A stunning work in free verse that holds you captive

Where does one place Ratul Chakraborty's Vritrahan? As a standalone work of creative imagination, it is remarkable, perhaps even unprecedented in recent times.

- ABHINAV AGARWAL

When a book is praised by none other than the late Bibek Debroy as "a remarkable work... transcends the Vritra story", and when Sanjeev Sanyal calls it a "mad" project to single-handedly revive the ancient Indian tradition of composing epics", you know you have a unique book in your hands.

The story of Vritra is an old one. It is found in the first mandala of the Rig Veda, where Vritra is the personification of famine. Most will, however, know Vritra from the Mahabharata, where his account is found in at least two places. The primary narrative is in the Udyoga (thirty-third) and Teertha-Yaatra (forty-ninth) upa parvas, in the Agastya and Indravijaya upakhyaanas, respectively.

Furious with Indra for having killed his noble son, Trishiras, Prajapati Tvastha created the fearsome asura, Vritra, and tasked him with defeating and destroying Indra.