An Entirely Different Perspective: Neelakantan's Ajaya is a Re-telling of India's Greatest Epic

 Okay so I really liked the first book of the Ajaya series, Roll of the Dice. I was looking for more reads about Duryodhana, his role, struggles and life in general. So this is the book I went for. Though I am not sure about the truth behind some of the facts mentioned in the book, it has substance to offer. For example, Shakuni is said to be younger than Gandhari in the book. When Bhishma abducts Gandhari to be married to his nephew, Shakuni is depicted as a five-year-old boy. Another fact that I am not really sure of : Krishna is said to be older than Karna in the book. These are just some of the few discrepancies I noticed.

Anyways, keeping aside those, here are some of the things I liked about the book. The portrayal of Shakuni is really interesting. You would literally feel chills down your spine when you read about this iconic character. The way he carries his grudge about the injustice met to his sister, his vow of reducing India to ashes are really depicted beautifully. I liked the fact that a large part of the book focusses on the intense and brutal caste system prevalent in those times. I liked how the writer hasn’t just clung on to Karna’s character to portray the caste system, but, he has thrown light on characters like Ekalavya, his family and Jara, the beggar. He has shown how, for these characters, even Karna is privileged. The book follows Eklavya even after his tragic incident with Drona, how he gets back to the bow and teams up with Takshaka, who is trying to bring on a revolution with his Naga community. Jara is always a shadow, with his blind dog Dharma, going places, with experiences really painful. Suyodhana is mostly depicted as a person who was always neglected and abused by his teacher as a child, who defies all caste rules and has a really open heart, earning the hatred of the Brahmin community. A lot of injustice was done to him right from his childhood and all of that is elaborately portrayed in the book. Not until his insult at the Rajsuya in Indraprastha is any transition from positive to negative shown. Another character depiction I really liked is Kripa. His conversation with Karna about the chaturvarna before he prepares him as a Brahmin is really captivating (won’t spoil that!).

Some of the things I didn’t really like about the book : Firstly, the portrayal of Krishna. I get that this is Duryodhana’s Mahabharat, but I thought that the portrayal of Krishna was really vague and could be better. Krishna is repeatedly given dialogues that blame Duryodhana that he has done a mistake by befriending a Suta. He is also justifying how anyone dreaming of doing anything forbidden to his/her community would destroy the harmony of the social order. Also, the Cheer Haran scene isn’t depicted as elaborately as it demands to be. The role is Krishna in this scene is also reduced to just a few words.

All in all, Roll of the Dice was a different read, a unique take on the epic, something that I was looking for. You will get a vivid picture of the political configuration, the strict caste regulations mixed with a beautiful blend of emotions in this retelling of India’s greatest epic.

My Rating - 3.5/5

Happy Reading!😇