“Why is it that as a culture, we are more comfortable seeing two men holding guns than holding hands?” —Earnest J. Gaines
First of all, let me start by wishing a very Happy Pride to all you peeps out there!
Now let's take a stroll down history, shall we? So in Ancient India, there were over fifty words for non-heterosexual gender and sexualities in Sanskrit, Prakrit and Tamil: Napunsaka, Kliba, Kinnara, Pedi, Pandaka, et al. These references are found in the Vedas, Itihasa, Purana, Dharmashastra, Kamashastra, Natyashastra, Ayurveda of the Hindus, as well as in Jain Agamas and Buddhist Pitakas. Today most are still used in local languages but unfortunately in a pejorative way.
This indicates how we have forgotten our ancient Indian heritage of recognizing, and accommodating the third gender and queer sexualities, and have submitted to Victorian morality. How can sex between consenting adults in private be a criminal offence? This thought process reveals a perverted mindset from the Victorian era denying the Indian principle of ‘kama’ or pleasure as a key aspect of human existence. Controversy exists only in the minds of people who wish to control what others are and have to do, as they are not at peace with who they are and what they do. Life is about working in ecosystems that can be simultaneously nourishing and hostile. Doubters, ask any tree in the forest for yourselves.
Commemorating Pride Month 2021, Cushy The Book Club of SVC has made an humble effort to represent some immemorial LGBTQ+ personalities (still leaving their mark) throughout the current mythological literary fiction circuit for our reader's benefit.
Read on and let us know what you all think...
The Pregnant King by Devdutt Pattanaik
About the book:
The Hindu epic, Mahabharata, written over 2000 years ago, narrates the tale of one Yuvanashva, a childless king, who accidentally drinks the magic potion meant to make his queens pregnant. The child thus conceived in and delivered from his body grows up to be Mandhata, a ruler of great repute.
What does the son call Yuvanashva? Father or mother? Can mothers be kings? Can kings be mothers? In the ancient epic, and the sacred chronicles known as the Puranas, which hurry through this slip of a tale, nobody raises these uncomfortable questions. They do so in this book.
And so a new narrative emerges: a fiction fashioned out of mythological and imaginary tales where lines are blurred between men and women, sons and daughters, husbands and wives, fathers and mothers.
There is Pruthalashva, who must be father because he is a man, and Shilavati, who cannot be king because she is a woman. There is Sthunakarna, a Yaksha, who forsakes his manhood to make Shikhandi a husband and then reclaims it to make Somavat a wife. There is Arjuna, a great warrior with many wives, who is forced to masquerade as a woman after being castrated by a nymph. There is Ileshwar Mahadev, god on full moon days and goddess of new moon nights and Adi-Natha, the teacher of teachers, worshipped as a hermit by Yaja and an enchantress by Upayaja. And finally there is Yuvanashva, the hero, king of Vallabhi, who after marrying three times to three very different women, creates a life within him, as mothers do, and then a life outside him, as fathers do, and wonders if he is either, neither or both.
If biology is destiny, if gender is a cornerstone of dharma, then how does Yuvanashva make room for such disruptions in order? For a good king, who wants to be great, must be fair to all: those here, those there and all those in between.
Reader's Verdict
"The story written in the style of Panchatantra tales is very intriguing and holds you well , the last two chapters drag a bit but nonetheless a good read. It is set in the contemporary backdrop of Mahabharata with some connects with the epic characters .
The start is great , a lot of peripheral stories before to set the backdrop of the central character , the king who sells his daughter , the queen who rules , the king who gets pregnant himself after eating a magic potion meant for his three wives , the concept of Braham rakshasas , the rules for men and women , the behaviour full of dharma and kama , the opposites and the parallels ,the Devas and Asuras , the story has all the ancient / mythological concepts that you can think of in Hindu mythology. I enjoyed and finished it in just 4 odd days .. ”
Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2015 by Avinesh
This is a beautiful tale exploring the nature of truth
This is a beautiful tale exploring the nature of truth, dharma (morality), gender equality all in a retelling of a classic story. The Indian idea of the pleasures of the world, Samsara is transient and true freedom is in knowledge. The book explores this idea very well.
Reviewed in India on July 31, 2018 by Pjc on Amazon
Mind boggling and intriguing read
The dilemma of a pregnant king who ultimately renounces the world and goes on to become Neelkantha Bhairava for the secret that crept in like a shot of poison within him and a society that refuses to accept the miracles of infinite possibilities that humankind is capable.
Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2020 by Jimholy Long on Amazon
A dramatic read
In Mandarin there are eight words for cousins- each describing a combination of gender, age in relation to oneself and whether they are of the same clan as you. Yet there is no word for my parents to call my husband should I marry one. The world is infinite, people create boundaries to make sense of the infinity, people grow insecure when the world challenges our boundaries. Devdutt Pattanaik does a great job in taking us on the journey of those who feel insecure in the blurring of the boundaries and the valid pain of those who defy the boundaries.
Shikhandi and Other Tales They Don’t Tell You by Devdutt Pattanaik
About the Book:
Patriarchy asserts men are superior to women, Feminism clarifies women and men are equal, Queerness questions what constitutes male and female.
Queerness isn't only modern, Western or sexual, says mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik. Take a close look at the vast written and oral traditions in Hinduism, some over two thousand years old and you will find tales of: Shikhandi, who became a man to satisfy her wife Mahadev, who became a woman to deliver a devotee's child Chudala, who became a man to enlighten her husband Samavan, who became the wife of his male friend and many more.
Playful and touching-and sometimes disturbing-these stories when compared with tales of the Mesopotamian Gilgamesh, the Greek Ganymede, the biblical Sodom or the Chinese 'cut sleeve' Emperor reveal the unique Indian way of making sense of queerness.
Reader's Verdict
"Shikhandi and other tales they don't tell you" is an compilation of traditional Hindu stories with a common thread: sexual transformation and gender metamorphosis. Hindu mythology has many examples of deities changing gender and manifesting a different gender at different times beautifully explained in this book.
In addition to the thought-provoking story of Shikhandi and others, you’ll also find: an examination of the universality of queer narratives with examples, comparison of the Hindu paradigm to the biblical paradigm; a look at how Hindu society and Hindu scripture responds to queer sexuality, a discussion of the Hijras (popularly believed to be the third gender in India) and lots more.
Reviewed in the United States on September 18, 2014 by Kaveri Myra
Felt cheated!
While reading this book I felt cheated many times. I have read Ramayana and Mahabharata in school (was there in curricula in CBSE) and now I realise it was a very digested version what we learned is what needs to be passed on to the next generation. I have come across people complaining about Indians (where they mostly mean Hindu) who have plenty of erotic text as part of their religious books and still the persistent neglect in talking about sex, gender and sexuality. I think part of the reason is that what's retold is usually the selected stories and then one needs to accommodate all the transmission loss which the author also mentioned. This book is a must read for people who advocate for 'Queer Rights'. I revisited the poem given in the beginning of the book that made more sense with every passing chapter. I might have it by heart by now. My eyes popped out while reading many of the chapters and I think most readers will relate to it who know parts of the stories told here but not the whole story. The title of the book is apt- these definitely are stories that elders choose not to tell or probably don't know themselves. These are not stories that are passed on. The question is- does it show some fault it our gods? I am definitely going to keep reading and referencing the chapters in my work and Dr. Pattanaik needs to add me in his growing list of fans. Lastly, I applaud the initiative of Zubaan. I had earlier read seeing like a feminist and loved it. PS: Kamasutra added to my list of books to be read.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 25 November 2019 by Indyresearcher
Great book
I love this book. I read it quickly and was disappointed there weren't more queer stories, my only critic is that rape in certain stories was glorified (as I suppose it is also in non queer stories unfortunately, but it is no glorious act) and I don't believe a book of such short stories with few queer stories(regardless of that being the focus) is the best thing to do; personally that is my opinion. I do not deny that it can happen in queer relationships or that it should not be talked about and that we should censor these stories when speaking of Hindu mythology when speaking of its' queer and "non queer" history, but when I got the book, I was anticipating only consensual acts (perhaps due to my lack of knowledge of this mythology to be fair) but I am happy that my introduction to Hindu mythology started off with a book on queer stories in the mythology, for more than one reason as otherwise I have doubts that I would have come across it, and I am tremendously happy this book exists.
Reviwed by Ishika Sinha on May 22, 2020
Dealing with the queerness of the characters from our Puranas, Shikhandi and other tales is a collection of stories that takes into account the numerous dramatis personae who have been overlooked or their story not paid heed to. A number of age-old traditions that are mentioned in our holy texts have been followed without a doubt for a long time. Numerous stories like that of Shikandi’s who became a man to satisfy her wife and Mahadev who became a woman to deliver his devotee’s baby, this book covers it all.
This book by Devdutt Pattanaik compiles about thirty-odd and queer tales from our Puranas, Vedas, and folklores. All of these tales will help you understand how sexuality was treated back then. The stories are extremely intriguing and fascinating and you will find yourself amused by how the deities perceived sex or intercourse in their time. Like the other Devdutt Pattanaik books including The Pregnant King, this book will make you question the norms that divide men and women in our society.
Reviewed in India on 20 August 2020 by Chaitanya Sethi
A good collection of myths and legends from Indian culture
Shikhandi... is a collection of 30 stories from Indian mythology that have queer characters/themes/undertones. Ranging from Ramayana and Mahabharata to folklore from across Indian sects, it offers an interesting point of view. Although the stories are very short (1-2 pages each), what's great is the list of questions Devdutt appends at the end of each story - questions that ponder the idea being conveyed, how it would be depicted in today's terminology, and why over time did we as Indians come to 'other' queerness when there is such a clear precedence in our mythology. It's a short read of about 180 pages and can easily be caught up on in a few sittings.
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
About the Book:
Greece in the age of Heroes. Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the kingdom of Phthia. Here he is nobody, just another unwanted boy living in the shadow of King Peleus and his golden son, Achilles.
Achilles, “best of all the Greeks,” is everything Patroclus is not—strong, beautiful, the child of a goddess—and by all rights their paths should never cross. Yet one day, Achilles takes the shamed prince under his wing and soon their tentative connection gives way to a steadfast friendship. As they grow into young men skilled in the arts of war and medicine, their bond blossoms into something far deeper—despite the displeasure of Achilles’ mother Thetis, a cruel sea goddess with a hatred of mortals.
Fate is never far from the heels of Achilles. When word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, the men of Greece are called upon to lay siege to Troy in her name. Seduced by the promise of a glorious destiny, Achilles joins their cause. Torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus follows Achilles into war, little knowing that the years that follow will test everything they have learned, everything they hold dear. And that, before he is ready, he will be forced to surrender his friend to the hands of Fate.
Profoundly moving and breathtakingly original, this rendering of the epic Trojan War is a dazzling feat of the imagination, a devastating love story, and an almighty battle between gods and kings, peace and glory, immortal fame and the human heart.
Reader's Verdict
Mary Pols, Time Magazine
“ . . . A wildly romantic retelling of the Trojan Was as a story of longtime companions narrated by Patroclus. Miller plays with the historical record as established by Homer…. and puts a sexy new narrative spin on the ancients that is surprisingly suspenseful. Some of the suspense comes from curiosities, like who will tell the story after Patroclus dies, but most of it comes from the urgency of Miller’s storytelling. . . .bringing those dark figures back to life, making them men again, and while she’s at it, using her passionate companion piece to The Iliad as a subtle swipe at today’s ongoing debate over gay marriage. Talk about updating the classics.”
Emma Donoghue, author of number one bestseller Room
“Mary Renault lives again! A ravishingly vivid and convincing version of one of the most legendary of love stories”
Lesley McDowell, Sunday Herald
“Miller’s prose flows easily and poetically, and she treats the relationship between the two men with sensitivity and skill… A fascinating debut.”
Mary Doria Russell, Washington Post
“The Song of Achilles” becomes a quiet love story, one so moving that I was reluctant to move on to the war and Homer’s tale of perverted honor and stubborn pride. But Miller segues into that more public story with grace. Her battle scenes are tense and exciting, as the young, half-divine Achilles comes into his own. Informed by scholarship, her imagination blends seamlessly with incidents from “The Iliad.”
Liza Nelson, O Magazine
“You don’t need to be familiar with Homer’s The Iliad (or Brad Pitt’s Troy, for that matter) to find Madeline Miller’s The Song of Achilles spellbinding. While classics scholar Miller meticulously follows Greek mythology, her explorations of ego, grief, and love’s many permutations are both familiar and new…. Miller treats the men’s mutual sexual passion with refreshing straightforwardness and convincingly casts their love in such mythic proportions that we’re convinced when Patroclus declares, “He is half of my soul, as the poets say.”
Dallas Morning News
“Madeline Miller’s brilliant first novel, The Song of Achilles, is the story… of great, passionate love between Achilles and Patroclus, as tragic as that of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. . .. . Even for a scholar of Greek literature, which Miller is, rewriting the Western world’s first and greatest war novel is an awesome task to undertake. That she did it with such grace, style and suspense is astonishing.”
Amazing❣