SITAYANA By RAJNIH RETHESH
SITAYANA
By RAJNIH RETHESH
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
My Rating 4.6/5
Synopsis
When writer and columnist Sitalakshmi crosses the threshold of marriage at the age of 21; she suffers in the hands of the patriarchy. She is constantly beaten down by hypocrisy and misogyny for the next 12 years of her married life. Life throws a curve ball at her when she authors a controversial book, Sitayana. It leads to a series of unfortunate events in her life beginning with her disappearance. Is Sitalakshmi alive? Does she too succumb to the double standards of the society like Sita from Ramayana? Diana Annamma Varkey, the badass Crime Branch officer, sets out to find out. She treads through many unsettling questions that women like Sitalakshmi seeks answers to - Who decides a woman’s worth? Who decides a woman’s limits? - but swathes under the dirty rugs of adjustments and compromises.
My Thoughts
Sitayana is a debut of author Rajnih Rethesh and it re-examines the narrative of the Ramayana through Sita’s eyes. It sheds fresh light on a major Hindu epic, and attempts to question a woman’s place in society and reflects on the idea of female autonomy in a patriarchal community.
The book takes on the ambitious project of outlining the contours of shadowy female figure in the myth through Sita’s perspective. It showcases the contributions and sacrifices made by women which are usually dismissed as trivial facts in the unfolding of the myth, their importance skimmed over and taken for granted.
A retelling has immense potential to give power to those who are otherwise deprived of it and recast a narrative in a different light, reshaping the very context in which actions were interpreted, changing their meaning and basis. Rajnih Rethesh hits the nail on the head with some aspects of his writing.
it feeds into societal norms of victim-blaming and appreciates qualities from a male standpoint. While the author does make an amazing attempt in several places to give Sita an independent voice.
A must Read for sure!
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