Life & times of Bhishma

A historical that treads a different path, The Making of Bhishma: Fall of the Kurus by Kamesh Ramakrishna is the first of four different novels that have historical and literature folklore written in a period-specific style. The author who grew up in Mumbai and got his PhD from Carnegie Mellon University, has  for almost 20 years, delved into history, science, archaeology, and philosophy. The underlying links between these subjects have definitely influenced his writing style. His novel is not just Mahabharata, but a deep look at its different parts.

The book has different gods, Gandharvas and magical weapons, and the Massachusetts resident author has taken his body of knowledge to narrate three pivotal incidents which form the crux of the storyline — Ganga’s suicide, Satyavati’s odd life, and the story of Amba and her child — all these tales connected intrinsically to Bhishma’s life. King Shantanu and Ganga are Devavrata’s parents, and in his teenage years he has to deal with his mother’s suicide. According to a policy followed by Shantanu, one family had to have a single child only, and it required Ganga to sacrifice seven of her children. Shantanu later on falls for a Naga girl, Satyavati and marries her. His son Devavrata decided to give up the kingdom, due to this. But, Satyavati also conveniently does not mention that she herself had Vyasa from a previous relationship with Sage Parashara, which is a secret. Satyavati now has two sons, Chitrangada and Vichitravirya with Shantanu.

When Chitrangada disappears into the forest, it falls on Devavrata to search for him. He goes and ends up meeting Amba there; he falls for her. But, he returns home and tells Satyavati, an imaginary story of how Chitrangada died at the hands of Gandaravas, who was killed due to humans. Bhishma’s heir was Shikandin from Amba, but it was kept from him. He is forced to deal with this new information and Shikandin’s death. Would Bhishma’s life have been different if Amba had stayed on with him? Family disputes, fights, love, jealousy and drama are all a part of this story.