A female perspective on Indian mythology

She writes on one of India’s best loved genres: Mythology. But make no mistake, Kavita Kane, is not doing any run of the mill re-telling of Indian mythological stories. Quite the contrary. She is bringing to life, lesser known or understood characters from well-known epics like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. What’s even more unique, is that her stories’ protagonists are exclusively female. Even though the epics by themselves have strictly male heroes, the seeming passivity of the female character gives her a unique perspective, which Kane brings out in her books. So whether it is Karna’s wife, Sita’s sister, Menaka’s Choice or her latest – Lanka’s Princess, which recounts the story from Surpanakha’s perspective; the quality of the almost shadow character is a running theme across all her books.

But where did Kane get the inspiration to write about these characters in the first place?

To this Kane says, “My earliest introduction to Hindu mythology was through Amar Chitra Kathas”. She comes from a family of avid readers, about which, she says “we were fed on a staple diet of books and more books! My father has a collection of more than 10,000 books and anyone who did not read in our family was considered a freak!”

With a background that emphasised reading, Kane’s natural inclination for literature showed up quite quickly. “….It was in the seventh grade that I got to read C Rajagopalchari’s Mahabharata and the Ramayana” she says. “Later, as a student of English Literature, I learned further about Greek and other European myths and folklore. As a subject and as a wonderworld, it was hugely fascinating! So I guess when she first decided to write a novel, I picked mythology as a genre.” Kane adds.

But being a full-fledged creative writer was not her profession for the longest time.

She has been a journalist for over two decades, working for news media like DNA and Times of India. In fact, she was working with the latter, when she quit her job to work full time as a creative writer. Looking back, Kane says “Funnily enough Karna's Wife is my first published work in creative writing though I had been a journalist.. (and) hadn't written even for a college magazine though I was very good at school essays!” 

Clearly though, there was very much a creative writer in her!

When asked which character she liked writing about and researching the most, “You are asking me to choose between my babies!” says Kane, adding how each of her characters is special in its own way. “Karna's Wife is special because it was my debut novel. Sita’s Sister I am emotional about because it is on my favourite character in our mythology. Menaka's Choice was more difficult to write as it was about a woman who besides being sketchy, had more shades of grey than the previous two heroines. And of course, Lanka's Princess is special again as I tried my hand writing on a negative character, one of the most reviled woman in our epics.” she says.  

She also adds her reflections on how women from our epics and mythology have a message for women today “Just like every woman in our epics and mythology was a strong person of conviction, so are we.  All we need to do is realise our inner strength and our full capabilities. Often we self-disparage and are unkind to ourselves. Learn to first love and then believe in yourself.” 

This is possibly a much needed affirmation that women need for themselves today, what with the constant juggling between demanding career choices and running homes and family. Speaking on this aspect of life, Kane says “Prioritising is very important and interestingly, the priorities keep changing! It's a constant battle, torn between work and worth, hearth and heart, kids and kitchen, office and family vacations! But that's the world I have chosen to live in and I take each day as it comes knowing that I am doing what I love.”  Guided with much wisdom from the epics, it is little wonder that Kane manages both successfully!

Kane lives in Pune with her husband and two daughters.

Read the review of Kavita Kane's latest book, Lanka's Princess here: Surpanakha gets her ownvoice