Shakuntala: The Play of Memory

by Namita Gokhale

On the ghats of Kashi, the most ancient of cities, a woman confronts memories that have pursued her through birth and rebirth. In the life she recalls, she Shakuntala of the northern mountains-spirited, imaginative, but destined like her legendary namesake to suffer 'the samskaras of abandonment'. Stifled by social custom, hungry for experience, she deserts home and family for the company of a Greek horse merchant she meets by the Ganga. Together, they travel far and wide and surrender to unbridled pleasure, as Shakuntala assumes the identity of Yaduri, the fallen woman. But an old restlessness compels her to forsake this life as well-and court tragedy.

216 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 28, 2005

Reviews

[Elsa Rajan Pradhananga · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love is a game of tug-of-war. Only the rules are reversed. You lose the game if you pull too hard. But if you're being pulled, you can be sure that you're winning it.

Freedom is subjective and even today many women allow societal norms to dictate the strength of their restraints. In ancient India, the twine of duty bound women to her household and unlike men, they weren't allowed to travel at will, have opinions or read the scriptures. They were discriminated against, molested, victim blamed and deemed impure during their periods. Namita Gokhale's novel is set in a period when Buddhism was usurping Hinduism and is the story of a wild and free spirited Shakuntala who let her wanderlust consume her.

When faced with a hurdle in her marriage, Shakuntala opted out of it by letting a foreign traveler pick her up as he might pluck a fruit from a tree and traveled with him to Kashi. When she felt that her presence was becoming a burden on her companion's freedom, she fled again but thought that the world was too large a place for her.

It called for much reflection when a Hindu sage silenced the mother Goddesses of a much revered temple not far from where Shakuntala lived, because the Goddesses uttered truths that he couldn't agree with. This left her wondering if Shiva didn't need Shakti as much as Shakti needed Shiva. In contrast Buddhism may have seemed progressive because in the new faith, men and women enjoyed equal rights.

Namita Gokhale's Shakuntala The Play of Memory can be considered the portrayal of feminism in mystic India. The language is profound and the imagery, rich but I'm giving Shakuntala 3 stars because ending disappointed me. How little has changed for women in India since those primitive times, is definitely food for thought.

[Rasika · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is not a real review, but I was excited to read a retelling of Indian myths rather than western myths for a change, but this was disappointing and missed the point of really pulling out the themes of the original myth by failing to really comment on them.

[Jaideep Krishnan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An immersive read for me; an interesting take on Shakuntala's story, but in a narrative that neither copies nor parodies, but writes a different tale of self-awareness

[ANN · Rating 3 out of 5]

A realistic tale of woman who loved to explore the world around her and the world beyond her understanding as stereotypical Indian woman .

[Amit Tiwary · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a load of crap.
Absolutely senseless. Not a single line of this was worth reading.

[Arunachalam Bharathi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a poignant story of a woman of yesterdays. Shakuntala was not paid attention to in her childhood, as her mother is all focussed on her son. Shakuntala yearns to be learned like her brother who becomes a hindu saint, learning the scriptures. She gathers knowledge by talking and wandering in the mountainous regions of India. She marries Srijan, who is a caring husband. Over the years, being childless she feels or is made to feel inadequate. Her husband who is a merchant travels far, while Shakuntala remains in the village desolate and lonely. In one of his sojourns Srijan brings back a woman from the far east, and the relationship between Shakuntala and Srijan strains. Shakuntala becomes pregnant and in the pretext of offering prayers to a remote temple in the plains, leaves her village. She meets Nearchus a greek merchant and runs away to Kashi with him. They love each other very dearly, but slowly Shakuntala wears out of this relationship too and leaves him and travels alone to the other bank of the ganges, while she is full term pregnant. While she is truly alone and free she is struck by tragedy and dies leaving a male child to be looked after by monks. She and the twin female child die.
The story is written with extra-ordinary passion and really is un-put-downable. But the tragic end seems rather disappointing, as if to point out that if women stray away from what is expected of them their are bound face failure. It would have been a sure success of the spirit of womanhood had she lived on, to experience the joys motherhood and nurtured her children with her values that she thought was right, learnt the hard way from her own experiences. It felt sad that she did not hand down her experiences and leave it for people who lived after her.

[Dhruti Shah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel there is something distinctly surreal, almost haunting about this book, that doesn't let you be the same anymore; it compels you to see the beauty and terror of 'change', and perhaps sets you free in an irrepressible, often oblivious ways. I incredibly admire the author's fertile langauge, the depths of her narrative, and immensity of attention to the spirit of storytelling. This is a fine construction of emotions laid out as a strange malady and freedom in one breath; the kind that leaves you in a reticence of uncontainable sighs.

[Sukhamaya Swain · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an interesting read with a heavy dose of feminism buoyed by a female protagonist. The characters mentioned and the foreplay that goes around is bound to raise a like-me factor across each of the readers. Similar to an often used phrase: Time was contracting and expanding (mentioned in the book), it is a difficult as well as an easy read. It is light as well as heavy.
There is a beauty of literature in few chapters where certain situations, chapters and items are described beautifully.

[Neha · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is very well written and takes you to the pre-Mughal times of India. It is a haunting and tragic tale of a young woman who wants to get out of her small village and see the world, but is restricted by societal norms.

[Murali · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very nice read...

[Garima Sharma]

-The only reason that I bought this book was because of its title.
- But I was surprised to see how Namita Gokhale strings Kalidas' immortal tale of love and her her Shakuntala into one.
- While her Shakuntala is a seeker and wishes to know her path she also highlights how women tend to give in to the habit of being governed by others.
- The story is descript to the extent that you can see the scenes passing by and at the same time you'll gasp at the beautiful picture that Gokhale successfully paints.
- The story touches many issues and forges into the scenic beauty that India is, in a very casual and powerful way at the same time.
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