The Places of Magic

I am an ardent fan of book series and even when I read multiple books by the same author, I tend to connect them somehow either by the characters or the storylines or by the emotion I felt. That’s exactly what I did with The Palace of Illusions and The Forest of Enchantments by "Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni”. The connecting factor here, surprisingly was myself, and in that way every woman to have walked the earth. The former is an interpretation of our household favourite epic 'Mahabharat ' and the latter is of 'Ramayan' but with a feminine lens and through the very same lens when I see the world, I see myself in the pages of yet another book of the same series- The Places of Magic.

Both of these books highlight the voices of the main characters of our beloved epics that somehow became a prop in their own stories. Most of us have read 'Ramayan' and might not have even wondered what went around Sita’s head when she walked inside Agni , did she feel betrayed for being rejected by her husband? Did she feel anger or was she taken

aback by remorse? The book 'The Forest of Enchantments' very beautifully captures the essence of Sita’s character, her inner dialogue, the mixed feelings of remorse, anger and betrayal when the only person you ever loved, abandons you for the sake of his duty, when the beloved king separates his queen from his kingdom.

Victim blaming is a very common ritual in our country passed down like heirloom from

one generation to another because obviously women are always “hysteric”. The most common example of this “ritual” is 'Draupadi', who has always been condemned for a battle between two brothers. “The Palace of Illusions” captures the story of 'Paanchaali '. The beautiful portrayal of Paanchaali’s inner conflict regarding 'Karn', the connection of 'Krishn' and 'Krishnaa', the fallen status of her husbands from mighty warriors to cowards and mere slaves, her guilt and self blaming when women lost their loved ones in the battle of Kurukshetra in comparison to Divakaruni's portrayal of Paanchaali’s childhood - an unwanted plus one always living in the shadows of her brother who she dearly loved are woven like pearls on a string.

I found it fit to call the amalgamation of these two books ' The Places of Magic' not only because it broadly suffices the titles of the two books but also because women are known to create magic in the places they live yet can never belong to one place they belong to several places at once. The eras have changed but the narrative has not, women still fight the battle for their own existence all the while being ignored, overlooked and diminished.