The Liberation of Sita

Definitely a 4.5 but I'm rounding up.

As a Telugu speaking person, it's sad that I hardly know anything about my language's literature and publishing scene and don't remember reading more than one novel in Telugu in my entire life (I'm not counting many of the spiritual and epics I've read in this list). So this book has been on my radar for quite a while because a Ramayana or Mahabharata retelling is just my kind of thing, and seeing that it's translated from Telugu made me more excited for it. And despite very short in length, I think this book filled the piece I felt was missing from another Ramayana retelling told from Sita's POV - The Forest of Enchantments.

I totally didn't expect the way this collection of interconnected stories unfolded. While this is indeed about the liberation of Sita, how she finally understood the importance of liberating herself from her dependence on her love for Rama and her marital and motherhood vows, what I didn't expect was that this also about giving voices to those women in the epic who are marginalized or forgotten and didn't get any closure to the abuses they were put through. Through the extended stories of Surpanakha, Ahalya, Renuka and Urmila, the author creates this group of women who have endured harsh adversities and come out of them with inner peace and fulfillment in themselves, and this sisterhood forms the strength that Sita derives from when she finds herself at various turning points in her life. It is thought provoking and really opened my mind - I almost felt like if I had examined Ramayana from this perspective before, maybe I would have liked the epic more, but I've never been a fan of it without being able to articulate why. Now I feel like I know what I needed from it.

I've hardly ever read translated fiction of any Indian languages, so I don't know if I want to comment on the quality of it. But I did find it enjoyable and profound and apt for the story. I immensely enjoyed the interview with the author at the end and as someone who knows nothing about feminist politics in Andhra or Telangana, it was wonderful to know that the author has been fighting for equality and inclusion both as an artist and activist for decades now and I found her to be so fascinating. I can only hope I will get to read more of her works - who knows maybe this time I'll read a Telugu book of hers.