Shakuntala & Dushyanta (Epic Love Stories #1) by Ashok K. Banker
Release: July 6th 2012
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Westland Books
Source: Amazon
Shakuntala & Dushyanta Synopsis:
The classic tale of “Shakuntala and Dushyanta” has enthralled Indians for millennia. The retelling in Banker’s “Shakuntala And Dushyanta” follows a middle path between Vyasa’s and Kalidasa’s versions. Now retold in Ashok’s inimitable epic style, this short novella also forms a part of the larger epic Mahabharata Series. Ashok Banker specializes in retelling stories of great Indian epics and classical works. In “Shakuntala And Dushyanta”, he tells the story of the couple whose son gave the country its original name, Bharata.
Review:
This was a nice quick read which I felt could have been better.
Frankly, I was a bit disappointed in finishing this book. I really didn’t feel it was very ‘Epic’. I felt that Dushyanta was a coward for giving equal importance to his throne as he did for Shakuntala. It didn’t seem like he really risked anything to be with her. In the end, I didn’t feel like he deserved her at all However, I loved Shakuntala’s character and wanted to read more about her. The author has perfectly described the hardships she endures in order to be with Dushyanta. Furthermore, I felt that the novella was too short and there was room for more details. For instance, I really wanted to read Bharata’s point of view of the incidents taking place. I also wanted to read more about Vishwamitra and Menaka.
One issue I had with this book was there are many mythological words that readers (new to the world of Indian Mythology) may not understand. There are no glossary terms provided for readers to refer to. The author tends to overuse these terms profusely in the beginning of the story, making it look old fashioned. Due to this reason, it took time to get absorbed in the story and clearly visualize the settings. For example, such sentences are difficult to picture if you don’t know what Garuda or khadira is.
“Despite its ponderous rumbling, the chariot was drawn by powerful bhoja stallions and capable of achieving great speeds, often compared to the swiftness of Garuda by those who observed it from afar.”
“Magnificent bilva, arka, khadira, kapitha and dhava trees grew in great profusion”.
While I appreciate the author using such words to build the grandeur atmosphere, it seems clustered and unnecessary at times. However, these words beautifully build the magnificence in some scenes, particularly when Shakuntala meets Dushyanta in his throne.
Ashok K Banker is a great storyteller for bringing back Indian mythology for the new generation. Somehow, “Shakuntala and Dushyanta” didn’t leave any significant impact, probably because of the above reasons. Kunal Kundu has done an amazing job with the cover design. The cover immediately attracts the readers to pick up the novel. Overall, this is a good start to the “Epic Love Stories” series but I hope the succeeding novellas are better.
