What happened to Gregor Samsa, the protagonist of Franz Kafka’s famous novella The Metamorphosis, when he discovered that he had turned into an insect one fine morning? His whole world fell apart. Would the world have fallen apart if Krishna, one of the most celebrated characters of Indian mythology, was born as a woman? Would Mahabharata and Bhagavad Gita have been written differently then? Filmmaker and author Madhureeta Anand has tried to answer these questions in her latest book, Krishna Circus (Om Books International).
Among mythological characters, Krishna is closest to Anand’s heart, and through her portrayal in the book, she has tried to transcend the gender binary. In her words, “Krishna is the most gender fluid among all the characters we worship. His Mohini avatar is celebrated. The name even belongs to both men and women, and the character embodies both feminine and masculine qualities. Hence, women have equal rights as men as Krishna can be imagined as one of them.”
A take on mythology
Anand has always treated women as central figures in her films. For instance, in Mere Khwabon Mein Jo Aaye (2009), a lonely housewife who gives up her career for household duties starts seeing a man in her dreams after being cheated by her husband. In Kajarya (2013), two women, one an alleged killer and the other one a journalist, face-off. From the pragmatic world of ‘women's issues’, Anand steps into the world of mythology by imagining Krishna as a woman.
What was the reason behind this remagining? “I grew up listening to mythical stories. I have contributed as a writer to Malashri Lal and Namita Gokhale’s anthologies, like Finding Radha: The Quest for Love and In Search of Sita. I also made a documentary on Sita (Laying Janaki to Rest, 2007) by redefining her story in the present-day world. Hence, the world of mythology never felt a distant reality,” she says.
In Anand’s book, Krishna, as a woman, fights the evils of greed and power and evolves into an extremely strong persona. In a world where the celebrated mythological characters of bravery are all men, Anand’s Krishna becomes an exception. “Everything of our existence is a story told in different forms. The inherently strong nature of women is watered down and told using just one lens. Sita was abducted because of the war between Rama and Ravana. It feels that women do not exist by themselves if not in relation to men. If you look closely, they did, and there is much more beyond the watered-down versions,” she adds.
Protector of mother nature
In a country with deep religious sentiments, writing a book by imagining one of the most popular gods as a woman is a bold work. And of all things, that fascinates the readers. While discussing this, Anand clarified that the book has two aspects. On one hand, it deals with human greed and its consequences, and on the other, it involves a female superhero who will save the world from greed.
“Krishna Circus is a story about a female superhero who travels back in time to stop all those events that seeded the end of the earth. Born in the regime of Kamsa, she, along with her team of four superheroes, fights human greed to protect mother nature. Greed, coupled with power in corrupt hands, has devastated mother nature, and without destroying them, it is impossible to fight. As the book pays its dues back to mother earth, I felt that a woman character would do justice to it. Hence, my Krishna is a woman,” she says.
As an author, Anand hopes her readers will do two things: spread the word about the book and feel inspired by its characters. “Although the characters are mythological, the conflicts they deal with are real. Hence, there is a reflection of today’s world, and I want the audience to relate with them. They need to feel inspired the way these characters face crises”, she says in conclusion.