The Forest of Enchantments was one of my favorite reads in year 28. The retelling of Ramayana from the perspective of Sita, this book is a beautiful meditation on being human, the power of love and inevitable suffering. This is a story I grew up with and Chitra Banerji Divakurti’s depiction is an inspiration. I could not help coming back to it again just three months after reading it. Here is the book that has stolen my heart:
The Forest of Enchantments
By Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni | Goodreads
The Ramayana, one of the world’s greatest epics, is also a tragic love story. In this brilliant retelling, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni places Sita at the centre of the novel: this is Sita’s version.
The Forest of Enchantments is also a very human story of some of the other women in the epic, often misunderstood and relegated to the margins: Kaikeyi, Surpanakha, Mandodari. A powerful comment on duty, betrayal, infidelity and honour, it is also about women’s struggle to retain autonomy in a world that privileges men, as Chitra transforms an ancient story into a gripping, contemporary battle of wills.
While the Ramayana resonates even today, she makes it more relevant than ever, in the underlying questions in the novel: How should women be treated by their loved ones? What are their rights in a relationship? When does a woman need to stand up and say, ‘Enough!’
Content notes include misogyny, abandonment, infidelity, sexism, blood, sexual harassment, mental abuse, depression, grief, attempted suicide and death of parent.
What drew me to The Forest of Enchantments
There are a few reasons I find myself drawn to this book: first, it is a love story, one filled with perils, injustices and suffering. Second, it gives centre stage to one of the most famous goddesses in hinduism: Lakshmi, reincarnated as Sita. Third, the protagonist is a married woman, living in stride with whatever life throws at her while staying authentic to herself and true to the love she feels for her husband and family.
The Setting
One does not need to be familiar with the Hindu epic of the Ramayana to enjoy this book. However, it is very helpful to have some context about the setting of the story. If you have read Kaikeyi by Vaishnai Patel, another retelling of the Ramanyana, or The Palace of Illusions, a retelling of the Mahabharata, or any books by Amish Tripathi, you will be able to immerse yourself in this world without a problem!
The Ramayana takes place a long time ago in the lands that now constitute the Indian subcontinent. Royalty ruled the kingdoms and humans shared the world with fantastical creatures, from birds with man’s head, evil beings called rakshasas dwelling in the forest to god-like creatures called asuras. Kings could take as many wives as they desired, whether out of love or for political reasons, and women did not have the same place in society as men.
The First Meeting
This song has the feel of Ram and Sita’s first encounter, leading up to their wedding. Throughout the book, in each other’s company they come alive.
Walked in as strangers
Song: Alive by Andrew and Vega
But maybe we are not
You looked at me
And i had a thought
That I
That I knew you before
The Life/Love Story in The Forest of Enchantments
The Forest of Enchantments is a story of two people who love each other and are leading their life together. There will be times when they would not agree and would have to figure out where they go from there. There are periods of harmony and moments of intimacy that they share. They are no different than any other couple, dancing in everyday life.
Marrying Ram with her heart and soul, Sita accompanies him on his exile in the forest. When she is abducted by Ravana, she sets strict boundaries with him and he is in awe of her. Her fortitude and courage impress him but he wants what he wants and he punishes her by restricting her to a grove. At Ravan’s death bed, she remembers who she is and who Ravana and Ram are, because they too are celestial beings. (This is one of my favorite parts of the book.)
Sita is shocked when Ram does not take her word that she was not taken advantage of by Ravana, that she is still pure and only his. In her shock, Sita decides to commit suicide and she walks into the fire. These are an awful turn of events and the fact that loved ones help Sita build her pier is an act of love and destitution as I have ever read. I feel for everyone there and would rather throw Ram in the fire. Agni, the god of Fire, makes her immune to fire and Ram accepts the gods’ word that her dignity is still intact.
A book doesn’t always end at the happiest chapter, as happy as you can call Ram’s reluctant acceptance. Life for Ram and Sita keeps going. She helps Ram set his kingdom in order. They become pregnant. Rumors around the kingdom grow about the legitimacy of the child. Ram, in order to save face, banishes Sita and their unborn children to the forest. Sita is shaken but she keeps going for her children, waiting for the time when Ram would see his mistake and unite with her and the kids. When they do meet, Ram offers her her rightful place by his side should she pass another fire test to prove to the people that she was always pure.
I have told you the plot but that is the easy part of the book. The Forest of Enchantments is about the emotions, the pain, the longing and the love that we experience for others. A journey that is hard to imagine in some ways and yet has a shadow in other things that happen to us in life.
I don’t come out hating Ram at the end of The Forest of Enchantments. Though the events made him the hero, he was a coward in many ways. He could not say to his wife that he was abandoning them. He did not have the courage to give her a voice. He reserved his affection until he was sure the people would approve and hoped Sita would step up every time. He may be a great warrior and a loving husband in times of peace, Ram could not stand up for the one he loved and vowed to cherish. Sita knows this and she accepts him for himself while also accepting that she loves someone who is flawed. She endures to see him again but he breaks her heart and she continues to live without him. She is shocked and angry but there isn’t pity.
Sita’s story is a divine being’s human experience. She is sometimes able to glimpse the world she came from but that does not affect the circumstances that befall her. She comes out of it with great effort. Sometimes the memory of the women who have suffered alongside her in their own unique hell gives her courage and she keeps going.
Throughout her life she ponders hard questions. In the situations that others face, she wonders how they were able to do what they did? She is fascinated and appalled by the suffering of women like Ahalya who had been turned to stone by her husband. Sita berates herself for her wants and the ways in which she uses her intimate knowledge of Ram against him. She sometimes cannot escape the “what will people think?” trap and put Ram’s image before her needs.
The Sita of my childhood vs the Sita of The Forest of Enchantments
Growing up with stories, I internalized some teachings. As children, we may not understand it all but stories leave an impression. The Ramayana taught in school ended when Ram and Sita came back to Ayodhya and the first ever celebration of Diwali. The fire test she has to give is often not mentioned and she is brushed aside as Ram moves on to the rest of his destiny – to be a great king. Graphic details and mental torture is condensed into a few sentences, giving the reader, especially the young one, no chance to ponder the implications and the strains on the mind. A young brain may not even have the concept of these events. When I read The Forest of Enchantments, in audio even more clearly, I find the Sita that is worth being in awe of.
It’s her drive to endure and the ways in which she finds strength within herself. How she balances her love for Ram, her duty as his wife and her moral values. Sometimes she is too incapacitated by pain that she appears meek but in actuality, her suffering and the injustice done to her is so intense that I break with her. She is always recalled as an ideal wife, one who was always there and obeyed. But this perception is such a hollow portrayal of her true character. She is a bright light and the way in which she adores Ram is the way I adore her. I never quite understood what she was a role model for until I read her perspective. I see her more clearly now and she is amazing.
The Forest of Enchantments isn’t a perfect book. I thought from the synopsis that the role of other women in the epic would be highlighted more and she would draw more strength from them in her time of need. It’s not how it happens in this retelling, at least. My book blogger friend Sahi, recommends The Liberation of Sita by Volga, a short book on similar lines that fills in this gap. I am excited to dive into it!
Next month, I am on the blog tour for an upcoming novel by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni! I look forward to sharing about Independence with you. 🙂
Banner image from Unsplash.
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