Ramayana - The game of Life (Part 2) Shattered dreams - [Book Review]

Book Details:
Title: Ramayana - The game of Life (Part 2) Shattered dreams
Author: Shubha Vilas
Publishers: Jaico Publishing house
Genre: Mythology
Source: Review copy from Author

My Review:

This part of the Ramayana Series covers the story from the decision of Dasaratha to crown Rama as King to Rama's exile to forests with Sita and Lakshmana and the way how different people react to this and cope up with the situations.

I felt very happy when I received a review copy from the author as I liked the part 1. Please read my review of part 1 - Rise of Sun Prince here. This Ramayana series explains how the epic story is relevant to contemporary world. I have learnt many facts about Ravana which I didn't knew earlier - his birth, his lust for power, cruelty, his arrogance etc.,We can understand his character well when he threatens Narada muni to teach some mantra and when he enjoys his pride while stepping on navagrahas daily to reach his throne. Every character is introduced to us with lot of details and this gives a new perspective of the story even though we might have known it earlier.

There are many wonderful lines in the book mentioned in the footnotes section. I want to note these lines and remember them always. I love this book for the wonderful analogies that author mentions.

Few catchy lines in the book which are relevant to contemporary world too

A teacher is like a tap, and a student is an empty pot. For the pot to fill up, it has to sit below the tap. If the pot sits above the tap, it will remain dry even if the tap is running.

Talent without the right attitude is like sweet rice without sugar. Talent brings one to the brink of the bridge to success and right attitude helps one cross it.

How long can one go on with smiling faces and crying hearts? Either till the smile of the face goes to the heart or the cry of the heart reaches the face.

Life is a combination of hope and despair, the one that dominates you carves your personality.

How true all the above lines are..! Overall, this is a book you cannot miss if you like some motivational reads and want to learn something from books. 

My rating: 4.5/5

Until next time,

Ramayana - The Game of life : Rise of the Sun Prince - [Book Review]

Book details:
Title: Ramayana :The Game of life 
         Rise of the Sun Prince
Author: Shubha Vilas
Publishers: JAICO
Genre: Mythology
No. of pages: 252
Source: A free copy for review from blogadda.com

Expectation: 
I have been listening to Ramayana tales from childhood from my father and also watched them in television. Even though iam reading Ramayana again after so many years, i remember each and every small story of it. Those stories and  characters settled in my mind permanently. So, i was not sure initially if this book would interest me to complete till the end, as i hate reading known stories again and again. 

My expectation was to get a different perspective on the tale that i know from long. A different thought process which would help me to correlate with the current scenarios and problems of our country. Iam expecting to learn something new out of old story, which is not very preachy . So, let me tell you if this book really met my expectation :)

My take on story:
This is first part of the 6 book series of complete Ramayana and covers the story from the birth of Lord Rama to his marriage. Basically, story is taken from Valmiki Ramayana and Kamba Ramayana, though few tales are collected from other sources. It is good that author touches upon other characters in detail along with main characters. Actually, Author mentions that Viswamithra is the hero of this story as Balya kanda emphasizes mainly on how he transformed from a jealous king to Brahmarshi and other lessons he learnt in his journey. 

As a reader, we would surely love the extra information from footnotes, but at the end, we feel that there is too much information to comprehend from foot notes. I felt, few foot notes are unnecessary and very preachy. Liked these tidbits which are very less known facts from Ramayana :):

• Dasaratha had 353 wives!
• Dasaratha's wives bore the divine children Rama, Laxmana, Bharatha and Sathrughna for 12 months!
• Lord Rama's childhood is covered in Ramayana only in 10 verses!
• The famous Suprabhataham song 'Kaushalya Supraja Rama' that we use now for Lord Venkateswara is first sung my sage Vishwamithra to wake up Rama from sleep in the forest!
• When Lord Vishnu killed Khyati, wife of sage Bhrigu, Brighu maharshi cursed Vishnu to appear on Earth for 10 times, which are famously known as Dasavathara (10 incarnations)!

Also, liked these lines about special attributes a man should have to marry in Sita's opinion

"He must be valiant or have the ability to protect
He should be prudent and have the ability and wisdom to say the right things
He must have self control or the ability to resist temptation and control emotions"

And these lines about marriage

"Marriage works best with happy cooperation. Hearts are broken when couples compete. To avoid heart break, a couple must cooperate and complement each other."

So, overall, other than the story, we have lot of things to take away from this book. The Ramayana is not a book; it is a way of life. The next book in the series is 'Shattered Dreams'.

I would recommend this to:

• Children who want to read Ramayana for the first time
• Elders, who know Ramayana and want to read it to get another perspective and learn about other characters
• Any book reader who is interested in mythology and want to learn something new

My rating:
4/5
To get this book from flipkart for just Rs.159/- follow this link.

Until next time,

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