Shikhandi: And Other Tales They Don't Tell You

While reading this book I felt cheated many times. I have read Ramayana and Mahabharata in school (was there in curricula in CBSE) and now i realise it was a very digested version what we learned is what needs to be passed on to the next generation. I have come across people complaining about Indians (where they mostly mean Hindu) who have plenty of erotic text as part of their religious books and still the persistent neglect in talking about sex, gender and sexuality. I think part of the reason is that what's retold is usually the selected stories and then one needs to accommodate all the transmission loss which the author also mentioned.This book is a must read for people who advocate for 'Queer Rights'. I revisited the poem given in the beginning of the book that made more sense with every passing chapter. I might have it by heart by now. My eyes popped out while reading many of the chapters and I think most readers will relate to it who know parts of the stories told here but not the whole story. The title of the book is apt- these definitely are stories that elders choose not to tell or probably don't know themselves. These are not stories that are passed on. The question is- does it show some fault it our gods?I am definitely going to keep reading and referencing the chapters in my work of and Dr. Pattnaik needs to add me in his growing list of fans.Lastly, I applaud the initiative of Zubaan. I had earlier read seeing like a feminist and loved it.PS: Kamasutra added to my list of books to be read.

When I first read the name "Shikhandi", I was like 'oh what kind of a name is that?' I had read author's editorial published in TOI when Sec 377 was reimposed by Supreme Court throwing the ball into parliament, as I guess the judge knew he would be evaporated as the conditions were in favourable of tyrant non secular political party. So, its better to save your own hide than worry about others, isn't it?Anyways, I got the main reason why Bhisma lay on the bed of arrows, which was never shown in any Mahabharat series played on TV nor in any story telling sessions by grandparents or temples. But the best part of the book is the starting poem. It is brilliant.Rest of the stories (if you tend to believe Ramayana, Mahabharat, Krishna, etc. you need to believe these stories too... ) speak more about gender fluidity, neutrality and most important is it can gently bring you to the understanding that gender is something what you feel and think, something in your mind, while your body might be of any shape and sex.These stories also puts forth about kind of sex a human can have due to being born a human. Its refreshing to read fluidity in the current stagnant and moulded society.One suggestion to penguin people: Please proofread! Even if its written by Indian author on a controversial subject, don't just shrug off your responsibility to 'spell check' for spelling mistakes. There are quite a lot spelling mistakes for e.g. 'from' is converted to 'Prom'.

I liked the explanation that Dr. Pattanaik has provided in the beginning of the book and at the end of each story. It puts the stories in perspective and also makes you think.Some stories, however, will be familiar to regular readers of Dr. Pattnaik's books and blogs,Audiences unfamiliar with Indian mythology might find it difficult to understand the context of some of the tales because very little background is given.

The book gives an honest perspective of the stories that have been told till date with only one dimension. Dr Pattnaik opens up all facets of interpretation of popular stories thereby giving the readers a honest glimpse of our rich heritage n culture and reaffirming that Indian culture is not rigid but liberal.

This was a very enlightening read. There were some fascinating stories/myths/history. To be sure, I was never bored. And, what's more, I learned a great deal without realizing it until the end. Devdutt Pattanaik managed to educate and enlighten with a subtle style of storytelling that made it hard to put the book down. What a great college course this would be! Mr. Pattanaik's observation/perspective on Krishna was especially inspiring and positively thought-provoking.

Fluid language, clean interpretation of earlier literary works and the unique insight into queerness from an Indian epic/folklore angle make this a book worth reading.

Though it gives a good perspective of how Indian society had the third gender as a part of its mainstream always, the stories are very short and conclude fast. Good book nonetheless, I liked the bigger stories like Mahabharata and Ramayana better because of a longer plot

An eye-opener, a breezy read..a lot new facets come out of the already read epics.

I love this book. I read it quickly and was disappointed there weren't more queer stories, my only critic is that rape in certain stories was glorified (as I suppose it is also in non queer stories unfortunately, but it is no glorious act) and I don't believe a book of such short stories with few queer stories(regardless of that being the focus) is the best thing to do; personally that is my opinion. I do not deny that it can happen in queer relationships or that it should not be talked about and that we should censor these stories when speaking of hindu mythology when speaking of its' queer and "non queer" history, but when I got the book, I was anticipating only consensual acts (perhaps due to my lack of knowledge of this mythology to be fair ) but I am happy that my introduction to Hindu mythology started off with a book on queer stories in the mythology, for more than one reason as otherwise I have doubts that I would have come across it, and I am tremendously happy this book exists.

The aim of this book, like all other books penned by Devdutt Pattanaik, is to dispel some misconceptions. Noble aim. The effort was also significant, as the author unearthed several stories from our mythology which don't fit into the patriarchal heterosexual pattern otherwise established.Unfortunately, most of these stories are known to us, thanks to Amar Chitra Katha etc. So, from our perspective, an indepth analysis with bibliographical notes and intertextuality was necessary.That was absent, trivialising the effort.But of course it’s eminently readable. So if you simply wish to broaden your mind etc., it serves the purpose.'Nuff said.

I couldn't understand author s concepts. Maybe our point of views are different. But it doesn't interest you or compelling to buy his books or explore the concept

Shikhandi... is a collection of 30 stories from Indian mythology that have queer characters/themes/undertones. Ranging from Ramayana and Mahabharata to folklore from across Indian sects, it offers an interesting point of view. Although the stories are very short (1-2 pages each), what's great is the list of questions Devdutt appends at the end of each story - questions that ponder the idea being conveyed, how it would be depicted in today's terminology, and why over time did we as Indians come to 'other' queerness when there is such a clear precedence in our mythology.It's a short read of about 180 pages and can easily be caught up on in a few sittings

The variety of lesser known tales covered in this book is interesting; however each individual story is very short - more like a blog post rather than a story from Hindu sacred lore. I was very impressed by the author’s other work exploring the subject “The Pregnant King” - a work of mythological fiction that explores the topic at leisure developing full characters. In contrast this work tries to recount many tales but doesn’t elaborate on any.