The Palace of Illusion

“She who sows vengeance must reap its bloody fruit.”

This quote well describes the book “Palace of Illusion”. It keeps you mesmerised and hooked till the end. It takes us back to the time, where it all started. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni gives voice to Panchaali (also known as Draupadi).

Palace of Illusion is a story of Mahabharata from Panchaali’s perspective. Panchaali married to 5 royal husbands (Pandavas) who have been cheated out of their father’s kingdom, Panchaali aids their quest to reclaim their birthright, remaining at their side through years of exile and a terrible civil war. But she cannot deny her complicated friendship with the enigmatic Krishna—or her secret attraction to the mysterious man who is her husbands’ most dangerous enemy—as she is caught up in the ever-manipulating hands of fate.

The story revolves around that how one promise made to oneself , could paralyse everyone’s life. How later on, she realised that she was weeping or crying over the seed that she sowed herself for which she had to face the consequences as well.

And so I would say this is the miracle of stories, they make us realize that we are not alone in our folly or in our suffering.

Worth a read!

I Fear

It’s difficult to define fear in words,

But it’s easy to name, what I fear about.

There are times I feel, fear is something dark,

but then I park my fears, in my heart.

I fear about many things,

I fear about the loneliness that creeps in,

which makes me feel empty.

I fear about losing the one whom I love,

I fear of suffering the pain of letting go.

I fear about those monsters in my head,

which makes me feel dead.

I fear about standing on the stage,

with trembling legs.

But I remember,

my father said, don’t fear

sometimes,

the scary things are beautiful as well!

So these are my fears,

they describe me,

made me realise that to be alive,

I need to find beauty in my fears,

I need to be less afraid.

So I did it.

I tried my best,

to overcome my fears one by one,

and started living my life,

FEELING ALIVE!

– Kanisha Chhaya