River Sutras

Two books about the Ganga, one a fictionalised retelling of the life of the rivergoddess, the other a son's journey to prominent Hindu sites along it

- Aditya Mani Jha

Over the last decade or so, there has been an explosion of Indian English novels involving the Mahabharata. But in almost all, Ganga, the river-goddess, seldom rises beyond a quickly forgotten supporting character (Amruta Patil's Adi Parva is a notable exception). Vaishnavi Patel's novel Goddess of the River corrects the record in style, with a 'reimagining' filled with lively character sketches and a strong sense of Shakespearean foreboding. After Ganga the river-goddess marries the king Shantanu, she has to negotiate the mortal life, that too the life of a queen. Eventually, she is forced to abandon her son Devavrata (the man destined to become the invincible warrior Bheeshma) who then takes a draconian vow never to marry in order to appease his father and his second wife.