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When Vayuputras exchanged stories SIMIAN - Vol.01, Part 1 and 2
Vikram Balagopal, a writer and cartoonist, attempts the same through his graphic novel Simian. Printed on glossy paper, it comprises book I and II of the planned trilogy. While the novel is in black and white, the cover and beginning of the chapters have been done in colour. Simian has been used as a translation of the word vanar. Hanuman introduces himself in the novel as, "I am no siddha, or a God, or a Gandharva, or a Guhyaka, or even a Monkey. I am a Vanar, by name, Hanuman" The novel opens with the chance encounter of Bhima with his brother Hanuman. They both were vayuputras, son of the Wind God. They sit together to share their life stories, their perspectives on life and what all they faced as warriors in the battlefield. In part I, Bhima narrates his side of the story and how he ends up in the forest. In response, Hanuman asks him to be cautious of the war looming large on the heads of Pandavas. When Bhima asks him to lend clarity on the same, he says, "Rather than explain in abstract terms, like morality, I shall tell you my story, my recollection of war." Hanuman then narrates the story of Ramayana from his perspective. It primarily includes events that lead to the abduction of Sita. In Part II of Volume I, the story moves forward as Hanuman crosses the sea to meet Sita. There is something about these legends that we continue to revisit them and; thus, see them in new light.
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Whether through
television, novels or grandmother's bedtime stories; tales from Ramayana
and Mahabharata continue to be retold and reinvented.