With a rise in the acceptance and reception of mythological fiction, many authors are turning up with their versions of historical, mythological and religious tales from ancient India. While some authors try to retain the originality as far as possible, there are many who appear at the scene with entirely new narratives – Anand Neelakantan and Devadutt Pattanaik, Chitra Banerjee and Amish Tripathi are the major figures. They offer narratives that belie the traditionally accepted form of scriptures. Nevertheless, there are also the authors who try their best to further enhance the acceptability and usefulness of the ancient tales that may impact the lives of the readers in this contemporary world. Seema Seth, one such author, has come up with her mythological fiction titled Yashoda and Krishna.
Seema Seth has written a few books already. This is the first time she has ventured into writing the mythology genre. Her book, Yashoda and Krishna, tries to explore the childhood of Godly Krishna, the Avatar of Lord Vishnu after the Ram Avatar. And the author has tried to do it in a very different way. Seema has made Krishna, the child, a more humane form than what we find in conventional books. This humanisation of a Godly incarnation will be an ideal read not only for adult readers but for anyone who can read a book in English – across the age group and without any trouble reading in languages one cannot find oneself at home.
More than fiction, “Yashoda and Krishna” also offers important quotes and anecdotes from the life of Krishna, the child. However, the author has taken certain fictional liberties to mould the story of Krishna in her own way. The reason behind it, Seema tells, is to let the readers know what’s the importance of relationships in modern life, by drawing lessons from the age-old events. For example, the utterances of Krishna to Putna, the demon who wanted to kill Krishna, in this book are offered in the way as follows:
“The small child smiles while taking pity on her and asks her to relax. “You won’t die, even though you came here with the intention to kill me. I forgive your sin because you mothered me like a foster mother, even though that was for a while. You will live and remain in history as one of my foster mothers. Since a mother is a mother no matter what, and whether bad or good”.
This is altered, for sure. However, the author serves a purpose by taking this fictional liberty and provides the readers with a perfect example of winning over your enemy without harming him or her. Yashoda and Krishna, as a novel, goes beyond merely entertaining the readers. Seema tells:
“My audience reach extends to even young children so I wanted to keep my book clean, to not corrupt their minds. Any story of a pure bonding between a mother and a child is pure joy. But our inhibitions don’t let us express gratitude to each other as we take our relationship for granted. With this book, the readers might revisit their relationship and see it in a different light, add the missing spunk, and be able to enhance their bonding further.”
And the book certainly stands up to the testimony appended above. The author has managed to keep her book clean and also her writing style at a different level that aims at getting what she wishes. The readers will find Seema’s writing interesting, entertaining and beyond. Radha-Krishna episodes, Yashoda-Krishna episodes, Krishna dealing with his friends and Gopis, Krishna dealing with the demons and also the Kaliya episode – everything has been handled very well by the author.
You can read Seema’s books by finding them on Amazon by clicking the link below:
Explore Seema Seth’s Amazon Page – click here
Written by Sarthak for Literature News