Kavita Kane

Karna's Wife: The Outcast's Queen tells the extraordinary story of Karna, the unsung hero of the Mahabharata, through the eyes of his wife Uruvi, bringing his story to the reader from a unique perspective. An accomplished Kshatriya princess who falls in love with and dares to choose the 'sutaputra' over Arjun, Uruvi must come to terms with the social implications of her marriage and learn to use her love and intelligence to be accepted by Karna and his family. Though she becomes his mainstay, counselling and guiding him, his blind allegiance to Duryodhana is beyond her power to change. The story of Uruvi and Karna unfolds against the backdrop of the struggle between the Pandavas and the Kauravas. As events build up leading to the great war of the Mahabharata, Uruvi is a witness to the twists and turns of Karna's fate; and how it is inextricably linked to divine design. A splendid saga from the pages of the Mahabharata, Karna's Wife: The Outcast's Queen brings its characters alive in all their majesty.

The Outcast's Queen

Karna's Wife

We make love and leave. That is our motto. Live by it, Menaka or you shall suffer untold, unnecessary grief. Born during the churning of the ocean, Menaka is the most beautiful of all the apsaras in the world, with quick intelligence and innate talent. However, she craves for the one thing she can never have - family. Elsewhere, after severe austerities, a man, now blessed with the name Vishwamitra, challenges the gods and dares to create another heaven. Fearing his growing powers, Indra, the king of gods, decides to put a stop to his ambitions by making Menaka seduce him. What will happen when Menaka and Vishwamitra meet each other? Will Menaka finally find what she really wished for? Or will she again be forced to surrender to her destiny? Find out in this fascinating portrait of one of the most enduring mythological figures.

Menaka's Choice

Sarasvati's Gift

From the bestselling author of Karna's Wife, comes this book about Urmila, Sita's sister and the neglected wife of Lakshman, and one of the most overlooked characters in the Ramayana. As Sita prepares to go into exile, her younger sisters stay back at the doomed palace of Ayodhya, their smiles, hope and joy wiped away in a single stroke. And through the tears and the tragedy one woman of immense strength and conviction stands apart-Urmila, whose husband, Lakshman, has chosen to accompany his brother Ram to the forest rather than stay with his bride. She could have insisted on joining Lakshman, as did Sita with Ram. But she did not. Why did she agree to be left behind in the palace, waiting for her husband for fourteen painfully long years?

Sita's Sister

Before Draupadi, there was Hidimbi. The first, the eldest Pandava daughter-in-law—a status denied to her through her life, through the years, down the centuries. She remains the forgotten wife, the forgotten queen, the forgotten woman, in the Mahabharata. Hidimbi was a demoness by birth and a queen by right. In the shadows of the great Indian epic, she stands alone. She saved Bhima. She bore his son. She stood by the family that killed her brother. And when the call of war came, she sacrificed her only child—Ghatotkacha, the first Pandava grandson—for a cause that never truly embraced her. Why was her story never told? Was it because she was a rakshasi, or because the heroes of the epic could do no wrong? This powerful reimagining gives voice to Hidimbi and her story of love and betrayal, strength and sacrifice.

Bhima's Wife

What I searched all these years for myself-and I only found Ahalya, the woman I was supposed to be born as: unblemished, without any faults. I had no hala in me, no sin, no crime, no guilt. What I had done was to respond to the call of life within me...'-Ahalya. Created by Brahma; married to one of the greatest rishis of all time; desired by the king of gods, Indra. A woman maligned and cursed. But who was Ahalya? What did she want? Did she have ambitions and desires? In this sparkling retelling of the well-known legend, bestselling author Kavita Kané draws out the voice of a character that lacked one-even before she was turned to stone.

Ahalya's Awakening

Sarasvati, the feminine force worshipped as the goddess of learning, is a household name, yet we barely know much about the goddess. She is known as a lost river and seen as a singular goddess, never as part of a couple, such as Shiva-Parvati or Lakshmi-Narayan. In Sarasvati's Gift, Kavita Kane brings to light Sarasvati's story-the goddess of art, music and knowledge-told in the voices of nameless celestials, powerful gods and lesser mortals. The book explores her relationship with her Creator, Brahma, and their unusual marriage-a union of fiercely independent minds and the most non-conforming, unconventional of the Triumvirate couples. As these peripheral figures and silent catalysts take centre stage, we get a glimpse of an extraordinary woman and her remarkable story, obscured and buried under myths and legends.

Saraswati’s Gift

हां, में राक्षसी हूं!' मीनाक्षी ने चीखकर कहा। उसकी आंखें चमक रही थीं। उसने अपनी माँ को नाखून दिखाते हुए कहा, 'इन्हें देखा है? यदि किसी ने मुझे चोट पहुंचाई तो मैं उसे अपने नाखून से घायल कर दूंगी। मैं शूर्पणखा हूं!' रावण की प्रसिद्द बहन शूर्पणखा को सामान्य तौर पर कुरूप, जंगली, निर्दयी और निज माना जाता है। लक्ष्मण ने क्रोधवश शूर्पणखा की नाक काट दी थी। शूर्पणखा ने युद्ध का आरंभ किया, परंतु क्या सचमुच वह युद्ध आरंभ करने की दोषी थी? अथवा वह केवल परिस्तिथियों की शिकार थी? वह 'लंका की राजकुमारी' थी, या लंका के विनाश का कारण? शूर्पणखा का अर्थ है, एक ऐसी स्त्री जो नाखून की भांति कठोर हो। उसके जन्म का नाम मीनाक्षी था, अर्थात मछली जैसी सुंदर आंखों वाली। शूर्पणखा, रामायण की ऐसी पात्र है जिसे सदा गतल समझा गया है। वह उन भाइयों की छत्र-छाया में बड़ी हुई, जिनकी नियति में युद्ध लड़ना, जीतना तथा ख्याति व प्रतिष्ठा अर्जित करना लिखा था। परन्तु इस सबके विपरीत शूर्पणखा के जीवन का मार्ग पीड़ा और प्रतिशोध से भरा था। शूर्पणखा को राम और रावण के बीच घटनाओं को चालाकी से नियोजित करने का दोषी माना जाता है, जिसके फलस्वरूप राम व रावण में युद्ध हुआ और शूर्पणखा के संपूर्ण परिवार का विनाश हो गया। कविता काणे की यह पुस्तक हमें कुछ परिचित घटनाओं को उस शूर्पणखा की आंखों से देखने का अवसर देती है, जिससे संसार आवश्यकता से अधिक घृणा करता है..

Kavita Kane

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