Shakuntala And Other Stories From Ancient India Adhiti Rao

Manojendu Choudhury

21 June 2007, 12:17

Ancient literary pieces pervade our subconscious self, influencing our actions and thought processes. For our parents’ generation and before, the mythological epics and other timeless classics consisting of plays, stories, poems and philosophies were a part of the cultural consciousness. Even though the British education system had provided the thrust to promote occidental thinking, the zeal to preserve one’s identity had perpetuated the traditional old historical classics. In this environment the learned was well versed in both styles of literature and philosophy.

Post independence, our society, freed from the ignominy of foreign rule, happily looked up to western culture causing a massive reorientation in social thinking. Society was fragmented into two broad overlapping classes, one that denounced the traditional values and ethos and shut their mind to any perspective that was old, while the other fought to preserve the old system without thought of the future.

The majority of the population vacillated between the two extremes according to their convenience. This process of fragmentation was introduced by the British, but it gained maximum momentum after independence as the class looking up to the western culture could do so without any inferiority complex borne out of being ruled by the foreigners.

The economic forces, which were in turn influenced by the technological innovations that increased the commercial productivity, brought the former group into positions of power, sidelining the traditionalists. In the process, the old ancient literature suffered a body blow. These literary pieces started to disappear from the cultural consciousness, especially in the domain of literature available for young readers.

But, as it happens in nature, the complex process of counteracting forces act to seek a balance. Hence there always existed efforts that tried to popularize the old classical literature among the young readers, but those attempts were chiefly propagated by the small press houses with generally poor results.

One of the mot successful of such ventures was the comic book series Amar Chitra Katha. What these books lacked in professional production quality was more then made up for with simple, direct storytelling through an uncomplicated art form. They were popular among the middle class, while the elite looked down upon these. Now that I look back I realize a large chunk of my introduction to ancient Indian literature was through this comic book series.

The economic liberalization and the ensuing globalization of the Indian culture in the last decade and a half has drawn a section of the population to take a journey to rediscover its roots. There is a definite movement in popular culture to update the classics and make them more accessible to the general global market. The publication of this book, Shakuntala And Other Stories From Ancient India, by the biggest mainstream publishing house Penguin India, retold by Adhiti Rao, a mainstream media person, is another step in this direction.

Aimed at a young readership of pre- and early teens, this book contains six pieces in total. Originally plays, poems and epics from Sanskrit and Tamil literature they are presented here as short stories, abridged and edited suitably. The original works date from (approximately) 200-300 B.C. to 400 A.D.

With simple language and lucid narration the translator manages to keep interest in the story alive, elucidating the poignant situations from time to time. A sincere attempt has been made to to stress the stories relavence to contemporary life. Accompanying artwork, albeit limited to one for each story, are a positive addition to the book. Each story is preceded by a short introduction to the original author’s life and times.

The first offering is one of the greatest of all the classics, the play Abhijnanashakuntalam (Shakuntala) by Kalidasa, who is considered a jewel among all the glittering literary figures in the history of India. It is more of poetry in the form of a play than the theatre we are accustomed to.

With some minor twists and turns, the story line is a fairly straightforward narrative of the dreamy love story between the great king Dushyanta and Shakuntala, the daughter of the sage Vishwamitra and the apsara (divine dancer) Menaka. The former’s son, Bharat, was the founder of the great Kuru dynasty, and in the north Indian languages India is still called Bharatvarsha, the land of Bharat.

The retelling of the story here is done with little attempt to give a glimpse of the poetic feel, the emphasis is on the narration of the story line. The connoisseur might object to the lack of literary accuracy, but considering the target age group, whose attention is easily diverted, the edits are appropriate.

The transition from the dramatic structure to plain prose may diminish part of the original’s appeal, but this is again necessary for the target readership. Overall the romance has been captured as much as it can be captured in a pre-teen saga.

There is just one thing to note, the story here as a mention of Kunti (the mother of the Pandavas in The Mahabharat); chronologically Kunti is a few generations after Shakuntala. I am not sure whether this mistake is made by Kalidasa himself or not (I don’t remember off hand any reference to Kunti in the unabridged play, but I don’t trust my memory much), but even if it is and even after accounting for poetic license, it remains an error, and the retelling would have been best served had this not been mentioned here.

The next offering is the very popular play Mrichchakatika (The Little Clay Cart) by Shudraka. This complex, melodramatic play involving the lives of common people is quite popular even today given that it has inspired many modern renditions on the stage as well as celluloid. With dollops of romance, sharp wit and political intrigue along with a revolution in the background, this is the longest story in the collection. The characterizations have been handled more or less adequately and the basic storyline has been adhered to. This story gives a very good account of the social lives of the general populace of that era.

The Tamil classic poems Silappadikaram (The Story Of An Anklet) by Illanko Adigal and its sequel Manimekalai (The Dancer And The Begging Bowl) by Sattanar poignantly relate the lives of Kannagi and her step daughter Manimekalai. The first is the story of the revenge of a virtuous woman, while the sequel relates the tale of the renunciation of worldly life by a dancing girl. The Buddhist and Jain influence on the philosophy of the land is very explicit in these poetic epics.

The other two stories pertain to plays depicting sequences of the epics Ramayan, and Mahabharat. These are Uttararamacharita (The Last Trial of Sita) by Bhavabhuti and Urubhangam (The Shattered Thigh) by Bhasa. These works show the liberty that the ancient writers took in interpreting the characters according to their own personal frame of reference and depicting them by narrating events from their perspective. The element of pathos is beautifully woven in these stories.

But, there is another aside: in the introduction to Uttararamacharita it is mentioned that Valmiki had Ganesha pen Ramayan, whereas it is a very well known fact that it was Ved Vyasa who had Ganesha pen the Mahabharat.

Overall, Adhiti Rao’s retelling of these classics is commendable as it retains the reader’s interest. The narration is easy and straightforward as the stories move with a good flow. The various landscapes which serve as the background for these stories range from ethereal scenario replete with godly presence to the dilapidated dwelling of a poverty stricken scholar. These are handled with equal assurance and clarity. The presentation of the subject matter has been adjusted well to suit the sensibility and maturity of a twelve year old.

The book has some very good artwork, is well bound with an excellent quality of print and is affordably priced, making it one of a kind in the domain of available literature for young readers in India. One hopes that more such offering will be forthcoming from this and other big publishing houses.

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