Echoes from Vrindavan: Stories of 2017 - April Edition by Sharath KomarrajuMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
This collection of stories may well have been a novel, with each story linked to the successive one. These stories are about the encounter of Krishna with Yama, Lord of death, at the moment of the former's death. They question the very godhood that we bestow upon Krishna. Does he deserve such unwavering devotion? These stories shake the very foundation of our faith.
The first of them, named "Echoes from Vrindavan", after which this collection is named. It speaks about Radha and Yashoda, after Krishna deserted them. I have always wondered what happened to them after Krishna set out for Mathura. And here they are. Radha, "browned by the Yamuna’s mud,
wrinkled by age, battered by years of milking cows and carrying pots, shrunken by the crushing weight of hope, greyed by the silence of dusk, flattened by endless longing, eaten by the monster that she had once thought was love." We come to know of Yashoda, who died with hope of Krishna's returning in heart.
The second one "Sons of War" moved me the most. This story brought tears to my eyes. I never heard about Iravan, with my limited knowledge of the epic. After reading this story only, I googled his name and read the original story about him. His story, along with those of Abhimanyu and Ghotatkacha will surely make you cry and question your long-standing faith.
The third one, "Vasudeva" provides a new perspective regarding the meaning of the term Vasudeva. The fourth one, "King's Gambit" makes Suyodhana out of Duryodhana. The last one, "Fault Lines" talks about Balarama, the forgotten hero of history.
I have been reading the short stories of Sharath Komarraju from the beginning of this year. But this collection, of all, moved me the most. I'd recommend all lovers of the mythology genre to go through this one.
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