Book Review : 'The Girl Who Chose' by Devdutt Pattanaik

'The Girl Who Chose' by Devdutt Pattanaik has a unique start it starts off with telling the readers of Rishi Pulastya, an ancestor of Ravana. This seemed to be an interesting one, as it gets the readers to think. (Pulatsya was the father of Visravas, who in turn was father to Ravana. That bit in brackets was not part of this story, but I just had to tell it)

Anyway, Ravana’s was Pulatsya’s descendant and his killing was known as Pulatsya Vadham. This story, basically led from the point when Sita makes her first choice. She chooses to follow her husband into the forest, where he is forced to go. Since we all know the Ramayan, I will not go into the whats and whys of it. 

Anyway, now for the second choice that she makes. The second choice is one, which she makes when she is all alone in the forest. She has to feed a hermit, for which she has to cross a line that Lakshman had drawn for her. The line, which would protect her from all evil, which lay in the forest, was now breached.

So, Ravana abducts her and takes her away to Lanka. In Lanka, when Hanuman finds her, she tells him that only Ram must find her and take her home, rightfully (though she can be saved by the powerful Hanuman).

Devdutt Pattanaik (from Wikipedia)

There are two more times when Sita makes her choices, which are revealed in this story. The entire story is brought on because of a few choices, which are made by Sita. It is proved again, that this one would have been better as Sita’s perspective. It was a time, when rules were set and most of them followed. But it shows Sita, making a choice, at a time of this sort.

Devdutt Pattanaik has done all the illustrations in this book, which are excellent and add to the additional beauty of the book. A children’s book, it is called, but it is up to us, whether we treat it as such. There are lessons to be learnt in the book, illustrations and in Pattanaik’s chocolate eclairs, where you have to make the effort to get to the soft sweetness or the idea, inside. 

You can Buy the Book, right here.