Official Review: Women Of Ramayana by Kunal Kaushal

Faithy_Goody_Star · Post by **Faithy_Goody_Star** » 08 Dec 2020, 04:24

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Women Of Ramayana" by Kunal Kaushal.]

4 out of 4 stars

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Women Of Ramayana by Kunal Kaushal is a book that reveals historical events as they occurred in India, but these may differ from what people generally know.

This history revolves around about five women known as Ahalyā, Kaikeyí, Mandodarí, Śūrpaṇakhā, and Tārā. The author uncovered adequate information about them through storytelling, such as their marital life, qualities, the roles they played in history, and the reason behind such roles. Each character was considered separately, and Kunal Kaushal dedicated several chapters to each. However, their stories are somewhat connected.

This book reflects the roots of the rape culture in India and how perpetrators try to get away with it, the objectification of men and women, ingrained misogyny, and several others.

The author is of the view that these women played positive roles, which are significant in history. While I agree with this to a large extent, I don’t think he should have placed the story of Śūrpaṇakhā side by side with the other women because, unlike the others, the bad she did supersedes her exploits.

The writer introduced many characters with no information about them at the point of the introduction. However, he disclosed the backstory of a few of them in subsequent parts of the book. This made me spend more time than necessary on it because I had to go over the book slowly, from the point the author mentioned such characters, to figure them out. This reduced my enjoyment of the book, and this is what I disliked most about it.

The book incorporates sketches that usually showed characters while they are conversing. Furthermore, Women Of Ramayana contains terms that are likely to be unfamiliar to English readers, but the book includes their translations.

What I loved most about this book is the superb choice of words of the author, as they evoked the necessary emotions that had the desired effect on me. The exploits these women achieved at a time they were highly restricted also intrigued me.

This book was professionally edited, as I encountered only a few errors in it. My rating of this book flows from my above opinions of it. Therefore, it deserves a rating of four out of four stars.

There are no profane words in this book. On the other hand, it has no erotic scenes. Anyone interested in reading about an aspect of the history of India will appreciate this book, and I recommend it to them.

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Women Of Ramayana
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Goral · Post by **Goral** » 10 Dec 2020, 03:20

Reading about Indian history and culture is indeed something that I enjoy the most, and this book seems just the perfect one for a history lover like me! I am looking forward to read this soon! Thanks for such a nice review!

Jennifer Aldo · Post by **Jennifer Aldo** » 10 Dec 2020, 03:21

I am intrigued by Śūrpaṇakhā. I think this book deserves it's rating. Nice review.

Karunavk · Post by **Karunavk** » 10 Dec 2020, 09:16

It's an interesting topic, characters of Mahabharata have been studied, scrutinized and wrote about in quite a number of books but when it comes to Ramayana, the focus is primarily on the three main characters. These women are especially on the sidelines and their history and roots seldom discussed in detail. I have read Ramayana written by 4 different authors, this would be an interesting and novel angle to the story.

Thanks for the detailed review

Fabulous mind · Post by **Fabulous mind** » 11 Dec 2020, 07:32

I would love to read about roles these women played in India history. This book seems like an engaging one. Amazing review.

Kanda_theGreat · Post by **Kanda_theGreat** » 11 Dec 2020, 13:50

Reading your review made me think about the contributions of women and how much we need to celebrate them. This is a great review.

Raluca_Mihaila · Post by **Raluca_Mihaila** » 11 Dec 2020, 13:57

Looks like an education read about India. I am always happy to discover new things about other cultures. Thank you for the informative review!

Saint Bruno · Post by **Saint Bruno** » 11 Dec 2020, 14:12

Though I won't be reading the book, your review will be very insightful to those who enjoy the book's premise. Good job on the review.

Post by **Alice Heritage** » 11 Dec 2020, 14:29

Wasn't Tara a Buddha? Maybe this isn't the same one. This sounds like an interesting read. Thanks for the introduction.

Post by **kandscreeley** » 11 Dec 2020, 15:39

I'm sure this is a very realistic and heartbreaking book. Though it isn't perfect, I'm blessed to live in America. I probably should read this to get the real story.

Nwaogazie Goodness · Post by **Nwaogazie Goodness** » 12 Dec 2020, 00:30

I'm more interested particularly, on the roles the women played in the history of India. Well written review.

Sou Hi · Post by **Sou Hi** » 12 Dec 2020, 04:51

Thanks for your informative review. It seems this book has a bold approach to the sensitive issues of Indian culture. I'm curious to see how the author would explore that topic.