Book Review: 'Sita’s Ramayana'

Sita’s Ramayana
By Samhita Arni & Moyna Chitrakar
Tara Books
152pages
Rs550

Sita’s Ramayana is the second book in recent times to use folk art in a graphic novel. The other book, Bhimayana, told the story of BR Ambedkar using the Gond style of painting. This book has been illustrated in the Patua style (a painting style native to West Bengal) by Moyna Chitrakar. There are interesting similarities as well as differences in the way the two art forms tell the story.

In the artwork of both Bhimayana and Sita’s Ramayana, nature and the things you see in villages form patterns in the background — tree leaves, thatched huts, water, etc. The drawings lend nature a personality as well. This is much more apparent in Bhimayana where leaves, animals and birds have eyes with which they express their feelings. In Sita’s Ramayana, the flowers of the forest empathise with Sita’s fate.

Patua art, on the other hand, is brighter. You will find yellow figures against bright red backdrops, Ravana’s palace is shown in all its grandeur, and the expressions of demons and serpents are exaggerated. In comparison, the art in Bhimayana is subtle. It is also free flowing like fields and rivers, unrestricted by the frames of modern graphic art, which Sita’s Ramayana adheres to.

The narrator in this rendition of the epic is Sita. It begins with Rama’s exile into the forest, followed by Sita’s kidnapping, and the war thereafter. But there is little to explain why the title of this particular narration is ‘Sita’s Ramayana’. The changes from the original tale seem more in form. For instance, the story is told as Sita would have seen the events — after Sita’s kidnapping, the story doesn’t move to Rama meeting Hanuman, but instead describes her imprisonment at Lanka and Hanuman’s appearance.

A somewhat feminist point of view is presented occasionally. After the killing of Valin, and his wife’s marriage to Sugriva, Tara says, “I have just been made a widow and now I am to be a bride. All this in the course of a single day! Is this right or just Rama?” Such instances are too few and far between.

This is not to say that the story hasn’t been well told. It is a good read if you don’t know the story of Sita, or are revisiting Ramayana after a long time. But what ultimately stands out is the book’s art form. Let’s hope more graphic novels make use of India’s vast heritage of folk art.