Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel - Book Review

Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel

Publication Date: 26th April 2022

Genre: Retelling, Indian, Historical Fiction 

1.5 Stars 

One Liner: A colonized retelling written for the Western and west-aligned audiences. 

*Long Review Alert*

Let me first share how the rating reached 1.5 stars. 

• The first 30% - 4 stars despite the slow narration and the feeling of reading about Medieval European kingdoms rather than an Indian setting. 
• The book up to 55% - 3.5ish stars as things got repetitive and the colonial influence was beginning to become prominent. (Also, the story deviated too much from the original.)
• The book up to 70% - 2.7 stars because Sita’s introduction read like something from a regency novel, and Sita’s characterization was horrible. 
• By the end of the last page – 2 stars still because I’m not new to this kind of portrayal of Rama promoted by a certain ‘intellectual’ crowd. 
• The next morning - 1.5 star as the patterns become clear. The retelling is much more than just another perspective. It fits like a perfect puzzle piece in the global anti-Hindu narrative to normalize Hinduphobia, given the target audience. 

Note: Just as the author has FoE to write her perspective, I have the FoE to dislike it and express my opinion. I know this is beyond comprehension for some people but try to get used to it. 

Please read the working definition of Hinduphobia to get a better idea. 

 “Hinduphobia is a set of antagonistic, destructive, and derogatory attitudes and behaviors towards Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism) and Hindus that may manifest as prejudice, fear, or hatred.

Hinduphobic rhetoric reduces the entirety of Sanatana Dharma to a rigid, oppressive, and regressive tradition. Prosocial and reflexive aspects of Hindu traditions are ignored or attributed to outside, non-Hindu influences. This discourse actively erases and denies the persecution of Hindus while disproportionately painting Hindus as violent. These stereotypes are used to justify the dissolution, external reformation, and demonization of the range of indigenous Indic knowledge traditions known as Sanatana Dharma. 

The complete range of Hinduphobic acts extends from microaggressions to genocide. Hinduphobic projects include the destruction and desecration of Hindu sacred spaces; aggressive and forced proselytization of Hindu populations; targeted violence towards Hindu people, community institutions, and organizations; and, ethnic cleansing and genocide.” 

*****

Summary based on the blurb from Goodreads: 

Kaikeyi is the only daughter of the Kekaya kingdom and the third wife of King Dasharath of Ayodhya. She is also a girl who grew up being ignored by her father and learning to care for her brothers when her mother was banished from the kingdom. Even her marriage was nothing more than an alliance between kingdoms. 

However, Kaikeyi grows up to become an independent woman, a warrior, diplomat, and the most favored queen. She’s a powerful queen and a loving mother. But her one wish turns the world upside down and makes her a villain. Is that all there is to her? 

What is it about her life that we don’t know? What is Kaikeyi’s story?

*****

The cover and POV were enticing enough for me to request an ARC though I am wary of retellings of Indian epics. I should’ve paid more attention to the blurb. I mean, those who understood Ramayana would know that Kaikeyi is a warrior queen and the favorite wife. She is also more of a mother to Rama, though Kaushalya is his birth mother. Kaikeyi was never sidelined. She was right there in the middle, always. 

I’ve never hated her or been told that she is the evil stepmother. Kaikeyi, to me, was the only one capable to set things in motion. Rama is Kaushalya’s son, and she wouldn’t ask for her child to be exiled. 

Sumitra is the second wife of Dasharath and gets minimum importance from all sides. She neither enjoys the privileges of Kaushalya nor Kaikeyi. In fact, Dasarath gives the kheer after yajna only to Kaushalya and Kaikeyi. The two ladies feel sad and share a portion of their kheer with Sumitra, and thus she has twins. It’s no wonder that her sons, Lakshmana and Shatraguna are closer to Rama and Bharath, respectively, rather than sharing the close bond twins usually have. 

Why would Dasarath even bother if Sumitra asked for Rama's exile? She’d be exiled instead. Kaikeyi is the only one who has enough grit, command, and control to make it happen. She is an obvious choice. And why does Rama have to be exiled? 

If he stayed in Ayodhya as a king, he wouldn’t be able to kill the thousands of Rakshasas in Dandakaranya or put an end to Ravana’s atrocities. 

(Moreover, Ravana is an incarnation of one of Vishnu’s guards in Vaikuntam. When cursed for not doing their duty properly, the guards chose to take three births as evil kings so that Vishnu would arrive to kill them.) 

If Rama wasn’t exiled, he wouldn’t be able to meet Sabari, the old devout who waited all her life just to get a glimpse of her beloved God. Kaikeyi got the raw end of the deal when she’s chosen to change the narrative, yes. But she was the only one strong enough to carry the responsibility. 

When I picked this book, my expectations were that the book would explore the grey areas, look at the intricacies in the epic; not create a black and white scenario by reversing the roles of Rama and Ravana. I would have appreciated even the role reversal if it was an original idea. It is a brave thing to do, after all. Alas, the concept is neither original nor fresh. It’s a part of a larger narrative being introduced to the world at large for a while now. 

To see that the book with so much potential turned into a colonial narrative retelling to suit the established anti-Hindu global narrative is painful. 

*****

What I Liked: 

• The concept of the Binding Plane was fantastic. I loved reading about the threads, how Kaikeyi learned to use them, and the way her powers grew over the years. 
• I enjoyed her interactions with Yudhajit, her twin brother, and Manthara, the maidservant who takes care of Kaikeyi. 
• Kaikeyi’s asexuality was subtly handled. It isn’t the major focus of the book but weaves in and out of the narrative to establish her relationship with Dasharath and his wives. 

What Didn’t Work for Me: 

Retellings are a fine balance between staying true to the original and bringing in a new perspective. This book has quite a lot of additions and changes. It is much different from the original (though there are at least two dozen versions, not counting contemporary retellings). While I liked some, the others didn’t work too well. 

The book was 432 pages long and was slow. The narration just didn’t seem to move ahead, given that there’s a lot to read about Kaikeyi’s childhood, her thoughts and feelings about herself and others. 

While I appreciated the concept of feminism, I didn’t like how the epic was interpreted and represented from a colonial lens. Hinduism is a non-Abrahamic religion with Gods of different genders. Why would Gods be annoyed that Kaikeyi wants a better place for women in society? Why would Maa Shakti sit and smile if another God said women should bow their heads and do what they are told? She’s more likely to burn down the universe in reply. 

Sita is neither a millennial nor Gen Z. She is an incarnation of Maa Lakshmi herself (not some God-touched little chit). Reducing her to some anxiety-ridden, confused, helpless wife of a power-hungry prince (Rama) is the worst characterization. As such, I’m annoyed with how the TV shows and movies make her cry buckets in Lanka. This one made that look respectable in comparison. 

Lakshman is the younger brother of Rama, and Sita is his older brother’s wife. He will never ever address her by her given name, even when talking about her to another person. She will never be just ‘Sita’ to Lakshman. In our households, siblings don’t refer to their older brothers’ wives by their names. It has to be accompanied by terms like Bhabhi or Vadina (etc.). 

The duration for exile was 14 years. Fourteen. Not ten. It can’t be a typo if it is repeated more than once. 

As far as I know, Rama’s gurus were Maharishi Vashistha and Brahmarshi Viswamitra. Sage Vamadeva Gautama wasn’t one. And, Ahalya turns back from stone to a human when Viswamitra takes Rama and Lakshamana to help kill Maarich and Subhahu. It doesn’t happen during Rama’s exile. 

The Jain version of Ramayana says Sita is Ravana and Mandodhari’s daughter. However, when astrologers predict that she will bring Lanka’s downfall, Ravana orders to get rid of her. The servants instead put her in a box and bury her in the earth. Nowhere does Ravana know Sita is his daughter or have maternal feelings for her. 

In fact, there’s another version of Sita coming from Lanka. She is an incarnation of Vedavati, a pious woman who Ravana tried to molest. She burns herself, and Ravana collects her ashes in a box. Mandodhari finds the box of ashes and realizes the impending danger. She gets the box buried, which reaches Mithila with Sita inside. 

Ravana had to be killed not because of his inventions (a typical colonial view). It was because he lost the reasoning to distinguish between right and wrong.  

Ravana was a scholar, 100% true. But he was also a rapist. I’m sorry I can’t be a ‘rebel feminist’ and declare my love and support for him (I already have ‘friends’ who do that). Showing Ravana as some sort of progressive ruler while ignoring all the women he assaulted and kidnapped for personal pleasure doesn’t sit well with me. 

The portrayal of Rama as a manipulative, misogynistic, narcissistic, war-loving prince aligns with the misinterpretations shared by the ‘famous’ Audrey Truschke, a so-called scholar of Hindu Studies. How can someone with missionary parents, in-laws, and husband, who spent every waking hour converting idolaters to Christianity, teach Hindu Studies without bias? Her misinterpretations and role in the Global Dismantling Hindutva Conference are not unknown. 

Even if I ignore this, what I cannot forget is how this representation affects young Hindu students. When Hindus are branded terrorists by Hinduphobic associations for not toeing in line, when ‘Jai Shri Ram’ is projected as a hateful war cry, a Ramayana retelling with Rama as a war-loving and manipulative prince is like adding fuel to fire. Readers who have no idea about the original will not think twice about attacking Hindus for worshipping Rama. 

(Don’t even tell me it won’t happen. I’ve seen enough idiots who use fictional retellings and dramatized movies/TV shows to assert their points as ‘facts’.) 

More Incidents that are Different from Ramayana: 

Ravana and Kaikeyi don’t meet. They don't have such friendly conversations. Kaikeyi’s mother being Ravana’s Minister of Finance in Janasthana is not mentioned anywhere. 

Mandodhari doesn’t die before Rama and Sita marry. In fact, she lives long after Ravana gets killed by Rama. She marries Vibheeshna (Ravana’s brother who takes the throne) to assist him to manage the kingdom. 

Raja Janaka (Sita’s father) was a Rajrishi (as in a king who is a rishi or gyani). Mithila had different traditions and cultures compared to Ayodhya. Sita grew up to be a strong woman because the rules were less rigid in Mithila. 

Sita’s swyamvar contest was to lift the mighty Shiv Dhanush and string it. Not to hit any target (like it was in Mahabharata). Moreover, Rama’s family doesn’t travel to Mithila in advance. They go after Rama wins the swyamvar. Rama and Lakshmana go to Mithila with Brahmarshi Viswamitra. 

The concept of the Rama avatar was that Vishnu would take birth as a human. It means he would make the same mistakes as humans and suffer like us. Maa Lakshmi joins him as his wife because she doesn’t want to stay apart from him for longer than necessary. That puts her in the same place as humans, and she has to go through her share of suffering. Rama doesn’t think he is God or act like one. He becomes a God after the avatar ends. There’s a difference. 

I could go on and on, but I chose to end it here. Though I love the concept of Binding Plane, the rest of it spins out of control. The main reason I picked the book was to read how Kaikeyi’s view was presented. I am left with immense dissatisfaction. 

Thank you, NetGalley and Redhook Books, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

*****

P.S: A part of me wanted to not review the book, but I decided it needs to be done. This is the longest review I’ve ever written.

*****

Edit to Add: 

Read this article by Saiswaroopa Iyer to understand the difference between colonial and Indic perspectives. Women standing up for Dharma are not rebelling against 'patriarchal societies'. They are protecting the natural law of justice and universal balance.