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| Mallika Prasad as Maya in Ultimate Kurukshetra |
The women in the Mahabharata are figures of towering grandeur and pathos, full of dignity despite hardship and insult, ever so noble in their stoicism, human in their suffering and their rage against injustice. Yet, the feminine perspectives offered are predominantly of the nobility, who despite their high social status, are politically constrained in their ability to take independent decisions. It is no surprise that the patriarch Bhishma, evades Draupadi’s question to the court, when she has been lost by King Yudhishtara in the game of dice. Was she lost before or after Yudhishtra lost himself? Can someone who has lost their own agency, stake another? The status quo answer Bhishma provides is unsatisfactory, a canard that hinges on a subtlety of dharma. In Ultimate Kurukshetra Maya is stunning in her self-reliance and not being from courtly life, is capable of a series of bold decisions and life choices. Her zig-zag journey to Kurukshetra takes her to the decadence of Shalya’s camp (paternal uncle to the Pandavas but fighting on the Kaurava side as a result of a political quirk), and her dazzling intellectual contribution to the world is something of a twist!
To know more come be a part of the Ultimate Kurukshetra journey…
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