C'est la vie!!

Author : Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

India's greatest epic 'The Mahabharath' is brought to life by Chitra Banerjee.
The Mahabharat is a house hold name in every Indian home . Raised in India, my memories would be of listening to tales from the Mahabharat as a little kid or a curious school goer reading Amar Chitra Katha illustrated versions of the Mahabharat or as a teen ager totally in awe with Arjuna's shooting skills.
However when reading this book , it was the first time I got the grasp of the epic from Panchaali's perspective.Her character is unique right from the fact that she was born out of the fire to her distinction of being the person to marry all 5 heroic Pandava brothers. All this apart , deep inside she is like any other woman ..having her own dreams , fantasies and desires. Her bitterness and duels with mother in law Kunti , her day dreaming of Arjuna's valour before meeting him , her secret admiration of Karna ,her friendship with her confidante Krishna are all parts of the book that are very intriguing. It would take you by surprise , make you look at incidents from a woman's point of view
This half-mythical , half historical and ceratinly magical tale is truly worth a read especially for the women folk
i would definitely recommend this book for those who would like to see The Mahabharat from a totally new perspective