There is an inexplicable void inside me. I feel like a pawn of the universe. But I guess I am. My entire life has been an indication of that.

Sita's voice comes across in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's The Forest of Enchantments, and asks - Sita's love for Ram was all encompassing, so why did she come only second for him?

In the Ramayana, the story of the sister of Rama Shanta plays a silent, but pivotal role. Like many women today, however, she was valued only for her ‘usefulness'.

I supress the anger rising inside me. An outburst of my fury would mean I am culpable. And I refuse to take the blame on my shoulders.

Hidimbi. A powerful woman, the first Pandava wife, who raised a mighty son as a single mom, yet sidelined in the Mahabharata. Because she was a rakshasi, not upper caste enough?