It would be a rare Indian who would say that they have not heard of Ramayana, an epic from Indian mythology, a narrative of the life of Lord Rama, an epitome of the perfect man. There are several other characters in the story, but those that remain with you would mostly be Sita, Lakshmana, Hanuman, and Ravana.
But this was not enough for Shatrujeet. He has always been intrigued by the in-between stories from mythology – stories about which people do not know much. Thus was born the idea of a story about Bharata, Rama’s younger brother. Ramayana would not even have existed if Bharata was not there – after all, the entire drama played out because of the ambition of Kaikeyee to see her son on the throne of Ayodhya. He was just a 23-year-old kid, who one morning found himself becoming an unwilling king of a kingdom in vacuum with two strong persons gone – Dasharatha and Rama. A kingdom is not just the king, the queen, the princes, and the palace. There has to be a strong ecosystem – common people, soldier, stable hand, investigator, and many more. What did they think about it?
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Thus was born the book Warlord of Ayodhya – a book covering the life of Bharat in the intervening 14 years of Rama’s exile, and the happenings in the kingdom of Ayodhya, as seen by people of the kingdom. It is a canvas created out of the people of the city apart from the palace, the king, and the queen. Since a single book could not cover a span of 14 years, it had to be a trilogy. The first book is Rebellion, which covers the first 3 years of Rama’s exile.
Shatrujeet interacted virtually with members of My Secret Bookshelf this Sunday evening, 24th April. And what an exciting evening it was! He loves to write mythological fiction, which he feels is relevant even to the younger generation – after all mythology is the earliest form of storytelling – the author only has to ensure that stories have to be told in a manner that they become relevant to the reader. If he was to imagine himself as a mythological character, he would probably be Narada, a storyteller from our mythology.
But who would he really like to be? It will be Ghatotkacha, a remarkable and fascinating character from Mahabharat. Deaths of both Abhimanyu and Ghatotkacha were engineered by that master strategist – Krishna. Yet, it is Abhimanyu’s death that we know more about. Ghatotkacha went into the battle knowing full well that he was going to die due to the Vajra. It was a sacrifice – not celebrated as much that of Abhimanyu.
Shatrujeet is currently working on Book 2 of the Warlord trilogy, which is expected to come out around mid 2023. But maybe one day – he will write a story about Shakuni, and his vengeance on the Kurus, for the marriage of his sister Gandhari to a blind man. And then probably a crime series with a cop as the central character, set against the backdrop of God’s own country – Kerala.
It was indeed a scintillating evening with Shatrujeet.
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Blogger’s Bio
Sanjay Chandra was born in 1959. He completed his professional degree in electrical engineering and joined the railway services. He first quit his railway job to join a government company, and then quit working for the government altogether to join the private sector. Eventually, he quit the private sector also and became an entrepreneur.
He started writing his memoirs on social media when he realised that people from middle-class India still faced the dilemmas that he faced during his journey of life. Parents still considered engineering or medical to be safe career choices for their children despite numerous other better-paying career options being available.
He wrote this debut work, ‘The Life and Times of a Common Man’, with the belief that this may inspire others from the middle-class background to do something different. His latest novel is The Gymnast.
Sanjay Chandra lives with his wife and his two daughters in Gurugram. He enjoys spending time with his friends and relatives. Now, in the early years of his seventh decade, he is enjoying yet another passion – writing.
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