The One Who Had Two Lives

Girls of the Mahabharata #2

by Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan

The Indian epics gain strength and renewal with every telling and retelling. Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan s compelling and accomplished narration of the crucial story of Amba and Shikhandi is a timely reminder of the constant currency and relevance of the Mahabharata. Namita Gokhale Book One, The One Who Swam with the Fishes, told the tale of Satyavati on the cusp of womanhood. She is now Queen of Hastinapur and the story moves forward to the kingdom of Kashi, where Princess Amba is growing up with her sisters, Ambika and Ambalika. A swayamvara is arranged for them, where Amba plans to wed Prince Salva, the love of her life. However, an unexpected figure walks into the ceremony and thwarts all plans of a happy ending. In another life, Shikhandi, has never been what he seems. With his close companion, Utsarg, he embarks on a journey to look for a yaksha who will give him what he wants to be a Kshatriya prince in body and in mind. But, along the way, he might have to lose some of himself, the part he calls Shikhandini... Searching beyond gender, duty and tradition, Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan draws out the lesser-known characters of the Mahabharata and tells their stories with compassion and grit.

Genres: Mythology

240 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 10, 2018

Reviews

[Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Also wrote this! Also good!

[Shreela Sen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do not go gentle into that good night, Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
As Bob Dylan said in a VERY different context, The One Who Had Two Lives (Girls of the Mahabharata #2) is about Ambaa, princess of Varanasi at the time before the battle of Kurukshetra, when Bheeshm is young. To use clichés, she has "indomitable spirit", & dares to think that she can choose her own bridegroom, at the time when there are actually sold girls (& boys) serving in her own palace, & the "Swayamvar" has started to acquire a new dimension, the "new-fangled" fad of "contests" ... to obviously skew the Swayamvars, to something really not a swayamwar ...
Though the second part deals with Shikhandi, really, the lasting impact is that the book is about Amba's fury, feministic rage in the time of systematic subordination of all women (which is absolutely not to say that a lot of women did not obliquely wield a lot of power, but invariably, they had to be a vamp for that, NEVER a heroine).
It's a powerful, one-sitting read, of fluid language, common-sense logic, a few pensive insights, & a lot of empathizing.
Recommended. To all adults. I already feel the pull to read the other books in this series.

[Abhipsa · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first installment didn't disappoint me, and safe to say, the second held those levels up. The author's characterization is truly spectacular. Women writing about women is always a treat. But women writing about a women with body dysmorphia, acknowledging the wrong body while also desiring the right body? Truly, truly gripping. I was really hoping that the author has more such works under her belt, but I was highly disappointed. But maybe that would change in the future, let's hope for the best.

[Sangita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely enthralled by this book. Have always found the female characters of Mahabharata pretty enigmatic and interesting and this seems to be a perfect series to delve deeper into each of these characters.

The author has beautifully penned down the life and travails of Amba who later re-emerges as Shikhandi, and turns out to be Bheeshma's bane in the Great Battle of Kurukshetra.

Will have to read the first book on Satyavathy, but this one is highly recommended.

Rating - 4/5