Palace of Illusions: A review

We have all grown up hearing stories from our elders, about princes and princesses, kings and queens who lived in faraway lands and always did the right thing. Here's something Dadi-maa left out in her story telling sessions- what if they had feelings that were similar to the ones that we feel? What if the characters felt anger, jealousy, hatred, rage and so on. This would lend them a human face and this is the very idea on which, Chitra Bannerjee Divakaruni has worked in her critically acclaimed book- Palace of Illusions.

The concepts of fate and destiny are beautifully dealt with in this book. Though the skeptic in me does not have strong belief in these concepts, I am highly impressed by the Divakaruni deals with these ideas. Her thinking mandates that our destiny is something we are born into- whether we accept it or not or whether we work towards it or not. Our fate is in the decisions we make, but the logic here is that though our decisions are 'left to us' in the form of fate, we are guided to these decisions in such a way that it effectively allows us to fulfill our destinies.

Indeed it is interesting to note how the characters in the book play out their destinies either willingly or unwillingly. The most amazing part about this book, which sets it, a class apart from the Amish Tripathi series of books is that it has not strayed far from the original. It merely supplements to it, adds beauty to it. How Divakaruni effectively treats the Mahabharat, is that she points out the shadows and gray areas, the moles and pockmarks, and the cripples and emotions that each of the characters goes through. Choosing a character as powerful as Draupadi was indeed a wise choice as it made for a gripping read.

It is delightful how the book deals with feminism. It constantly speaks of Draupadi’s varying outrages at the treatment of women during various phases of the book. She behaves in a way that is unacceptable of women. What truly captured my heart was how at all stages of the book, she never considers herself ‘less’ than a man. 

How she holds her head high with pride when other women lower their gaze submissively. She questions, in places where even few men dare to speak. How she fights, with rage and strength in places where the easier option would have been to give up. The book also makes references to other strong female characters in the Mahabharat, including Kunti- The Mother of Karna, and Gandhari, the wife of the blind king Dhritarashtra, Uttara- Abhimanyu's wife are among these. They are no longer given subjugated roles as Wives or Queens, they have been effectively converted into three dimensional characters- all with reasons for acting the way that they did.

The book in itself is a delight to bibliophiles everywhere because of the way it is written. The book uses impeccable English and grammar. The descriptions transport you to the scenes and helps you see them through Draupadi’s eyes. The narrative of the book so beautifully deals with the characters and how they intertwine with Draupadi’s life, all ultimately bringing them to the final battlefield where the Great War is fought. 

The book is worth reading. Do not give it a miss, irrespective of what your religious views are. You will indeed stop calling Draupadi kritya (One who brings destruction to her clan) and the book succeeds in dispelling many of the negative myths that surround Draupadi and her character. I’d rate this book 4.8/5.