Asura: The Tale Of Vanquished
Asura is the tale of Ravana and his people. Most of us are familiar with the story of Ramayana, the fight between the good and the evil and how Rama triumphed over Ravana. However, in this novel, Neelkantan narrates the story from the perspective of Ravana, the evil demon of the Ramayana.
The book starts with a detailed description as to why Ravana was portrayed as a ten-faced demon. According to the author, Ravana was a complete man, who embraced all the base emotions of a human being and was eager to deal with whatever life threw at him.The story is described from the viewpoints of two people – Ravana and Bhadra. Ravana narrates the story of his life, from the time of his birth to the hardships he faced in his childhood days and how he ultimately ascended to the throne of Lanka. Bhadra is a common man of Lanka. He narrates the stories of the ordinary people of the Kingdom and how they viewed the decisions of their King.
The story picks up from the conclusion of the epic Rama-Ravana war. Ravana awaits his imminent death and finds himself face to face with the ill-effects of war. He remembers what he did to the defeated kingdoms when he emerged victorious in the wars against them. The terrified people of his kingdom await the same fate. He recalls his childhood struggles and the glimpses of his life as death slowly begins to engulf his soul.Ravana is portrayed as a half-Brahmin and half-Asura fellow, who is not treated well by his father. He leaves the island of Lanka and comes to India, in search of a guru to guide him in the right direction. However, in the process of describing the hardships faced by Ravana and the other Asuras, the author suddenly contracts the notoriously common anti-Brahminical syndrome. He portrays them as villains, who performed meaningless yagnas and rituals.