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A review by akilguru17
Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Hinduism, insofar as it exists, is a religion that contains multitudes: multiple deities given various priorities and states of existence depending on who you're talking to, and also multiple ways of being - it's not strict, it's not prescriptive. Atheist Hinduism isn't a contradiction, for example. There's not really such thing as Hindu blasphemy; any pushback this book receives from the Modi bhakts of the world will be the continued influence of British Christian colonialism. And so this book, a reading of the Ramayana that casts numerous characters in vastly different lights than the lore, makes perfect sense as a thing that exists.
What strikes me about it are the absolute stones with which Patel operates, taking no prisoners as she critiques and challenges some of Hindu mythology's most beloved characters and in doing so, performing feminist critique of the religion's organized form itself. Casting the titular Kaikeyi, defined in the mythology as a seductress, as asexual is just the start of it: This is certainly not your grandparents' Ramayana.
I also really liked how this book, whole critiquing old forms of Indian governance and patriarchy, makes space for indigenous Indian feminist organizing and collectivizing that leads to legitimate progress. It's also compulsively readable, to borrow a phrase from the back, and the central magical component is interesting and carries its plot-relevance to the end, though I wish a little more had come of it.
On the downside, the title character's self-image consistently has a tinge of "not-like-other-girls" to it - she's at her best when thinking of others and when doing praxis, but her self-narration can be tedious. I also thought the institutional patriarchy was ill-defined, which is to say it felt very Christian at times rather than organic to the setting.
What strikes me about it are the absolute stones with which Patel operates, taking no prisoners as she critiques and challenges some of Hindu mythology's most beloved characters and in doing so, performing feminist critique of the religion's organized form itself. Casting the titular Kaikeyi, defined in the mythology as a seductress, as asexual is just the start of it: This is certainly not your grandparents' Ramayana.
I also really liked how this book, whole critiquing old forms of Indian governance and patriarchy, makes space for indigenous Indian feminist organizing and collectivizing that leads to legitimate progress. It's also compulsively readable, to borrow a phrase from the back, and the central magical component is interesting and carries its plot-relevance to the end, though I wish a little more had come of it.
On the downside, the title character's self-image consistently has a tinge of "not-like-other-girls" to it - she's at her best when thinking of others and when doing praxis, but her self-narration can be tedious. I also thought the institutional patriarchy was ill-defined, which is to say it felt very Christian at times rather than organic to the setting.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gaslighting