INTERVIEW | Kavita Kane hopes to see Shakti in every woman through her book 'Sarasvati’s Gift'
Published by Penguin Random House Sarasvati’s Gift by Kavita Kane brings to the fore the personality of the Hindu goddess Sarasvati; known as the goddess of art, music and knowledge, remarkable personality. The book further explores her non-conforming, unconventional marriage with Brahama. The story is told in the voices of nameless celestials, powerful gods and lesser mortals. More from the author:
Could you start by telling us about your engagement with the deity Sarasvati and what led you to write this book?
Coming from a Saraswat family, Sarasvati has been a predominant presence in our home. Especially, for the thought and beliefs she embodies. It was but an organic conclusion reached after much consideration that I decided that if I ever write about a goddess, it would be on Sarasvati.
I realised that though she is revered as the goddess of knowledge, creative arts, wisdom, language, learning and purity, yet we don’t know much about her. This stems from my own ignorance that for a very long time, I didn’t know she was the consort of Brahma. Possibly because we rarely see them as a couple, except on our TV serials! But that again proves the point: that she is a goddess, powerful and single, never as part of a couple, such as Shiva-Parvati or Lakshmi-Narayan.
Sarasvati is also a river goddess; we know her as the lost river along whose banks once flourished an ancient civilisation. It is this thread that I expanded in the book: that as the goddess symbolic of intelligence, consciousness, creativity and education, do we respect and realise her attributes in today’s violent world or have we reduced her to a lost goddess?
What are the feminist principles Sarasvati abides by, consequently inspiring many today?
Sarasvati remains an enigma, frozen in our collective imagination as the goddess in white, silent and serene. She is fiery and feisty, with a quick temper and a quick tongue, ready to take on any challenge and even question the male trinity: Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.
She is worshipped as a feminine force, but how many know she was not a strong propounder of marriage and motherhood: the twin pillars that define a woman in most societies. Even her relationship with Brahma is tumultuous and conflicted, yet equal and symbiotic — that of the creator and the creation and creativity. The book explores her relationship with her Brahma, and their unusual marriage — the most non-conforming, unconventional of the triumvirate couples. As these peripheral figures and silent catalysts take centre stage, we get a glimpse of an extraordinary woman and her remarkable story, buried under myths and legends.
All your novels are based on lesser-known women in Indian mythology including Karna’s Wife (2013), Sita’s Sister (2014) and Menaka’s Choice (2015) among others. What implored you to be involved in this theme?
Be it Urmila or Satyavati or Ahalya, all are almost overlooked characters, forgotten in the larger narrative. Like most women in our epics, they are tough, fascinating, remarkable women whose stories need to be told. Not just as a daughter, wife, mother, daughter-in-law or some queen or princess, but as a person of significance, an identity in her personal and socio-political world. We rarely see our epics through the women’s eyes besides the female protagonists: Sita and Draupadi. But that’s because we essentially know them as stories of men of valour and war, written and told and recounted by men. But can one imagine the Mahabharata without say Satyavati or Kunti or Gandhari or Rukmini?
What do you hope to discover while writing on feminism in Indian mythology?
Besides understanding how compelling women were in our epics and ancient society, I want them to be introduced and their importance to reach the youth of today. And in doing so, realise the concept and depth of feminism defining both the individual and society. We tend to see and confuse feminism in its Western definition.
I hope to rediscover the vital importance of women in society today vis a vis the tales of the past. To shed light on the many versions of a Satyavati or a Shakuntala in today’s society, living independently and fiercely along with men like Bhishma and Kanva and Dushyant. Or to get to know feminist, liberal men like King Janak. Through the medium of mythology and storytelling, to make both men and women see the reflection of their own realities and try learning from the stories passed down to us over the centuries, shattering statements in patriarchy. These stories set an example, not necessarily an ideal, which again holds both men and women responsible in creating their own Tridev as well as the Shakti not confined to divine dimensions but recognised with mortal relevance. Hopefully, to see a bit of Shakti in every woman, which is there in all of us.