Parva and The Great Indian Novel

I finally finished reading S L Byrappa's novel 'Parva'. I started the novel when I was in college many years back. I remember renting this one with another one of Byrappa's more contemporary novel called 'Thanthu'. Somehow, I ended up finishing 'Thanthu' first and was never able get back to 'Parva'. I knew a bit about the novel before I started reading it that it was set on the great Indian epic 'Mahabharatha'. May be that was part of the reason I did not go further than 50-60 pages.

This is one book that nobody can ever spoil it for you if you haven't read it. That's one of the things I found unique about the novel. Almost everyone from my part of the world knows the story. Its the same story with same characters but re-told in a completely different way than you ever thought possible. It is said that for 7 'Akshoyinies' (just a unit to measure number and kind of troops) of Pandavas' side there were 11 of them on Kavvravas' side. Have you ever wondered why there were many more people on the Kavuravas' side than Pandavas' side even though the battle was supposed to be 'Dharma yudda'? (battle of the righteous)

This is just one example that is mentioned in the Preface of the book by the author himslef. There are so many other things that we were told and we never bothered to think what they mean't or How those ideas came about. Byrappa makes you think about those things and in his own way, he answers most of them convincingly. If you have read any other of Byrappa's novels you will be familiar with the narrative style although this story is set in much much north of Byrappa's usual settings in Hassan District. (Woo Hoo Hassan!, my hometown). The narration seems very fast and lot of things get interlaced with each other. You get the feeling that he is just touching the events that you expect,very briefly but most of them give you the full picture needed.

It's just a great co-incidence that I was planning to read Shashi Tharoor's 'The Great Indian Novel', right after 'Parva'. When I bought the book years ago I had no idea that Tharoor's book was in anyway related to 'Mahabharatha'. I had reapeatedly heard that it was a great book and I had bought it. I think that the rough idea behind Byrappa's novel is to narrate Mahabharath's story like it actually happened, in a sociological and anthropological angle. And it seems to me that, before reading the book anyway, in Tharoor's novel he uses theme of the 'Mahabharatha' to weave a satirical story of Indian life with the characters drawn from the Indian Independence Movement.

'Parva' is an sttempt to look at 'Mahabharatha' like how it could have happened in ancient India and 'The Great Indian Novel' is an attempt to look at the historical events of Modern India (1900's) like the great Epic itself. How ironic and strange that I had planned them to read back-to-back. One in Kannada the other in English. One theme two different times. One trying to see mythological stories as history the other trying to see history as the recurrence of the great Epic. So, when I start Tharoor's book this weekend, its going to be a strange world of mythology-to-fiction-to-non fiction-to-history-to-ancient history-to-mythology-to-...

I am gona enjoy that thoroughly and screw you Harry Potter fans.