Age Group: Adults

Description:

Anand Neelakantan, the bestselling author of Asura and the Baahubali trilogy, returns to the Indian epics with a striking reinterpretation of the Ramayana through the eyes of its most overlooked and misunderstood women. This collection brings together five interlinked tales centred on Bhoomija (Sita), Shanta, Manthara, Tataka and Meenakshi (Soorpanakha) — figures often dismissed as villains, footnotes or passive consorts in popular retellings. Was Manthara truly a scheming handmaiden, or a fierce protector of the child she raised? Was Soorpanakha the demoness of legend, or a woman punished for daring to desire? With his trademark empathy for those traditionally cast as antagonists, Neelakantan reframes these characters as complex individuals shaped by ambition, love, sacrifice and defiance — offering a thoughtful, provocative companion to Valmiki's epic that invites readers to question inherited narratives.