“It was the right time to write about Sita’s strength and power”

Author Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni talks to VEENA RAO about her novel, ‘The Forest of Enchantments’.

Celebrated Indian-American author Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s new novel is a retelling of the epic Ramayana from Sita’s perspective. The Sita of The Forest of Enchantments is not the docile, long -suffering queen of public perception. She is a warrior princess, a woman of indomitable spirit and wisdom, a role model for the contemporary woman.

It is hard to remain unaffected by the sensitive, empathetic, lyrical voice of the protagonist who questions the difficult circumstances of her life, and her rights as a woman in a patriarchal world. These are questions that continue to remain relevant today.

While The Forest of Enchantments is the tragic love story of Sita and Ram, it is also the story of the other women of Ramayana –  Urmila, Kaushalya, Kaikeyi, Mandodari, Ahalya and Surpanakha, who, the author says in this Q&A, have been pushed to the edges even though they propel the epic forward.

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