The story so far
The prologue introduces Lanka Lakshmi in conversation with Hanuman who has entered Lanka, bent on destroying it. Lanka Lakshmi was destined to stay as a guard to Lanka in the form of a rakshasi on account of a curse. She was released from the curse by Hanuman. She blesses him and departs. Act one begins in the court-room of Ravana where the major characters are all introduced. The previous history of Lanka is revealed in the course of their conversation. Ravana’s glory is emphasized and he is projected as a loved king. He is seen justifying his action of abducting Sita. According to him, he is no womaniser, but a connoisseur of beauty. Convinced that everything beautiful, rare and precious should belong to Lanka, he has brought Sita to Lanka. When all others are bent on war, Vibhishanan advises that discretion is of absolute necessity before an invincible foe like Sriraman. This section shows Vibhishanan leaving Ravanan since a Lanka which has lost all sense of dharma is not worthy to serve.
Act Two
(The Courtroom of Ravanan. Suparswan sits gloomily; Viroopakshan walks about impatiently.)
Viroopakshan: Today I will go to the warfield even disobeying the king’s orders. I may be an old man; but not yet an invalid or useless as the king may consider.
(Suparswan sits silent)
Shocking! Dhoomrakshan could well attack from the rear and break the defence. Are the flanks of the monkey army so strong? Akambanan rushed to the field to rescue Dhoomrakshan. Prahastan who had always led the armies of Lanka! I find it difficult to believe! Why do you remain silent? When their dear ones die in a battle, Rakshasas do not mourn. Were you not in favour of this battle?.
Suparswan: Wasn’t I ! I was there in all the battle fields. Though I didn’t fight, I encouraged the warriors; now the war gives me great sorrow; not because all the three siblings of mine have perished. The fiery summer of death has blown over Lanka. You have stood witness to the vicissitudes of time. Time sometimes arrives with the odour of death. The culmination of many a day is the beginning of some dark night. Weird voices, hitherto unheard, reverberate. Then be alert. I who have shunned day and night to make twilight my home can just see it all, bright and better.
Viroopakshan: Dear one among the sons of uncle, you alone survive. I really long to alleviate your sorrow with soothing words. But you know very well. This old warrior worn out by so many battles, cannot claim to possess any other skills. Words are not my forte. I can jump into the war and kill any number. I have no other means to mitigate your agony.
(Atikayan enters with minor injuries on his body, carrying a bow and a quiver)
Atikayan: The bow and quiver of the commander of our forces.
Suparswan: (standing up reverentially) Did you see the end of Prahastan?
Atikayan: I was beside him. Before dying he said, Hand over this bow and quiver to my elder brother; this was a gift from my father before he died.
(Gives the bow and quiver to Suparswan. Suparswan wears the quiver and shoulders the bow; then stands in deep meditation.)
Viroopakshan: How did the invincible Prahastan fall?
Atikayan: When Dhoomrakshan and Akamban fell, he advanced swiftly but by then, the defence of our flanks was broken. The chief was encircled by the enemies. He fought with Raman face to face. Though the chief had fallen, our forces made a forward move; by then, the king had arrived.
(Viroopakshan comes near Suparswan, pats him affectionately.)
Viroopakshan: If you latch this bow, the arrows will never miss the mark. Even the weapons recognize those who handle them.
Suparswan: I am no expert at fighting; and elder brother has become old. The generation that used to fight by the side of the king is no more. The slow wheel of Time sometimes moves at a swift pace. Then together all fall like leaves shaken by the wind. The storm begins to rage in Lanka.
Atikayan: These bad ruminations bode no good. Our army is advancing. In no time Raman and Lakshmanan will fall.
Suparswan: Go to the harem and smear some medicated oil on your wounds. You are bleeding all over.
Atikayan: Oh! Let the blood drip. This is an auspicious day for me. I fought for the first time; but with the king’s arrival, the thrill of fight was over. It was a rain of arrows everywhere. One may feel trapped in a forest that doesn’t allow even a vision of the sky. One couldn’t do anything else but gape. Until father entered the field, I was raging forward. If he were a bit late, I would have finished the treacherous uncle.
Viroopakshan: You mean Vibhishanan?
Atikayan: No, Vibheebhalsan. He whirled Pattasam menacingly at the king.
Viroopakshan: Rakshasa has betrayed Rakshasa, isn’t it?
Atikayan: Always near Raman he is! Oh! We should have torn that power-crazy traitor into shreds and thrown into the ocean.
(Enters Indrajith)
Indrajith: Why did father go to the battle field? You should not have let him go.
Viroopakshan: He was enraged by the news of Prahastan’s death and rushed thereon. We hardly got a chance to stop him.
Atikayan: But when father arrived– you should have seen it, the monkey army was chased beyond the bridge. Many jumped into the sea and were drowned.
Indrajith: There is enough young blood in Lanka to fight. Kumbhan, Nikumbhan, Makarakshan.
Atikayan: Me too….
Indrajith: So many like that. Father is afraid to send his sons to the battlefield. His affection crosses the bounds of sensibility.
Atikayan: Brother, you alone are enough to drive the enemy away.
Viroopakshan: All of you did see it yesterday. You fought as if attacking from all the eight directions. Raman and Lakshmanan wriggled like worms. The monkey army that couldn’t locate the origin of this flood of arrows was stunned. They fell dead with their renowned leader.
Atikayan: Those puny bunch of monkeys who don’t perish even after being brutally butchered!
Viroopakshan: Wasn’t that wonderful! Raman, Lakshmanan and their army who were wiped off yesterday by the Brahmasthram wake to life and fight today!
Indrajith: To see the enemy killed in war coming alive the very next day with a broad grin. Ridiculous! The thrill of war wanes off. Did our spies find out the secret of this resurrection?
Viroopakshan: There is a physician in the monkey army who knows about divine herbs – Sushenan. The monkey who came as the messenger uprooted the mountain where these medicinal herbs grew and brought it.
Indrajith: Is there no one in Lanka who knows about the use of these herbs?
Viroopakshan: Which skill of medicine is not mastered by the king! He did summon the physicians today. They too know the herbs by name. Mruthasanjeevani, Visalyakarani, Savarnyakarani, Sandhanakarani. They grow along the slopes of the Himalayas.
Indrajith: Don’t they grow in Lanka?
Suparswan: Lanka has everything other than these. Pushpakam, Chandrahasam, Brahma’s Koorpasam and the most beauteous Sita.
Indrajith: We can go in Pushpakam to bring the medicines.
Suparswan: But our physicians cannot identify the medicines.
Indrajith: Then father must go.
Suparswan: These herbs will disappear below the earth if anyone belonging to rakshasa, human, yaksha or monkey species approaches them. That monkey had to uproot the mountain because of this. These herbs may destroy themselves at the sight of your father. All these four kalpamoolikas, like Kamadhenu, should remain subject to the kings benevolence.
Viroopakshan: (impatiently) The king didn’t conquer the three worlds with the aid of herbs. This is not the time to wrangle about trifles. Did you hear it, Vibhishanan used pattasam against the king. It is heard that he had entered into an alliance with Raman.
Indrajith: A surprise, if it had been otherwise.
Atikayan: The king has willingly bestowed on the enemy the weapon for self destruction .
Indrajith: It is clear that uncle has betrayed us. It is Raman’s strategy to befriend the younger brother to fight against the elder one. The weak one can be kept in obedient servitude as a dependant chieftain. He killed Bali and made Sugreevan the king of Kishkinda. The same trick is being tried in Lanka.
Viroopakshan: Then we should have beheaded him. Why didn’t you mention that earlier?
Indrajith: The king knows these without my telling. The tactics of politics and the love for the kin are poles apart. Remedies are available. There is the rightful wife of uncle-Sarama. She crawls around in the harem like a venemous serpent, dreaming the queen’s crown. Yesterday she lingered in the corridors of the main hall, trying to catch the discussions stealthily. She told Thrigada that if Ravanan continued his reign, it would be the end of the Rakshasa clan. The solution is her head that dreams the crown.
Suparswan: The king may not appreciate it. In her nose ring there is the ruby that Varunani used to wear.
Indrajith: ‘Woman’ is Lanka’s disaster now.
Suparswan: It was also Vedavathi’s curse. Lanka will be ruined by woman.
Indrajith: Old people can amuse themselves with such idle talk. I will save Lanka somehow. Be assured. If father needs protection, I am capable enough for that too.
(Goes off angrily)
Viroopakshan: If we have such able boys, let any number of Vibhishanans leave. Let his turn come. We can see the seven oceans boiling. I will observe the battle from the watch tower. The king’s fight would be a feast for the eyes. The sight of his mighty arms flashing like lightning, the very arms that conquered Yamadharman, will halve my age. Perhaps I may never get a chance to behold it again. (To Atikayan) Smear some oil on your wounds before returning to the battle field.
(Virupakshan goes off to one side. Atikayan moves to the opposite side. Then Sardoolan enters.)
Sardoolan: The king stands weary in the chariot.
All: What?
Sardoolan: Vibhishanan threw the pattasam unexpectedly. It was smashed to smithereens. Yet the king stood there a moment, lost in reverie. By then Raman showered arrows incessantly. The king resisted; not a single arrow could hit its target. But the king didn’t take up weapons. He stood there still, stunned, without blinking.
(Atikayan rushes to the battle field.)
Suparswan: Inform Indrajith immediately.
(Sardoolan runs to the other side.)
The course of battle is not favorable at present. The victory that does not come by striving can be won by retreating. Heroic death is not victory. It is just an ornate shroud that beautifully covers the failure.
(The proclamation ‘The King of Lanka, sovereign of three worlds’ is heard in the back ground. Ravanan enters without crown, few bruises are visible on his body, sits on the throne. Kumbhan and Nikumbhan enter from one side, Indrajith from the other.)
Ravanan: To destroy a clan, only the self same clan is capable. For an alien, it is not possible. Raman’s source of strength is the support of one of us. The chameleon tricks of a Rakshasan sans vigour walks near Raman, sniffing around like a stray mongrel of the street. He could have been at least bold enough to fight me directly. Traitor to the clan! How was this damned purite blob of flesh born out of Kaikasi’s womb? brother! My own beloved brother! Let him learn brotherhood from his new masters! …. Ha! I have seen it. I felt jealous. Wake up Kumbhakarnan, though it may require immense effort.
(Kumbhan and Nikumbhan leave in a hurry.)
Everyone can go. I need some rest. My soul is sinking, I feel depressed. I wouldn’t let it be so. Play veenas in Sankarabharanam; let the music be in high pitch.
(Everyone leaves – the sound of more than one veena heard, in Ragam Sankarabharaman. When Ravanan sits enthralled in music, Mandodari enters, carrying a gold bowl, smears oil on Ravana’s wounds, reverentially. Ravanan, after a few moments, calms down, looks at Mandodari caressingly)
Numerous are the battles that I have fought, but never had such an enamouring experience.
Mandodari: What experience?
Ravanan: To be looked after by the beloved wife. How good it is to have a battle at Lanka.
Mandodari: Let us go to my chamber and take rest. Father had given me a unique veena. Until now I didn’t get the person I wanted to play it for and so it remains untouched. A veena with a hundred strings. I will play it and sing for you.
Ravanan:I was not aware of this! Who should bear the blame? Yes, you alone, the great Queen! Indeed a grave mistake. How would you atone for it?
Mandodari: Come to my chamber for a restful sleep? I will play veena and sing till you awake. Will this punishment be enough?
Ravanan: That’s enough. But I will not enter the chamber till this war is finished. Moreover, I will not sleep when my beloved sings. I will remain awake, my eyes and ears enticed by the charm of the song and the singer.
Mandodari: It’s many days since you had a good sleep. The moonstones on the walls of my chamber have not embraced your reflection for a long time. Rust settles on the strings of my veena.
Ravanan: Yes, sleep I should. When I finish all these, we shall go for a long journey. In the deep lush forests of the Vindhyas, I will sleep, my head resting on your lap.
Mandodari: You have never concealed anything from me. You used to tell me everything, even those secret exploits in the harem.
Ravanan: And you have always forgiven my follies.
Mandodari: But you never told me anything about Sita. Will my mind be disturbed because of her? She is not superior to me in birth, beauty or knowledge. That girl is no peer to you either. Mandodari who until now never resented your exploits should be granted that liberty.
Ravanan: Not that Lanka does not have a Lakshmi. Shouldn’t Lakshmi too have a Lanka? She resembles you a bit and that too might have fascinated me.
Mandodari: It is not resemblance of form alone. It is the halo of our similarity of spirit. She is chaste like me. Would you please accept my plea?
Ravanan: So you desire to control me at least once?
Mandodari: Yes.
Ravanan: You enjoy that liberty always, except this time. Don’t have the impression that this is just another drama of love being played by your lover. It is not just a king’s fancy, the whims of an admirer enticed by beauty, that forms its theme. The capture of Sita is not so simple as it appears to be. It comprises war, politics, rivalry of clans and the rise and fall of values. The story begins with the blood that gushed from Soorpanaka’s severed breast. That river of blood raves and flows forward fiercely. Betrayal, harm, damnation and death rule from four sides of the earth. There remains only one logical conclusion. My queen had always been a woman of few words. I know, more remains unsaid. Speak out. I want to listen.
Mandodari: Sita is chaste. That fills me with terror.
Ravanan: Terrified! you?
Mandodari: Mother too had that fear. Before falling unconscious, as she writhed in the pain of fire burns, she told me so.
Ravanan: What did she say?
Mandodari: ‘He won’t obey anybody. Even then you must ask him to leave that woman. She will bring disaster. She is chaste’.
Ravanan: Mother is exactly like you. Never caused any hindrance to my deeds. Always encouraged me. Once Vaishravanan visited father in the ashram. Then she called us four kids away and said. ‘Look, your brother, the Lord of riches, has come in pushpakavimanam. He is the sovereign of Lanka which legitimately belongs to us. He could achieve all these through steadfast penance. ‘Seek your father’s blessings and advice and commence penance. You stand to gain quite a great deal’. We did penance at Gokarnam for ten thousand years. Then began the history of Rakshasa conquest of the worlds. That mantra of victory still echoes in my ears. ‘Return victorious, my son’. We haven’t heard anything else from mother after leaving my father’s ashram.
Mandodari: Mother felt that the destruction of Lanka by fire and her getting burnt badly were indeed ominous. She was extremely upset to hear about the death of Akshan. Instead of being consoled, I had to console her. That valiant woman wept bitterly that day.
Ravanan: My beloved, what my mother said, ‘He will not obey anybody’ is true. I should obey my mother’s words when I hear them from you whom I respect as I do my mother. I really wish to do it – but I am a prisoner of circumstances. If I release Sita now, won’t it mean that I have accepted defeat in battle?
Mandodari: Is there no other way to end this battle?
Ravanan: The battle will end when the enemy is defeated. Why are you so frightened?
Mandodari: I have no fears. Do as you desire, but don’t get upset. If you wouldn’t rebuke me….
Ravanan: Who else would I rebuke?
Mandodari: Please don’t rebuke me. Are you afraid of Sita?
Ravanan: Do you fear that Rambha’s curse may become true? If all those women’s curses had any effect on me, I would have turned into a headless torso by now!
Mandodari: There had always been someone’s mind-power to guard and protect you. I find it difficult to believe that, you stood weary in the chariot.
Ravanan: I was not weary then. When Vibhishanan threw Pattasam against me, for a split second, I was grieved. That weariness has passed off with your caressing touch. One feels defeated only when one’s mind falters. Now what awaits is victory.
(Suparswan enters)
Suparswan: Atikayan has fallen.
Ravanan: When one agony is allayed, another follows. I had warned the children not to jump into such risky adventures. It is a battle of valiant warriors fighting on both sides, not a child’s play. Has not Kumbhakarnan woken up yet?
Suparswan: He is waking up.
Mandodari: I shall pacify Dhanyamali.
(Mandodari leaves in haste)
Suparswan: Viroopakshan has given him all information. He was about to leave directly to the battle front. We advised him to meet the king first. He is enraged because we didn’t wake him up earlier.
(Kumbhakarnan enters, followed by Viroopakshan, Kumbhan and Nikumbhan. Jet black, heavy built, looks half awake. Salutes Ravanan. They embrace. He examines Ravanan’s body, is obviously shocked and angry.)
Kumbhakarnan: Who caused these wounds?
Ravanan: Younger brother, I am moved by your love. Vibhishanan has formed an alliance with the enemies.
Kumbhakarnan: The very mention of his name will unnerve me; how does the war go?
Ravanan: The enemy cannot be taken lightly. Raman is an untiring valiant fighter. Both sides fight equally well; but the number of lives lost was more on our side. They have herbs that resurrect the dead. So it’s not enough that we kill; we have to dismember them as well.
Kumbhakarnan: Why didn’t you wake me up earlier? When Kharan and Dooshanan were killed, you ought to have understood that the enemy is aiming at Lanka, not just at Dandaka forest and township. We should have fathomed its seriousness when Prahastan fell. You, my brother stood exhausted in the chariot! What a shame! At this rate who would know if you were killed ! Has Lanka become so abandoned? Things have to be informed to the persons concerned in time.
Ravanan: Are you going to advise me like the great Guru? Past is past. I don’t weep over spilt milk.
Kumbhakarnan: You are the most valuable one for me. I don’t care for the clan or country. I will do anything for you, right or wrong. The king of Rakshasas, who had conquered the three worlds, fail before a female! Her fellow humans shout from the gates of Lanka – I don’t understand anything. Is it because I am not fully awake? I promise now in this court, when Kumbhakarnan is alive, you don’t have to fear anybody. I will go alone. I don’t need the army. None need to accompany me
(Stands with head bowed. Ravanan embraces Kumbhakarnan. Wishes him victory. Kumbhakarnan departs to the battle field. Ravanan and his courtiers keep looking at him. Auspicious ululations are heard.)
Ravanan: Let the army follow him. Kumbhan and Nikumbhan should lead the army from his sides
(Nikumbhan leaves, Kumbhan hesitates)
Now, the king does not require any bodyguards. You may leave!
(Kumbhan leaves)
Father fighting in the middle and the sons on either side. Won’t that be a charming sight – I feel refreshed. A rejuvenating day for Lanka! It’s like the earth blushing at the blossoming of buds. The flowers of bygone spring may merge in the soil; the new blooms awake over them. They spread beauty in the cool bosom of the ephemeral goddess and smear alluring colours.
Suparswan: Is the goddess ephemeral?
Ravanan: Your question implies more than what I had meant, doesn’t it?
Suparswan: The Goddess has so many moods. She stands by, protecting you, at times abandons you. She may be seen in anguish or captivity.
(Sarama, Vibhishanan’s wife enters. Rakshasi, elegant)
Sarama: Lord, I have committed no wrong. Should the wife be punished for her husband’s offence?
Ravanan: Who punished you and how?
Sarama: Men of your army dragged me by the hair, insulted me with foul words. All these, in obedience to your son’s orders….
Ravanan: What do I hear! Will I not get any peace at the harem too?
Viroopakshan: Why did you go to the watch-tower last night?
Sarama: I did hear that my husband has joined the enemies. I wanted to verify it. From the tower one could see very far. So I went there to know the real state of affairs.
Viroopakshan: How could you see in the dark? Did you have a burning torch in your hand? Did you steal through the corridors where outsiders are not allowed?
Sarama: All these are not true!
Viroopakshan: Did you have a lit torch with you?
Sarama: I did have one, to see the narrow stone walls.
Viroopakshan: Were you alone?
Sarama: I was too bewildered to take anyone with me (falls at Ravana’s feet) Lord, have mercy on me!
Viroopakshan: Indrajith doubts whether you were spying on us. He thought you were showing the path for the enemies to enter. You had boasted to many that only you could save the Rakshasa clan.
Ravanan: Sarama, tell me, is what I hear true?
Sarama: You of all should not believe these stories. I will never be a traitor to my clan. Through my veins also runs the blood of Rakshasas. If my words and deeds went amiss, it is just the guiding fault of thoughts that flow only in that blood. Forgive me Lord, forgive me. The soldiers are after me everywhere. Save me, Lord.
Viroopakshan: She does not deserve your generosity.
Ravanan: You can stay at Mandodari’s harem. My son would not trouble you there; but you shouldn’t go out without Mandodari’s permission. She will protect you. Tell her that this is my order.
(As Sarama leaves, Ravanan watches disinterestedly.)
Viroopakshan: The cunning woman! It is her new attempt towards queenship. She always poses as if she is superior to Mandodari.
Ravanan: My peace of mind is lost once again. I should find a permanent solution for this.
Suparswan: Worldly pleasures lead one to restlessness and pain.
Ravanan: Do you mean to say that I don’t possess spiritual strength?
Suparswan: You have gained a lot, but those immense gifts were spent in annexing countries and gaining wealth and pleasures. When you finally come to know that all those are frivolous and futile – then restlessness creeps in.
Ravanan: Suparswan’s words touch the core of my self. Was my life such a meaningless waste? Let the veteran grandsire comment on it.
Viroopakshan: It seems that when knowledge increases, the fool wears a crown. Suparswan’s sapless words test my patience….I will get some news from the warfront and return (leaves).
Ravanan: Mother’s brother and my friend, speak out without hesitation. No one else will hear us. Was my life a waste?
Suparswan: I doubt whether you lost the strength of divine grace that protected you.
Ravanan: I am a devotee of Lord Siva. He gave me the name Ravanan. I chanted the Sivashtotharasatham as advised by Brahma so devotedly that I imbibed its powers. I treasure always a sacred Sivalinga. The loud rhythms of Sivathandava echo when one sings the panchachameram composed by me. Suparswan, if I have lost the charisma of divine grace, will I regain it by setting Sita free?
Suparswan: Dear king, I can only just doubt and question. I have no ready answers with me. Sita is the original cause of this fall from grace; that’s simple logic. But whether to set her free and would that be of any use, I do not know. I am no Rishi to firmly tell you, the sovereign who conquered the three worlds. I feel sure only about this – the strength that you possessed when Yamadharma fell on his knees before you – that strength had been the axis for your victories. Be alert, regain it somehow.
Ravanan: Have I bent low like that cupola. No, my strength is not lost.
(Poignant cries from the harem. Viroopakshan enters, stands with a bowed head)
Ravanan: (getting up with a bewildered expression) What! Sad news again! Tell me, Oh! the balance of my mind is failing.
Viroopakshan: Kumbhakarnan has been killed.
(Ravanan walks sadly towards the throne. Indrajith slowly enters, stands with a bowed head.)
Indrajith: Father, you shouldn’t grieve so.
Ravanan: I shouldn’t grieve …. but I feel there is a time for everything. One half of Ravana, the conquerer of the universe, is severed and lost. What is the meaning of all this?
Indrajith: He smashed through half of the monkey army, then fought with Lakshmanan a while, shouting ‘You are excellent, but I have no time to wait’; breaking the rows of the soldiers he advanced to fight Raman. It was a ferocious battle.
Ravanan: I was second to him in strength. I couldn’t even wish him good luck before he left.
Indrajith: The observers say that uncle was not fully awake.
Ravanan: I never used to wake him fully. That age is vanishing swiftly. I am left alone, but my energy and strength have not diminished one bit. I would shred them all. Let the trenches of Lanka be dumped with severed human bodies.
Indrajith: I shall lead the army and return victorious.
Ravanan: Either you or I should lead the army now. You are the mightiest of all in Lanka. While you are here, the battle field is a platform for me to dance. I myself will lead the army.
Indrajith: It is a son’s duty to safeguard the honour of a glorious father. My path, deeds and even salvation are nothing but the fulfillment of this mission. Father, lead me to the terrain that fate prepares for the valiant and the brave.
Ravanan: (Approaching Indrajith) Son, Ravanan is not a short-lived butterfly. Ravanan is a generation that survives yesterdays, todays and tomorrows. Hethi’s son Vidyutkesan, his son Sukesan and his son Sumali, Sumali’s grandson Ravanan, Ravanan’s son Meghanathan.
Viroopakshan: The magnificence of that clan shall shine brightly in the firmament with twenty arms and ten strong necks.
Indrajith: Father, the glory of Hethi prajapathi’s lineage should not come to an end with King Ravanan. Let me wear the crown of my own achievements. I will return victorious (unsheathes his sword).
Viroopakshan: (unsheathes his sword) You will certainly return victorious, my son.
Ravanan: Let things be according to your wishes. Let the auspicious war cries pierce the four directions. Let the worlds of Deva, Yaksha, and Varuna take note that Hethi prajapathi’s beloved little one went to the battle field.
(When the war cries echo, Mandodari enters.)
You have arrived at the right moment. Send him off to the battle field with your blessings.
(A servant enters with the Ashtamangalya lamp. Mandodari blesses Indrajith in the traditional way. Indrajith salutes Ravanan and Mandodari in turn. Both bless him.)
Son, the flanks of our army have perished completely. You should mind the front, back, left and right while fighting. The ocean of war is a small estuary for you. Let the cosmos marvel at your prowess. Let everyone see my son’s immense skills in the art of warfare.
(The war cries reach a crescendo. Ravanan stands with the unsheathed sword. Indrajith leaves. Ravanan follows him a few steps, then stands still, staring.)
-CURTAIN-
To be continued in Samyukta Vol. IV No.1
Translated from Malayalam by Bini B.S.
Translator:
BINI B.S. Pursuing her work for the doctoral degree in English Language and Literature. Interested in creative writing. Writes genuinely inspired poetry.
