Book review: Until the Lions by Karthika Nair

He grew tall, he grew cold: Bheeshma blew into a typhoon, dark and vicious.

---

A world where fools are born as king.

…these men

Were to remain sons, at best brothers-

they could seldom grow into husbands, and never

Fathers. Their own kingship,

I can foretell, will be steered

By possession, loss and carnage,

Death tolls the pennant for success.

---

 

Karthika Nair`s Until The Lions (HarperCollins India) is a forceful dirge, a kind of ode to the most dominant emotion that runs through the spine of the Mahabharata: hatred.

This book of poetical lament about the Kurukshetra War, is the Mahabharata told from the pov of the helpless and not- so- helpless women of the dynasty: Amba, Shikandi, Satyavati, Hidimba, Gandhari, Ulupi, Kunti, Vidurs mother Poorna, Vrushali, Karna`s wife, Sauvali , mother to Yuyutsu, the illegitimate son of Dhritarashtra, even the strangely moving mourning of Aravan`s untimely death by his wife for a night, Krishna in the form of Mohini.

It’s a powerful welter of words,  an eviscerating underlining of just what the women celebrated, mourned  and experienced. Every poem is so full of nuance, it will fairly blow the reader away.

Comparison are odious but Vikram Seth`s  The Golden Gate rises to mind and memory. That, however,  was a gentle lament compared to the savage ferocity of Until The Lions. A most compelling read, whether you are a fan of poetry or not. Dancer Akram Khan  adapted the Amba/Shikhandi part of the work into a dance drama  and won rave reviews for the same.