Sita: The Warrior of Mithila – Book Review

Sita: The Warrior of Mithila is the second book in the Ram Chandra series and is preceded by Scion of Ikshvaku. (By Amish Tripathi)

I have long been a fan of Amish Tripathi’s writing style and the way he rewrites tales from Indian mythology with a contemporary twist. Since childhood, I have been hearing fabulous tales from Indian mythology. The one that stuck with me the most was the Ramayana. The bravery, strength, and law-abiding nature of Ram instantly made me respect him, But one aspect of the tale that always bothered me was Sita’s helplessness. We all hear how Raavan was easily able to kidnap her. This always frustrated me every time I heard the story, the same thoughts occurred to me,” Why couldn’t she fight him off? And why didn’t she even have a weapon, not even a stick to protect herself? Why was she dependent on ram and Lakshman for her protection?” So when I picked up ‘Sita’, the cover and name immediately enraptured me. Finally, here was a book that showed Sita as the strong person she was. Also, the way Ram is usually portrayed made him worship-worthy, but it also made him seem lacking in human nature. However, Amish beautifully makes him seem to be human and reachable.

Although there is a slight change in the plotline, it is this change that helps us explore the different characteristics of the personalities of the characters. Ram is shown everywhere as tough, unbreakable, and stoic. Instead, here we see that he holds up a façade. We see through the façade to see a hurt and sometimes even a vulnerable person who has always been rejected by everyone, except his mother and brothers. Even his father doesn’t have any love for him. Throughout all this, his belief in upholding laws is absolute, even if he is hurt doing so.

Sita’s mother, Queen Sunaina is usually side-lined in the narration of this tale; But Amish presents her as a strong character that leaves a deep impression in the mind of the reader. She is a determined, proficient and intelligent woman who practically single-handedly governs Mithila. It is from her that Sita gets her steely, strong persona.

Sita’s character sketch is remarkable. The beautiful princess, who is usually shown as a mentally and emotionally strong, but physically weak woman, takes up a different version of herself here. She is wise beyond her years, kind, pragmatic and an efficient ruler and warrior. She is filled with fiery determination, calm and is much more likely to fight than hide, and will fight only after fully preparing herself. Her valiance and courage is visible at the battle of Mithila, when her soldiers are cornered and at multiple other places in the story. She is as efficient at fighting; especially stick fighting, as Ram is at archery. She is quick thinking and clever, and at the same time we also see her internally dealing with emotions such as grief, loss, love and happiness, which make her seem more human and reachable to us than ever.

The subtle hints that the writer drops tell us that everything is not what it seems. From the Rishis, Vashishtha and Vishwamitra to the Vayuputras and Malayputras, everyone is hiding something and this is communicated most mysteriously by their actions.

With these and multiple other beautifully sketched characters, the writer weaves a compelling tale of love, trust, betrayal and strength. His writing and language are simple, fluid and easily understandable.

If you are, like me, one of those people who wish that the characters of this legend were more reachable, that Sita was given the respect she deserves or even just that the scientific progress of the Indians of that time was shown truthfully, this book definitely deserves a place in your reading list.

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