Book: Ravana-Enemy of
Aryavarta
Author: Amish
Publisher: Westland
India
The long-awaited
book in the Ramchandra Series, Ravana-Enemy of Aryavarta is the third book in
the series.
To give you context
of the plot, the Ramchandra Series is based on a multilinear narrative that
explores the paths of the 3 main characters-Ram, Sita & Ravana in three
separate books that culminate at one common point, which in this case is the
abduction of Sita. The previous two books, Ram-Scion of Ikshvaku &
Sita-Warrior of Mithila set the characters of Sita and Ram into the plot
devised by Amish.
Ravana-Enemy of
Aryavarta begins way before Ram & Sita were born. Starting with the
childhood, we are introduced to the life of Ravana in the Ashram of Vishrava,
his father. Being born a Naga, he faces constant ridicule of his father and
starts to despise him. Things take a turn when Vishrava’s wife, Kaikesi delivers
Kumbhakarna, another Naga. Facing ridicule from his clan, he had ordered them
to kill Kaikesi and the child if he was a Naga. Saved by her brother, Mareech,
they run to save their lives. What happens next, continues to mould Ravana’s
life and his actions as we see them.
The book skips to
specific instances in Ravana’s life. We see Ravana dissecting a live hare when
he was barely a child, we see a brilliant strategist when he negotiates with
Akampana for his ship and the way he deals with Kubaer in Lanka. We see an
Artist who creates wonderful melodies with his Rudraveena. We also see an
unrequited lover, paining to see the woman he fell in love with, A Kanyakumari
he met in Vishrava’s Ashram when he was a kid. He continues to paint her
portrait, imagining her age in his mind. We see Ravana as a devoted brother,
who would do anything for Kumbhakarna.
Another point that
Amish makes in the story is how Ravana was used as a pawn by Vishwamitra to catalyse
the chain of events leading to Sita’s Kidnapping. Even though the actions of Ravana
were truly his own, his being played by Vishwamitra turned things for the
worse. The highlight of the book was the point where Ravana breaks and takes a
severe vow that starts the domino effect.
Compared to other
works by Amish, this one was not that exciting. Creating a character as complex
as Ravana is difficult but the plots in Ram-Scion of Ikshvaku and Sita-Warrior
of Mithila were better executed than Ravana-Enemy of Aryavarta. Jumping years
at a time, each incident is wrapped up quickly, thus giving no time for the
connection to sink in. The reference to Sabarimala was not required and it
added no real material for the main plot. The change of name of the book is
quite justified as we see how each incident turned him against his motherland. The
characters are built properly with Kumbhakarna serving the voice of reason for
Ravana. His contempt for his half siblings-Vibhishana & Surpanakha is shown
though not much is dealt on it. Cunningness of Vishwamitra and the Malayaputras
is depicted well.
Is he the greatest
villain in history or just a man in a dark place, all the time?
Read Ravana-Enemy of
Aryavarta by Amish to find out.
I would rate the
book 3.5/5.
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