The Liberation of Sita by Volga

‘The Liberation of Sita’ by Volga (Popuri Lalitha Kumari).

Volga is a noted feminist writer in Telugu. Originally written in Telugu this book is translated to English by T.Vijay Kumar and C.Vijayasree.

This book is revisioning of Ramayana, the story revolves around Ramayan but its told from a different perspective. The story is about Sita who after being abandon by Ram embarks on a journey of self realisation. The story is about What-if Sita had met and had a deep conversation with Shurpanaka, Ahalya, Renuka and Urmila, who all, like her have suffered a lot in their lives with or with out their mistake.

There are five parts in the book namely 

1. The Reunion
2. Music of the Earth
3. The Sand Pot
4. The Liberated
5. The Shackled     

• The Reunion

In the first part Sita meets Shurpanaka . As far as we know Shurpanaka is Ravana’s sister and the main reason for Sita’s abduction but here the author has painted a different shurpanaka. 

Rather than a demon she has been portrayed as a worshipper of beauty and is a friendly and loving person who having conquered her rage and revenge has realised that beauty is more than just physical attribution.  

• Music of the Earth 

In the Second part Sita meets Ahalya and this part is a retelling of Ahalya’s Story. 

Ahalya is a victim of patriarchal norms of female chastity. 

Lord Indira is mesmerised by her beauty and comes in the form of her husband Sage Gautam and enjoys her for which she is abandoned by her husband. 

In this retelling when Ahalya meets Sita she enlighten her about the complexities of female chastity which Sita understands later once she is asked to face the trial by fire to prove her chastity. 

• The Sand Pot   

In the third part Sita meets Renuka.

Renuka is the wife of Sage Jamadagni and mother of Parashurama who beheads his own mother obeying his father’s orders  after she commits adultery. 

She tells Sita in her meeting that how fidelity of married woman is as fragile as a sand pot. How women are forced to obey norms and be a good wife and a mother. 

Sita realises what Renuka meant when towards the end after abandoned by Rama he gives her another opportunity to return to him provided she declares her innocence once again. After lot of thinking She disagrees to do it and joins her mother (mother earth).

• The Liberated

In the forth part Sita meets Urmila.

The liberated is a story of Urmila, Lakshmana’s wife. Its quite an interesting account of encounter between Sita and Urmila. 

The story starts when Sita returns to the Royal household after 14 years of vanavas (life in forest). When Sita enters the house she is excited to meet Urmila but Urmila is nowhere around. Sita expected her to be there looking forward to meet her husband Lakshmana and Sita herself  but she doesn’t find her anywhere. 

Sita get worried and asks everyone about her and gets to know that after Rama, Sita and Lakshmana left to the forest she locked herself in a room and never came back.

Hearing this Sita gets worried and rushes to meet Urmila, she expects Urmila to loath her after seeing and thinks may be she would refuse to meet her, but in turn Urmila herself receives Sita and is happy to see her. 

  Worried Sita asks Urmila isn’t she angry with her, Urmila quite honestly says that initially she was angry with everyone because all were grieving for Rama and Sita but no one ever thought about her who was also left behind by her husband who never bothered to tell her about his departure.

But later after all the crying and grieving one day she began to study herself and her feelings, her emotions and her relationships. She saw how love, hate, jealousy and respect are but shades of same condition that is dependence on others. 

Urmila’s search of happiness within herself gave her a new life and lot of inner peace. 

Sita did listen to the whole story but couldn’t comprehend all of it in one go but many years later one day when she gets to know Rama is performing Aswamedha Yaga, she feels disturbed by the thought of how could Rama perform the yaga with out a wife or had he now taken another wife. 

At that moment Urmila visits Sita’s Ashrama and when Sita asks Urmila whether Rama has another wife now Urmila tell her to remember all the things she had explained when Sita had returned to the Royal house and tells to liberate herself from Rama.\. 

Urmila tells Sita to liberate herself from the world of emotional dependence, she advices her to detach herself from thoughts of Rama so that she can find herself back. 

The main characters in this part is Sita and Urmila and there is two premises in the story the first one takes place in the royal house where Sita goes to meet Urmila and the second one takes place in Ashrama where Urmila comes to meet Sita to make her realise that liberation from everything should be the main goal of life and thats how she can find happiness and inner peace.

• The Shackled 

This is the last story in the collection which reads like a internal monologue of Rama. 

How he was captivated in the prison of protecting Arya Dharma from childhood which left no space for his personal freedom. The only time he could be himself was those fourteen years spent in forest with his wife Sita. He cherishes those moments and when talking to Lakshmana he tells him that he is grateful to mother Kaikeyi who was the reason behind his exile where spent the best years of his life. 

He is a great king no doubt but the power of being noble king has made him powerless personally who griefs over losing his Sita. Eventually when Sita hands over her children to Rama as heirs to his thrones, she liberates herself. But Rama remains Shackled (chained). 

Through these five stories, author Volga makes the reader to revisit the epic and revision it from a feminist point of view giving women to view their life and experience it from a gynocentric perspective.

Through this perspective she clearly wants to convey that women are no longer the means to serve someone’s ends nor are they the prized possession of men. They have their own voice that should now be heard.