Before Baahubali - The Rise of Sivagami

The Rise of Sivagami
by Anand Neelakantan
492 pages, Westland, 2017
Genre : Fiction
Language : English and mutliple Indian languages.


With people going mad about Baahubali2 - the conclusion, and social media pointing out the box office record - 1000 crores in nine days already, I am sure the director must be a happy man. However, I would suggest, people like me who have not seen the movie yet, read the book first to get a sense of people,  place and its history. This was missing in Baahubali 1.

How did a casteless society descend into slavery and child murder? Why are the corrupt allowed to live while the innocent murdered without question ? How did Mahishmathi descend to such a level and to protect what secret? Why is skin color which was unimportant before now so important? Neelakantan asks and answers these questions and more in his book, The Rise of Sivagami.

Sivagami is an orphan whose father, Devarayya is killed and branded a traitor. Her only aim in life is to demolish the royal family and seek revenge for her father's death. Neelakantan tells the story of orphan Sivagami and her rise to the level of Bhoomipathi - a title her father once held.  By telling the story of Sivagami and her  friend Kamakshi, we are also taken through the stories of young slaves obedient Kattappa and his rebellious brother Shivappa who longs for freedom, the young princes Bijjala and Mahadeva, siblings who are complete opposites in character, the original tribes who had been driven out of their land and are forced to take refuge in the forest by betrayal and not by war, the pirates who raid villages, rape women and kidnap children so they can be sold in the kingdom while the royal family and the bureaucrats of the kingdom turn a blind eye. It is a place where loyal people are killed while the corrupt are rewarded. What is damning secret in the document that Sivagami finds in the ancient language which she cannot read?

The pace is fast. The prose is poetic at many points but predictable at times if you had already seen Baahubali 1 in which some of the scenes slowly makes sense now. Since this is a story of three generations and a horrible secret hidden from the people of the kindgom, I look forward to reading the sequel as the book ends abruptly with a teaser - Sivagami now has to kill her father's best friend or be killed. And how does she go from being the destroyer of the royal family to becoming its Raja Matha?

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Rumi's forty rules of love

Many have  heard Elif Shafak speak on TED and become inspired but not many read this book

The Forty Rules of Love

by Elif Shafak

229 Pages, Penguin Group

Genre: Fiction

Ella Rubinstein, a loving mother of three and wife for forty years files for divorce suddenly after she reads a manuscript called "Sweet Blasphemy" by A.A. Zahara sent to the literary agency where she works. Is it possible to fall in love via email, so much so that you are willing to risk it all? What triggers Ella who leaves her husband and grown up children and her comfortable home, family and friends – to leave everything and everyone and move out of her comfort zone though she still loves them? What are the forty rules of love? Elif Shafak asks and answers these questions and much more in her beautifully written novel, "The Forty Rules of Love."

From Baghdad of the 13th century to Massachusetts of the 21st century, the author flits in and out narrating a wonderful tale that holds true for today. As readers, we are made to realize not much has changed in 800 years in the mental makeup of the people of the world. In fact, we need the forty rules of love now more than ever as religiosity and spirituality are assumed to be the same when it is not.

Elif Shafak is a Turkish American author. Her writing style is smart as the story is narrated with a varying pace – it slows down when you need to reflect and picks up speed when you wish to learn what happened next! It is almost like the author is there helping you as you read her book. The multiple points of view of the characters doesn’t confuse the reader and works to advance the story providing insights that are unique. 

This is an inspiring book for all people from any part of the world as it breaks down barriers and brings in better understanding. I cannot think of a better way to start the New Year except by reading this book.

© 2014 by Deepa Kandaswamy

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