by Manubhai Pancholi (Author), Rohini T. Vohra (Author)
"KURUKSHETRA" depicts a small part of a very well known Hindu epic, Mahabharata, in which a terrible fratricidal war is narrated. This prestigious award winning book, is a very beautiful piece of Gujarati literature, from India. Manubhai Pancholi, "Darshak" has created a fictional novel based on the epic and makes us visualize Kurukshetra with a unique angle through his powerful pen. It starts with a delicate love affair between Tapati, daughter of a guru and Takshak, a tribal youth coming from two different strata of society where intermingling is not desired. More over the budding love gets scorched by the upcoming terrible war which could destroy all the kingdoms and entire culture of the contemporary North India. The war can be compared to today's world war. Brahmastra a terrible weapon, comparable to today's atomic bomb was used to seek revenge Though based on mythological epic Darshak unveils almost all universal human emotions to pluck down the barriers of Time and Place It also discusses the intermingling of Aryans and tribal communities. More over through the characters of Draupadi and Tapati successfully paints the strong and passionate qualities of the women. I translated Kurukshetra in English so Non Gujarati readers can enjoy this unique piece of Indian literature. - Rohini