Oracle, Microsoft, startups in Silicon Valley. Does this in any way sound like the profile of an author who has written a book based on the Ramayan? Well, it is. Sundar Nathan, who has written a series on Ramayan, is a techie by profession and writer by heart.
Despite engineering and management education and stints in top companies of Silicon Valley, Sundar never forgot the stories his mother and grandmother narrated when he was a kid. He always wanted to pass them on to the next generation. His current nine-book series, The Naraka Cycle, is an endeavour to achieve that.
“The series, primarily, is a take on the Ramayan but not in a traditional way. It is written from Ravan’s perspective, keeping him as the central character, and from the perspective of Urmila, Sita, Mandodari and Shoorpankha,” shares Sundar. “Kind of a prequel to the Ramayan, you can say… with some historical context… as it includes
Ravan’s life from birth to death, most of which is not there in the Ramayan or even in most of the Purans.”
So, if it’s not there, how did you create it? “Writer’s liberty you may call it,” Sundar smiles. He explains that, unlike the common use of the word Naraka, which means hell to most, he has used Naraka in the context of the 14 loks that our mythology talks about — seven above and seven below. “I have constructed them as continents. Naraka is one of the continents where Ravan is born. The story unravels itself through the series in different continents, via cultures and traditions there.”
Does that mean you reconstructed the Ramayan or mythology? “I love fusing scriptures and history,” Sundar replies. “I have done precisely that while writing my series. Taken a bit from here, a bit from there, while keeping the basic story of the Ramayan intact.”
Map of Naraka |
For Sundar, this series is a labour of love, which took almost 10 years to complete — including the years he spent learning Sanskrit to understand the Purans better. He studied even the less popular Purans. “The point was not to just read the Purans, but also generate better content with the help of them,” says Sundar. “I enjoy learning. It’s my passion. And I am a curious person. I learnt Sanskrit during my research for this series. To get the magic spells that Ravan uses right, to correctly describe the meditation that Vasuki and Ravan do as a part of their journey. It also helped me include other minute details in the book. For example, I have shown Vidyadharas as worshipers of Shakti who follow tantric practices. To understand that, I had to read the Markendey Puran. I used the cremation rituals from Garuda Puran in the third book, which talks about five civilisations fighting each other and how Ravan brings them together.”
The nine-book series was initially supposed to be just a trilogy. “But the feedback on my first book — Prince of Naraka — was an eye-opener. It was 650 pages. And, I realised that it was too heavy. Therefore, I split it into three and even divided the other books into parts. The result was nine books, of which five are already written.”
The Ramayan has been written by a few writers and from varied perspectives. Why choose a subject that was already written? “I am enchanted by Amish and Ashok Banker who have written Ramayan-based novels earlier. The pull was to share the joy I had as a child and give Gen Z the same bliss. They should be able to enjoy… therefore the language is simple and the narrative different… something they will resonate with. I wanted to write fiction that would inspire people and give a message.”
Though Sundar’s books are about mythology, his blogs are about history that range from the Satavahan era to Shivaji Maharaj. “I love history. It intrigues me. There’s so much to be learnt from history.”
Is the Mahabharat the next in line? “Not so soon. Maybe later. I have to first finish this series. And I am working on a revisionist history of Rajasthan as well,” he signs off.
