Review: Maneka’s Choice by Kavita Kane

A woman’s tale of love, loss and sacrifice, Kavita Kane spins her story borrowing characters from Hindu mythology and recreates them. Hindu mythology, essentially scripted by men, for men fails to emphasise the importance of women and their huge role in the shaping of historical events. Kavita Kane takes it upon herself to initiate and carry forward this daunting task.

Her wronged heroine, Maneka- the most glorious and beauteous of all apsaras pines for just one thing- family, but heaven, despite all it’s cold and stifling bounty and apparent freedom has nothing to offer to her. Surrounded by devas and gandharvas who are besotted by her pulchritude and apsaras who are jealous, heaven is not a happy place for this daughter of Brahma.

It is when she is given the task of seducing Vishwamitra whose intense tapasya threatened Indra’s throne in Amravati that she devises a scheme to free herself from Indra’s tyranny. What started out as a plan to protect the sly deva Indra soon morphed into love- so deep and tempestuous that it overshadowed everything else. Through the love of Vishwamitra, Maneka finally has all the happiness she craved, but her love couldn’t be selfish anymore. So she propelled Vishwamitra towards the greatness he deserved and made him who he was- a Brahmarishi, the likes of whom the ‘loks’ hadn’t witnessed.

It is the story of a woman so strong, that she alone changed the destinies of the ‘loks’ and the future of all mankind. It is the story of her sacrifice, her eternal everlasting fountain of love whose flow never ebbed but immersed the throes of heaven. A love not whimsical and fiery like that of man but like deep, calming waters which gave life, sustained life, built greatness and could never be vanquished.

Zoya😘

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