The Prince of Ayodhya' and other stories by Ashok Banker

How does one write a story that everyone knows by heart and still make it exciting enough, mesmerising enough to be unputdownable. If you don't know the answer then read this six book series on the Ramayana by author Ashok Banker.

Starting from 'The Prince of Ayodhya' and upto the 'Bridge of Rama' (i haven't been able to read the sixth book yet), the author has spun a centuries old yarn in such an eloquent yet identifiable manner that it is unbelievable.

And he's not only re written the Ramayana, but according to me he's re-introduced the whole drama in a very civilian way. When i say civilian, i mean in a manner i and you can identify with the characters and their emotions. For in Banker's 'Prince of Ayodhya', Rama is no divine being, but a young prince struggling with his own set of emotions and realities.

And its not one person's point of view, rather everyone who gets a fair representation in the books. Thus he's given a colourful and fascinating view of what the thought processes of Dashratha had been and what his weaknesses were and how he coped with them. What Kaushalya feels and why Kaikaiyi behaves the way she does.

In fact he's done such a brilliant job that even Ravana is not painted totally black. He seems to want to paint various shades into all the characters rather than paint people as black or white.

Along the way he's also built so many of his own characters and colourful details in to it that one feels like he's never really read or understood the Ramayana.

In the later books, of course with the entry of Hanuman and the kidnapping of Sita, he does feel the need to project Rama in a more 'superhuman' light. And maybe in the end (in book six i.e.) he will spring some surprise as well.

And the beauty of it all is that one discovers in a very subtle or nuanced manner the real message of 'The Ramayana'. Or maybe that's just my take away. But the essence of 'Dharma' and the way it is explained in a very peer to peer manner is very comforting and eye opening. One tends to feel for the characters and identify with them.

And it is in this identification with the character of Rama that one feels empowered. If a 'man' (and not god) can behave as Rama does, then what stops us from behaving in that particular way, is the question i am struggling with these days.

The success of Ashok Banker, according to me is to present Ramayana as a tale, a very emotion filled human story, as i suppose it was meant to be and not as a mythological extravaganza. It is in doing so that he so very successfully delivers to us a very, very human Rama and Ramayana.