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Menaka's Choice As a Feminist Revisionist Mythological

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Journal of Critical Reviews ISSN- 2394-5125 Vol 7, Issue 9, 2020 MENAKA’S CHOICE AS A FEMINIST REVISIONIST MYTHOLOGICAL LITERATURE Ayuta Mohanty1, Dr. S. D. Chaudhuri2 1PhD Scholar, School of Humanities & Social Sciences, KIIT UNIVERSITY 2Assistant Professor, School of Humanities & Social Sciences, KIIT UNIVERSITY Received: 24.03.2020 Revised: 22.04.2020 Accepted: 25.05.2020 Abstract In patriarchal societies, mythological literature are generally composed by male authors. As a result, it almost always concentrates on the male protagonist and his adventures. The role that women play in these epics can be grouped into the following three categories: a) passive onlookers, b) receivers of the male action, and c) causes of the troubles faced by the male protagonists/ characters. Such biased depiction affects the mentality of our society as these values get embedded within our psyche and shapes our thoughts and perspectives and ultimately becomes a social tradition. Partially in an attempt to change this outlook, some Indian women writers have started a fresh and subversive trend by recreating mythological texts from the point of view of the female characters. These recreations or retellings help us to understand these epics from quite a dissimilar perspective, because when the perception of the narrator changes, the way a reader perceives a narrative is bound to change as well. This paper focuses on one such novel, Menaka’s Choice by Kavita Kane, that focuses on the perspective of Menaka and highlights her strengths and weakness that led her to make certain decisions that changed her course of life as well as that of others related to her. Keywords: Feminist, Re-vision, Myth, Menaka, Strength, Individuality © 2020 by Advance Scientific Research. This is an open-access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.31838/jcr.07.09.182 INTRODUCTION Uranyu still gets affected by Menaka and he hasn't forgot her. Feminist revisionist mythology is a sub-category of feminist Menaka admits that they were once together but when she literature that deals with folk-tales, mythology, fairytales and made a choice and she parted her ways from him. She says “we other areas related to these. (Feminist Revisionist Mythology, always have choices- how we select them, make us” (Kane, n.d.). Essentially, it is a way of recreating new texts from the 2016, p. 19). After sometime Menaka got to know that she is old ones by retelling them entirely from the point of view of pregnant with Vasu's child and when she told Vasu, he was the female characters or recreating the story in a way that very happy. But Menaka feared that Indra won't let the child attempts to change the image of the female characters from a stay with them in the heaven as apsaras were not allowed to passive object to an active participant in all the events. Kavita keep their children with them. The children were given to Kane re-creates independent and strong women characters childless kings or rishis. When Indra said that being an apsara from mythology in her novels. She presents the mythology she is not allowed to foster a child, she called herself a from such a perspective that we get to see the strong women “heavenly harlot” which made Indra more furious (Kane, 2016, who have remained neglected or have been presented in a p. 46). He asked her not to use that word again as it was a wrong light. One such novel is Menaka's Choice by Kavita Kane cheap word used in earth and none of the apsaras were called where the story of the beautiful apsara Menaka unfolds and so and each one in heaven had some role to comply to and for shows how she emerges as a strong and independent apsaras, it was to entertain and please. To which Menaka individual who made a lot of sacrifices and took bold decisions replied that “And flirt and woo, and seduce! To allure and that changed her life and of others who were connected with exploit men, that's it! You made me a woman that glorify her. beauteous creation, yet so rudimentary. I am that beautiful, eternally young woman who believes she lives with the DISCUSSION blessed in Heaven. You gave me all the weapons of love, sex Menaka was created from Brahma's mind and arose from the and desire but disarmed me of my capability of conscious Ocean of Milk during the samudra manthan. Indra, the king of choice and decision. Why? I can be a woman, but never a wife Gods felt a great attraction towards her. She was or a mother. Just a sexual slave. A whore” (Kane, 2016, pp. 46- breathtakingly beautiful with a generous amount of wit and 47). But he was in not interested to listen to any of her intelligence. She fell in love with Vishwavasu, the king of arguments. She fell on his feet to request him. Indra felt happy gandharvas and married him secretly. This secret was as he had broken her finally. After a long argument, Indra gave discovered by Rambha, the queen of apsaras, the previous her two choices to choose from- either she can choose to lover of Vishwavasu. Rambha despised Menaka as she felt that abandon her child and live with Vasu in heaven or she can she snatched Vishwavasu from her. She presented the matter choose the child and leave the heaven and Vasu. Menaka was before Indra in such a way that Indra became furious. He felt stuck in such a situation that whatever she chooses she will jealous when he came to know about Vishwavasu and lose a part of herself. Finally she decided to abandon her child Menaka's marriage. Vishwavasu was his closest friend and with a broken heart. Indra felt victorious thinking that he had Indra felt that he marrying Menaka was an act of betrayal. He finally taught her a lesson but deep in heart he knew that she decided to punish Vishwavasu but Menaka came to his rescue will never forgive him for this. When her child was born, Vasu and took the blame of seducing him and forcing him for gave up her even before Menaka could catch a glimpse of her. marriage on her. She knew very well that Indra would never On learning this, Menaka was furious on him. She accused him punish her or exile her. “Her lethal charm was her defence and that he did all this following Indra's order and snatched away her weapon” (Kane, 2016, p. 15). Indra had to forgive them the opportunity to see or meet her new born baby even once. and he smiled at them. Menaka knew she was victorious and Vasu tried to explain her that whatever he did was for her her charm and wit made her the winner of the argument. It betterment to which she replied that she was capable of was impossible for anyone, especially Indra to defeat Menaka making her own decisions and he should never decide on her in a battle of words. She used them effectively with her charm behalf. to disarm and enchant her opponent. When they were alone, Indra took his final revenge when he made a ploy with Vasu asked Menaka to beware of Rambha and he also Rambha and Rambha accused Vasu of being a drunkard and mentions Uranyu, Menaka's previous lover, and says that trying to force himself on other apsaras. All this was planned Journal of critical reviews 991 MENAKA’S CHOICE AS A FEMINIST REVISIONIST MYTHOLOGICAL LITERATURE to happen when Menaka was not present in the court as if she false that would make him suspicious. She asked Indra to send would be present she would defend Vasu. Vasu tried to argue Kama with her so that if needed Kama would use the love pleading for his innocence but Indra turned him into a arrow on Vishwamitra to make him fall in love with her. Indra “headless torso monster Kambandh” and banished him to agreed. Menaka complied with Indra’s wish as she had her earth (Kane, 2016, p. 72). Menaka was unable to control the own motive. She wanted to go away from this heaven and this storm that raged inside her. She was broken but she was not task would provide a good opportunity for her to stay away some helpless maiden to sit and cry. She decided to take from the Indralok and Indra. She went to the waterfall where revenge for her Vasu. After some weeks Menaka went to Vishwamitra had his daily swim and Vishwamitra saw her fully Indra's court and questioned him and accused both of them of drenched in water but she looked so beautiful and exquisite doing injustice to Vasu. Then she asked them why Vasu was that he felt as if he was engulfed in her beauty. He approached accused when she was not present in the court. Her argument her and she narrated her tragic tale which Vishwamitra angered Sachi, Indra's wife. She said that: “Because you would believed after verifying the facts and just then as per they had have argued for him like a faithful wife without seeing the fault planned Vayu robbed Menaka of her clothes. Looking at the lay in your husband. Wives are often blind to their husband's beautiful maiden standing naked in front of him Vishwamitra fault” (Kane, 2016, p. 76). Menaka smiled at her answer and couldn’t control himself and pulled her towards him and made her realise that she herself accepted her folly of being kissed her and later they mated.
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