Book Review - The Liberation of Sita

This book, I bought it on the suggestion of Nalini Chettur of the famous "Giggles" - The Biggest Little bookshop in Chennai. I have been a regular at her shop and I love buying books from her. I love my interactions with her. She is someone who has details about every book she sells in her finger-tip and can also make some great suggestions according to your reading taste. So when she suggested this one for me, I knew it would not go wrong. Okay, enough of the introduction, now about the book.

Book Title: The Liberation of Sita

Author: Volga
Translated from Telugu by T.VijayaKumar and C.Vijayashree
Publisher: HarperPerennial

This book has been crafted with the woman characters from the epic Valmiki's Ramayana. There are five stories in the book with Sita (Wife of Shri Ramachandra) as the central character. Ramayana is a book that speaks volumes about Lord Rama and his righteousness and up keeping of Arya Dharma. But there are so many minor female characters in the story whose lives are toppled in the journey of Dharma. This book delves into those female characters and weaves a story which speaks the other side of Ramayana - the life and learning of its female characters.

Surpanakha, Ahalya, Renuka and Urmila are the females whose lives change in the course of Dharma as much that of Sita. Sita is abandoned by Rama in the name of a King's Dharma. This and all other painful experiences in Sita's life is dealt with in this book from her perspective. The author takes us through the life of each female character through their conversation with Sita. The injustice meted upon each woman by the men and their journey to empowerment is a lesson to Sita ultimately leading her to self-realization and liberation. There is an amazing sisterhood which is established among these women through these stories. Each story is a beautiful interlock of episodes from Ramayana and the creativity of the Author. The Author being a feminist writer has effectively brought out the female perspective of Ramayana.

This book definitely comes strongly against the male domination and blind propagation of Dharma. It is a perfect take on the inner strength and resilience of women and how they don't always need a man to feel complete. But even when delivering a strong picture of women, this book binds her to an image of sacrifice and withdrawal which has always been expected out of a woman. As a reader, there are few questions that have been playing around in my mind. Why do women always have to choose self-retreat as a glorious option when fighting patriarchy? Even when self-realisation is a great state of mind, why can't we opt for a different ending to each life even in fiction?

This book is a definite read for all those people who believe in fighting back patriarchy and who want to get a feel of an empowered woman. It made me feel liberated. I could relate to various points that are raised by the characters and I think that is why an epic like Ramayana wrote centuries ago is relevant even today. 

Read More »

The Amazing GlassBlower

He heats one end of a long glass tube holding it in his hand and when it just starts to take a gluey liquid form he gently blows through the other end of the tube with his mouth and simultaneously rolls the tube. Slowly a small bulb-like swelling appears at the hot end. He continues to do it with precision and concentration and in a few minutes magically a small super cute perfume bottle takes form. He checks the base of the bottle by pressing the base on a black stone and again after heating the other end which is still attached to the tube, breaks it away and finishes it with perfection and places the hot bottle before me. I am completely awestruck looking at the cute little thing. I try to touch it but he stops me saying "It is hot". Yes, it is. So I just keep looking at it without touching. He smiles and takes up another glass stick to start his next magical art. Oh! I turn quickly to him with my camera capturing his hands working with the hot glass in detail.

He is Mr.Srinivasan Raghavan - The GlassBlower

Mr.Srinivasan Raghavan

When a friend suggested that I write about Mr.Srinivasan in my blog I was thrilled. Glass blowing was something that I had never seen before. I set out on my journey of about 30 Kilometres on a Saturday afternoon. I reached Dakshinchitra - “A cross-cultural museum of art, architecture, lifestyles, crafts and performing arts of South India” where Mr.Srinivasan is a consultant craftsman. Immediately after checking into their guest house I went to meet Mr.Srinivasan.  I told him about my interest in writing about him on my blog and he readily agreed to talk about himself and his journey in this field.

As he talked his hands started working with the glass rod and the flame. Technically glass is called super cool liquid. Glass is not a solid matter. Glass is made from silica(sand) and soda lime. According to him, Glass forms naturally in the environment around us. The lava of a volcano is basically glass as it is formed with silica and soda lime and when it mixes with other minerals it acquires its colour and its texture. There are 2 varieties of working with glass. One is glass blowing where the air is blown into hot glass tubes to creates hollow glass objects. The other method is where with strokes of straight lines and circles the hot glass is sculpted upon with hands to create intricate art forms. He is adept in both these techniques. Glass work is done when the glass in its frozen form is heated to 1400 degree Celsius and for this, he uses both LPG and oxygen cylinder. 

As he spoke to me he continued working and within few minutes he created a little elephant and handed it to me and told me that he begins his day by making a Lord Ganesha - The elephant-headed god known to be the remover of obstacles in Indian Mythology.

His journey in this field started with a government Job as a technical assistant at Pantnagar University in Nainital after completing his Diploma is Scientific glassblowing. But the boring work made him quit the job and move to Mumbai where he decided to find a job in the glass industry. This did not go well with his father who stopped communicating with him for almost 4 years after that. In Mumbai, he landed a job in Borosil India. But the monotonous work was not his calling and he resigned that too. It was during a seminar on scientific glass blowing conducted by Indian society for scientific glass blowers that he met art glass blowers from Hyderabad working with Regional Research Laboratory who introduced him to the art glass blowing. It was a big industry in Hyderabad from where perfume bottles were exported to Middle east and other countries. He spent next 2 and a half years learning the art and working in Hyderabad. With dedication and hard work he sharpened his skills in the art form. When he returned to his hometown and set up a workshop at home he was happy to earn through his art. People started hearing about him and he became a regular in art exhibitions and art shows. While participating in one such event he struck up an acquaintance with the Secretary of Dakshinchitra which led his way back to Chennai and to Dakshinchitra where he started working as a consultant craftsman. Being a consultant he was free to work and sell inside the village. Dakshinchitra is visited by local and foreign tourists throughout the year and hence he became famous and made friends with many art enthusiasts. He has been in this field for 30 years and still continues to follow it with passion. Mr.Srinivasan has been invited to give demos and lectured by various art institutions and organisations. He has also travelled the world to different countries where he is a regular at many cultural festivals and exhibitions showcasing this rare art form.

The Horsecart

As he was talking to me a group of visitors came in to see his work. Mr.Srinivasan started all over again explaining how he works showing them practically the techniques as they all watched in awe. Being a weekend there was a steady flow of visitors and he being a true entertainer never once failed in making his audience happy. He is at his cheerful best when curious onlookers flock him to get a glimpse and also to have a feel of his work. There is a magic in glass and even after watching the process numerous times I never felt bored of it. One of the visitors was curious to know how he made a living out of this art. Mr.Srinivasan being the simple person he is replied saying “If you are an artist you have to be content with what we make. I am content with whatever I earn and hence I make a living out of it”. Some visitors wanted to know how they could learn this art. Mr.Srinivasan had an answer for that too, which he tells his students too. The 3P principle - Passion, Patience, Practice. But there was also a 4th P which he believed was very important for art to flourish - “Patron”.

The Boatman and the Beauty - This was made in 3 hours

I spent about 3 hours with Mr.Srinivasan over the 2 days I stayed in Dakshinchitra and talked about many things. A well-read person, a humble and good human being and a great artist, he kept me engaged with his pleasant nature and informative chat. He believes that an artist should also be an entertainer and I can say he is a true entertainer. When I bid goodbye to him and left Dakshinchitra I felt happy about the time well spent. The hissing sound of the gas burning, the magical work of glass blowing and the smiling face that creates the magic will remain in my memory forever.

Read More »