"Bhima - Lone Warrior" Book Review

I recently finished reading this paperback 'Bhima - Lone Warrior', by M.T. Vasudevan Nair. The  book, which is an English translation of the author's original Malayalam masterpiece Rendamoolzham was originally published in the 1980's, so has been around for 30+ years as a matter of fact.  However, it was my first time reading it, one of the reasons being that I came to know that a blockbuster Kollywood flicker is in the works, based on this novel!

Anyways, the book was a superb read that I thought I should write a commentary about. The book itself is a rather simplistic retelling of the Mahabharata, as narrated solely from Bhima's standpoint. There is no epic-like flavor to the plot, or deification of characters, or mystification of events. A dry real-life drama style portrayal is all it really is. In such an earthly style of deliverance, however, the author portrays Bhima's unique perspective on personalities, even more so than events, in the Mahabharatha in a manner so subtle, yet so revealing, about those characters. Bhima's perception/evaluation of just about every character - Yudhishtra, Duryodhana, Karna, Arjuna, Draupadi, Kunti, Bhishma, Dhridhrashtra, Vidura as well as Krishna himself - is so unique and independent, and at times stunningly counter-intuitive to popular images a conventional reader of Mahabharatha may hold. The reader's image of Bhima himself is bound to change as a consequence of reading this book.

There are certain perspectives and insights offered in the book about the birth/origins of the Pandavas and their relationship with Vidhura, that is carried on almost with an element of suspense till the very end of the book, and one that I would rather not comment about here. While I am not exactly sure if that is all an author's interpretation or in fact a plausible truth, these are nevertheless sensational perspectives worth pondering, if one regards this book as a literary work of fiction rather than as a religious retelling of a popular ithihasa.

In summary, after reading this book, I actually wonder if there are or should be as many versions of the Mahabharata as there are characters in it. One does wonder if the original author, Veda Vyasa himself, not do adequate justice to these interpersonal perspectives between characters in the Mahabharatha that this author did. A must-read indeed. Will wait to see the silver-screen version if and when that comes out!