Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni biography

Interview

Chitra Divakaruni explains how her family, her childhood and the stories she was told have all influenced her writing.

When I was a child in India, my grandfather would tell me stories from the Ramayan and Mahabharat, the ancient Indian epics. I loved to hear about the wondrous exploits of divine warrior heroes such as Ram and Krishna, and the magical weapons--the enormous bow, the fiery discus--with which they destroyed evil kings and demons. There were human heroes too--the prince Arjun, the greatest archer in the world and Krishna's best friend; Guha, the tribal chieftain who loved Ram with all his heart. Their friendships--unselfish, devoted, noble--were meant to inspire us to similar emotions.

Even more than the men, I loved the great women of the epics. There was Ram's wife Sita, who gave up the pleasures of the palace to follow her exiled husband to the forest. There was Draupadi, who exacted a terrible vengeance for the humiliation she had to suffer at the hands of her husband's enemies. There was Queen Kunti, who could call down gods to father her children. There was Shabari, whose entire life was illuminated by her faith in Ram. Interestingly, unlike the male heroes, the main relationships these women had were with the opposite sex--with their husbands, sons, lovers, or opponents. They never had...