Vanara- The legend of Baali, Sugreeva and Tara by Anand NeelakantanMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
The author is a prolific writer blessed with an immense imaginative capacity. His books are best sellers and popped out into Indian celebrity author’s list through his wonderful book “Asura- The Tale of the Vanquished”, the Hindu epic Ramayana narrated from the defeated angle. He also contributes to many TV serials and newspapers through his extensive writing skills that can be easily understood. Heard that this book Vanara, is soon going to come out as a mini TV series.
Storyline:
The story is an excerpt from Kishkindakanda of the well known epic, Ramayana of the Hindu mythology. Almost every Indian would have grown up listening to this bed time story of how Lord Rama, the incarnation of Vishnu and also the king of Ayodhya killed Bali or Vali, the monkey king of Kishkinda (kingdom of Vana Naras) from a hiding place in a jungle. Though the story sounds heroic from the angle ofLord Rama, the author chose to narrate the same from the other side. It all begins with the two brothers Bali and Sugreeva growing up among the Vanaras (monkey men) in the harsh jungles, south of Vindhya mountain range in India. Bali, the elder brother and the stronger is loved by the beautiful Tara, who in turn is loved by Sugreeva too. This triangular love story, said to be the first of its kind in the ancient world, is all the problem that led to the unlawful murder of Bali in the end. Tara, the iconic wife and lover of both the brothers is emotionally crushed by the sentiments of her husband and lover but ultimately binds herself to the will of her heart by remaining as the legitimate wife of Bali till the end. She never succumbs to Sugreeva even at her weakest moments though she secretly adores him. The whole narration revolves around Bali and Sugreeva, their adventures, love, hatred, leadership, strength and ethics. Over a period of time, Sugreeva gets tired of Bali’s supremacy over him coupled with Tara’s never ending love towards Bali. This frustration leads to his alliance with Lord Rama and his brother Lakshmana who were passing by Kishkinda at that time in search of Rama’s abducted wife Sita, in order to kill Bali with an arrow from behind a tree in a false duel instigated by Sugreeva with Bali, in exchange for lending Vanara army to fight the dangerous Asura king of Lanka, Ravana and bring back Rama’s wife Sita . This arrangement is because Lord Rama is no match to Bali in strength and can never win an open physical fight with Bali. This unlawful murder is questioned by Bali to Lord Rama just before dying, for which Rama could not give a befitting reply. Tara curses Lord Rama for this brutal murder of her husband that he will not be able to live happily with his wife Sita, in the future. Tara spends rest of her life as a widow alone in the jungle, far away from Kishkinda, until her death, while Sugreeva becomes the king of Kishkinda.
Pros : The author elicits how horribly these Vanaras were treated by the so-called civilized Brahmins, Kshatriyas and other upper caste rulers and citizens of the country and how they are only used as mere low caste slaves but not as equals. This discrimination is shown even by the great Lord Rama, king of Ayodhya known to be an avatar of Vishnu. The author elevated Bali to be the true dedicated king of the Vanaras who dreamt of giving the best life to his subjects, away from the clutches of other civilized…rather uncivilized kingdoms of the country who treated them as low born creatures. Sugreeva is portrayed as a loyal brother but not more than a passionate lover of his brother’s wife Tara. On the other hand Tara is portrayed as a talented administrator in the absence of her husband, a great lover of her husband and a kind friend to the subjects of Kishkinda. The bravest part is that, the revered Lord Rama, considered to be a God in Hindu religion, is belittled in the story and shown as the one who easily fell prey to the lies of Sugreeva and resorted to Adharma while on the other hand he preached Dharma to his subjects. Rama’s brother Lakshmana too appears to be completely arrogant, unethical and intolerant through his violent behavior towards Vanaras and the woman who lusted for his brother.
Cons: The only thing that I didn’t like in this story is about Tara, as to how she avoided informing Bali about Sugreeva’s romantic advances towards her even when the later knows that Tara loves his brother and a legitimate wife of Bali. She could have avoided Bali’s murder if she explained to her husband about Sugreeva’s love towards her, earlier…. Unless she too secretly loved Sugreeva in return. In that case, even she is equally to be blamed for Bali’s death. Too many open ends for a logical reader to ponder.
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