Sita's Sister: Kavita and her Audience

Sita's Sister presented by it’s author Kavita Kane

Set in the backdrop of Hindu mythology, Kavita Kane has fictioned an alluring ode to Sita's sister, Urmila.

This book is about Urmila. A lesser known character in Indian mythology, who is mentioned mostly as Lakshman’s wife or as Sita’s younger sister. But the book for the first time takes the reader through the happenings in the lives of the four sisters & the royal family of Ayodhya from the point of view of Urmila.

A woman of immense strength and conviction, stands out in this tableau of tears and tragedy - Urmila, whose husband, Lakshman, has chosen to accompany his brother Ram to the forest. She could have insisted on joining Lakshman, as did Sita with Ram, but she did not. Why did she agree to be left behind in the palace, waiting for her husband for 14 painfully long years? This novel aims to tell her story.

Kane refers to Urmila who was wise beyond her years, she is this strong lady who faces each problem coming her way very bravely. She speaks her mind freely without being disrespectful. She doesn’t tolerate injustice. She isn’t just a wife. She is a painter & a scholar. When Lakshman leaves her behind to follow his brother into exile she is strong enough to overcome her pain and continue living her life. While she certainly loves him she doesn’t waste her life pining for him. While he is constantly in her thoughts, her life doesn’t stop without him.

One does not need to know the background, one can enjoy the story as the style is simple and easy on the eye. Closing the evening with reading from the book, Kane certainly has piqued the interest of the audience and hopes that there will be more to be captivated by.

Reported by Seema Chinchore

Kavita Kane – A brief profile

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A senior journalist with a career of over two decades, which includes working for Magna publication and DNA, she quit her job as Assistant Editor of Times of India to devote herself as a full time author. A self-styled aficionado of cinema and theatre and sufficiently armed with a post-graduate degree in English Literature and Mass Communication from the University of Poona, the only skill she knows, she candidly confesses, is writing. 

Karna's Wife  is her debut novel, released in 2013 which was a bestseller the credit to which she gives entirely to the protagonist Karna - the most enigmatic, popular and the most tragic character in Indian mythology. 

The second novel - Sita's Sister - to be out in December 2014, also deals with another enigmatic personality - Urmila, Sita's sister and Lakshman's wife who silently braved tears and tragedy those fourteen years of separation, living her own private exile.  She is probably the most overlooked character in the Ramayan. 

Born in Mumbai, a childhood spent largely in Patna and Delhi , she currently lives in Pune

On 19th January 2015 ; 6:15 pm, US Library, Poona Club

Sita’s Sister by Kavita Kane

Urmila of Ramayana, wife of Lakshman and one of the sisters of Sita, is the most overlooked character of the epic. Without the support of Urmila, Lakshman could have never killed Indrajit, the most formidable warrior of the Ravana’s army and his favorite son. She is the only one who stays away from her husband for 14 years.

But Urmila cannot be ignored any more as Kavita Kane‘s next book Sita’s Sister is about Urmila and Ramayana from her point of view. The book is expected to be released by December, 2014.

Synopsis:

As Sita prepares to go into exile, her younger sisters stay back at the doomed palace of Ayodhya, their smiles, hope and joy wiped away in a single stroke. And through the tears and the tragedy one woman of immense strength and conviction stands apart – Urmila, whose husband, Lakshman, has chosen to accompany his brother Ram to the forest rather than stay with his bride. She could have insisted on joining Lakshman, as did Sita with Ram. But she did not. Why did she agree to be left behind in the palace, waiting for her husband for fourteen painfully long years?