BOOK REVIEW

Title: Ramayana for Children

Author: Arshia Sattar
Illustrator: Sonali Zohra
Publisher: Juggernaut Books
Reviewed by Urmi Chanda-Vaz

Author and academician, Dr. Arshia Sattar concluded a recent interview

wistfully, saying how The Ramayana is weighed down by the politics and
morality of its adult readers. But children are unfettered and may enjoy
Valmikis epic for what it is - a truly wonderful story. And it is for them
that Sattar rewrites Indias oldest and perhaps best-loved tale. The
Ramayana for Children is a Juggernaut publication out this week,
illustrated beautifully by Sonali Zohra.
Sattars emotional involvement with the epic is palpable, given how
shes been working with it for years now. Her Penguin translation of the
Valmiki Ramayana, and her book, Lost Loves: Exploring Rama's Anguish
are well known. I am personally a fan of the latter. It has helped me
better appreciate the character of Rama, beyond those polarised
Hindutva and feminist tropes. Sattar delves beautifully into the
vulnerabilities of what is made out to be an uptight character. It shows
the depth of her scholarship and her intimacy with the subject.
So I was both, excited and curious, to see what Dr. Sattar had done
differently in her new book, Ramayana for Children. But this isnt her
first stint in childrens writing. She has authored three books in this
genre before including Kishkindha Tails, Pampa Sutra and Adventures
with Hanuman. As the titles suggest, these were only part renditions.
With this book, she neatly scoops up Valmikis entire magnum opus and
presents it in a bite-sized work. Okay, at 200+ pages, it isnt bite-sized
but Sattars easy language makes for a very smooth read.
I, in fact, put her vocabulary to the test reading out parts of it to my
7-year-old and was asked Mama, what does that mean? only a couple
of times. One could, therefore, imagine the target group to be seven to
13-year olds. Despite the simplicity, Sattars narrative is magical. Her

characters come alive in ones imagination and on the pages with

Zohras gorgeous centrefold illustrations.
While I love Sattars stylistic ease, I find certain omissions and alterations
in the retelling unnecessary and sometimes hard to agree with. While
these instances make little or no difference to the larger narrative, there
are some finer points of dharma that, in my opinion, warrant attention.
It is hard to bypass the subject of dharma, after all, when one speaks of
the Ramayana. Indeed the Valmiki Ramayana with its difficult questions
and choices is also considered a dharma shastra.
In the same interview referred to above, Sattar says: I tried to tell the
story as honestly as I could. The uncomfortable parts remain
uncomfortable, the fun parts remain fun.
I only disagree in that not ALL uncomfortable parts have remained so.
Perhaps Sattar does not consider these details necessary/important
enough for children; perhaps it is her eagerness to paint Rama in a good
light; or perhaps as a scholar she knows certain parts to be
interpolations and hence avoids them. Consider the following cases:
In Sattars version, Rama does not kill the demoness, Tataka, but only
disarms and incapacitates her. In the original story, Rama is quite
hesitant to kill a woman (demon) but does it anyway on his gurus orders.
Sattar has left it at the point of hesitation. Underlining the conflicting
dharmas of obeying ones teacher and killing a woman is important to
this episode and the building of Ramas character. But violence against
women is an uncomfortable subject, and Sattar has chosen to not let it
remain uncomfortable.
The next is an instance of womens empowerment, so to speak, that
has also been skipped in Sattars story. That Sita had lifted the famed
Pinaka bow of Shiva as a child finds no mention in this book. We only see
Rama dazzle the assembly with a show of strength as he picks up and
breaks the bow. I wonder why Sattar let go that one opportunity to
uphold Sita as a strong heroine in the eyes of many a little girl.
The omission that follows is also with respect to another female
character. When Ravanas sister, the rakshasi Shurpanakha approaches
the Ayodhan princes, Rama almost immediately tells Lakshmana to cut
off her nose and ears. That the brothers have fun at her expense before
meting out the punishment is missing in Sattars retelling. Here,

especially, I dont see it as the omission of a mere nuance. It is the

trigger point of the Ramayana war, a very important point in the gender
discourse, and an episode with plenty of greys. I dont quite agree with
the way Sattar has reduced it to a black and white episode - a matter of
good man punish bad woman. Another discomfort glossed over.
Now when Sattar omits Sitas allegations about Lakshmans desire for
her during the golden deer episode, it is understandable. The charges
are sexual and perhaps best avoided in a childrens version of the story.
But one is hard pressed to find such logic in the next baffling alteration.
It occurs in the chapter King Rama of this book (Uttara Kanda in the
original), when Rama tells Lakshmana to abandon Sita in the forest for
fear of gossip. Valmikis Lakshmana takes Sita to the woods and
regretfully tells her about Ramas decision. But Sattars Lakshman runs
away when an unsuspecting Sita stops to have a drink of water! Why
strip Lakshmana of grace and make Sita look more like a victim than she
is already?
There are a few more examples but their niggles are not as great as the
ones Ive listed above. Perhaps it is my familiarity with the text that
made me point to these, and the lay reader may never know or notice
them. But I do believe that we ought not to remove every thorn before
we hand over the roses of legacy to our children. That said, Sattars
Ramayana for Children is rather sweet.