Arrow of the Blue- Skinned God

I just finished reading a thought provoking book based on an interesting subject. The author, Jonah Blank retraces the route that Ram (Prince Rama of Ayodhya, as in from the Ramayana) takes in his years of exile(vanvas). The author follows the route Ram took right from Ayodhya, after being exiled to his time in the forests near Nasik and then southward towards Sri Lanka to rescue his wife Sita from the demon king Ravana. The Ramayana is a story most Indians grow up with, I doubt anyone can pinpoint the exact time they were introduced to the story for the first time. The Ramayana is to Hindus what the Illiad or the Odyssey are to the Greeks. I am sure my parents told me the story long before I could read and later, when I could read, Amar Chitra Katha was my main source. And then of course there were those mega serials on the National television channel Doordarshan which would shut down much of India on Sunday mornings. So I never had much curiosity left to read the Ramayana as an adult, when there was so much else which was new to me.

Browsing through the local public library, I found this book "Arrow of the Blue Skinned God - Retracing the Ramayana through India" and my curiosity was piqued . This wasn't the epic story per se, I had not heard of anyone retracing the route of the exiled prince , even though India offers a million pilgrimage routes. I was not even sure if the places mentioned in the Ramayana could be found, the main exception being Ayodhya of course. It was a decidedly interesting premise for a travelogue. The author goes back and forth , between the Ramayana and his own journey through India. The journey combines his experience of the country, the landscape of the hinterland and the urban cities, his conversations with various personalities like the actors who acted in the mega serial, former royals, and random people whom he met on his travels. Once I started reading it, I was absorbed both by the epic story, read afresh after a very long time as well as the author's insight on the happenings in modern day India and how they related to the Ramayana. However towards the end, I found myself racing ahead to read the original story, though it was not new to me. I discovered many new facets in the story which I had not seen or understood before, some of which were probably taken for granted before. I think that's power of a great epic, even if you know it, it offers something new every time you read it. That being said, the whole book was totally worth a read or two, the author is perceptive and sympathetic in his observations, with a lucid and clear thought process.