THE 'SHES' OF MAHABHARATA

From Alli and Kunti to Hidimbi, author Srilata K versifies the love, sorrow, and agency of the epic's women characters, who have often been sidelined

- RAKSHITHA PRIYA G

For centuries, Indian mythologies have celebrated kings, warriors, and sages in grand narratives, while women's stories have remained brief and marginalized—often relegated to mere footnotes. Exploring this marginal space and turning it into the main narrative, author Srilata K lends a voice to some of the lesser-known and spoken-about women in the Mahabharata in her latest poetry collection titled Footnotes to the Mahabharata. In this candid interview, she reflects on her creative process, choices, and the meanings behind her work.

Excerpts follow: Why did you think it was important to approach the Mahabharata from the perspective of its female characters?

It is an age-old narrative and something we have all grown up listening to in some form or the other. Because of its ubiquitous nature and the fact that we are all surrounded by epics such as the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, we need to understand it better and sometimes change the lens through which we view or understand the stories. I believe, as a writer and an academic, that we should never take something that is given to us as it is. We need to pay attention to see if there are different ways to think about stories. So, I think a feminist lens is a very, very important way of doing that. To me, that just came naturally.

Could you take us through your writing process for this collection? How long did the book take to come together?