Footnotes from the Mahabharata highlights ‘sidelined voices’ of women in the epic

In a conversation that “turned the Mahabharata on its head by listening to the sidelined voices of women, witnesses, and footnotes”, poet K. Srilata spoke to theatre director Nikhila Kesavan about her book, Footnotes to the Mahabharata. Indrani Krishnaier, Geetha Lakshman, Smrithi Parameswar, and Mrithula Chetlur from the Madras Players presented a dramatised reading of the book. The session focused on “the ones that Ganesha never wrote, the ones in ink invisible”.

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On the book, Srilata said it is not a collection of standalone poems. “This book comprises five poetic sequences based on the five most iconic women of the Mahabharata: Alli, Hidimbi, Gandhari, Draupaudi, and Kunti. They are all dramatic monologues and there is a silent listener — a sakhi or thozhi (friend).” The poetry draws from the various retellings of the Mahabharata, she said.

From a different lens

When asked why she wrote about the women of the Mahabharata and not the men, Srilata said she grew up as the daughter of a single mother who got divorced in the 1970s. “We were outliers in society,” she said. “I would pick up cues that we were the odd ones out. It taught me to look at life from a very different lens, from my mother’s and grandmother’s lens. I came into feminism from experience.”

Srilata has experimented with different forms of writing but continues to be most drawn to poetry. “Poetry allows for other things that would otherwise slip through the cracks,” she said. “It also allows you to cut off the edges of the bread you may not want to eat, and focus on essence.” The poet said she had been experimenting with Japanese forms such as the haiku and wanted to weave that into her work.

The collection opens with Alli. She is a character, who is “exclusive to the Tamil, Dravidian tradition, not found in the mainstream Mahabharata,” Srilata writes in the book.

Her work looks at Hidimbi, the demon-wife of Bhima, not just as a demon, but as a well rounded character.

Among the women, Draupadi is the most “hyper visible”, Kesavan observed. So, why include her? “She fits a certain patriarchal narrative of what kind of women are seen as difficult,” Srilata explained. “But what was she like as a young woman? What was her relationship with Krishna really like? These were some of the troublesome questions I was confronted with.”

About Gandhari, she said she’s mostly known as a loyal wife. “But what was interesting for me was that the act of blindfolding was a radical act of protest,” she said.

On Kunti, Kesavan said Srilata had shared a side of her not seen at all. “The Kunti who comes alive in my poems is a Kunti who is willing to challenge patriarchy and who feels the full spectrum of desire,” Srilata said.

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