowledge about the story. Another good thing is that even if you hadn't read the first part, it would hardly affect your reading. Also if you dislike books that teach life lessons, you can have a try to read a completely new narration of the story with some great detailing at various places.
The language and narration of the book is fantastic and will surely make it interesting till you turn the last page. I will surely recommend this book to all type of readers.
My Rating : 3.5/5
This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books
