Where did you get the idea for Kaikeyi? Did you start out wanting to do an adaptation of the Ramayana or did you come up with the idea for the story and then realize it would work well as an adaptation of the Ramayana?
But I have tried to include important elements from later in the Ramayana in Kaikeyi, either by reference or by using the characters in other roles, so I hope the story will still be satisfying to readers who know the Ramayana. Kaikeyi ends before Sita’s kidnapping, so it doesn’t cover much of what would usually be considered the major parts of the Ramayana. Of course, there are some plot elements that are changed from the Ramayana, but the arc of the epic remains the same. There are also events in the novel that are inspired by stories from the Ramayana but modified for Kaikeyi - for example, the story of Ahalya is in both the Ramayana and Kaikeyi but it plays a very different role in the novel. And many years later, she exiles Rama using those same boons so that her own son will be king.Īll of these plot points from the Ramayana appear in Kaikeyi, but the novel takes these and expands on her life, filling in the gaps and giving Kaikeyi an inner life - motivations and desires and relationships - so we can understand why she takes the extreme actions that she does. After her marriage, she saves her husband’s life in battle and is granted two boons by him. There are three major plot points in the Ramayana that concern Kaikeyi: first, upon her marriage to Dasharath, Dasharath promises her father that Kaikeyi’s son will become king. Kaikeyi tells the story of the eponymous Ramayana character. And Kaikeyi? She’s the stepmother that kicks off the whole conflict.Īnd then what is your novel Kaikeyi about, and how does it change her story from the Ramayana? Rama returns to his kingdom triumphant and takes his place on the throne. He travels across ancient India on his quest, amassing allies like the monkey god Hanuman, and ultimately defeats Ravana in a great battle. Most of the Ramayana follows the kidnapping of Sita by a demon king, Ravana, and the war Rama wages to save her. Just as he is about to be crowned king, Rama is banished from his home by his stepmother, and sets off on a fourteen-year exile accompanied by his brother and his wife, Sita. It tells the story of Rama, the Hindu god Vishnu reincarnated as the prince of a great kingdom. Author Sue Monk Kidd once said, “Stories have to be told or they die…” It’s something I thought about while editing the following email interview with Vaishnavi Patel, author of the novel Kaikeyi ( hardcover, Kindle, audiobook), a retelling of the ancient Indian epic, the Ramayana.įor people who haven’t read it, what is the Ramayana about, and who is Kaikeyi?
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