Aranyaka: Book of the Forest

Ever since a good friend introduced me to Amruta Patil, I have been hooked. Bought every graphic novel of hers. The way she rendered mythology was most fascinating, the text and the art. This one is in collaboration with Devdutt Patnaik. Honestly, I have never been curious about him at all, I guess just the way he has been positioned in the mainstream, it didn’t garner any interest in me. But the collaboration for this book is fantastic. They both shine in showcasing their strengths. And in the story, all of life is contained. The core being hunger, they explore all aspects of humanness and our relationship to each other, to the environment around us and what we create together. Male, female, friendships, guru, shishya, prey, predator, giver and taker - and the constant need to balance the debt on each other - willingly or unwillingly.

Some verbatim that spoke to me:

1. "In Aranya there is great violence but no violation”. - I have till date never found a better to way to articulate this. Wars, assault, kabzaa, are relentless violations first, then are they violent. A movement of power rather than hunger/protection of the young/fear.

2. “As his daughter, the burden of propriety is on me. It sits there awkwardly”. - My father may articulate this differently but this is me. Never fit, never had it in me to protest loudly. There was a quiet resistance all my life, till maybe the last couple of years. The quiet resistance most of the time seen as subversive, “why didn’t you tell us”, “who asked you to do what you didn’t want to do”, “speak up”. I didn’t want to, I was happy manoeuvring quietly like the camouflaging animal.

3. “The need to believe someone cares is purely human”.

4. “A fruiting tree is a bad example for selflessness, being irresistible is a part of its survival plan. A ploy to spread its seed!”

5. “You are not me! But I judge you too early for not being me.” - I try to keep this mind all the time, fail most of the time. In some relationships it is harder to do than others, cause it also has to do with the other person. I am never alone in this game.

6. “I thought we were equals, bilateral symmetry of leaves. He thought we were halves, he above and me below.”

7. “The ultimate synthesiser, alert and unseen.” - Other than the ultimate part, this is who I am at work. Building, creating, working with the wisdom in the room. Also asked a million times, ‘why don’t you talk’, establishing time and again that is the only way to be heard. There are many who think I am not smart enough, brave enough, open enough etc, it took me years to realise that it is about their perception and not my skill.

It takes all of an hour to read the book, but lingers for eons.