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Author Speak - A Conversation with Mythology Author Utkarsh Patel
Thank you for joining me in this conversation. Let me start off by congratulating you on your latest book, indra the Rise and Fall of a Hero, which I can see has a super interesting premise. It is based on the Hindu god Indra, who, despite being the supreme god of the Devas and is praised in the Vedas, is often represented in the Puranas as being somewhat weak and materialistic
Utkarsh Patel
@utkarshmp · 3:06
Just to give a little details, indra is mentioned more than 220 times in different hymns, all dedicated to him in the rigved. Collectively with other gods, he's mentioned close to 300 times. This shows the importance of Indra in the Vedic times and his persona as a warrior god, as somebody who is associated with fertility, rain, thunder, etc. What happens to a person like him in the post Vedic period?
You have authored Shakuntala the Woman Wronged Satywati and Kanaki Zangled, all three of them about women misunderstood and poorly treated by society. What do you feel about the portrayal of women in mythology? Do you think the portrayal of female characters in ancient literature has actually led in some way to the femme fatality trope that is only all too common in Indian cinema? I would really love to know your thoughts on this
Utkarsh Patel
@utkarshmp · 4:06
Samya? That's an interesting question. Yes, I do agree that my initial books have all got to do with female characters, especially Shakuntala, Sativai, Kanaki, etc. But if I have to look at it from the perspective of mythology as touch, then one must understand one thing, and that is that myths from the time immemorial have been written by men. And when you study them closely, you'll realize that often these have been told by the men for the men
What a refreshing take. Thank you so much for that. Aukash. I think it's true that we do have a host of strong female mythical characters who have managed to change the course of history through sheer strength of character. So, yes, you are absolutely right. So, Utkarsh, they say that myths often start as oral stories that are later written down or retold, and as a result, there are many slightly different versions of these stories
Utkarsh Patel
@utkarshmp · 4:07
Like you said, Ramya oral tales. Remember the fact that, yes, absolutely correct. That every tale, be it an epic beat, a myth beat, whichever you look at it, have all originated from the oral tales. And the very nature of orality is such that moment one person retells it to somebody else, the version will undergo a slight change
So what I find interesting in contemporary storytelling is that myths from different cultures are not kept separate from one another. There is much intermingling of myths from across cultures. So for example, Dobby from Harry Potter is a mix of a Pixie, a brownie and perhaps a gnome. So is this something that you have employed in your own writing or perhaps come across much in literature?
Swell Team
@Swell · 0:15
Utkarsh Patel
@utkarshmp · 1:58
So my stories are stuck within a time frame and I have not used any of the other stories of other cultures. At least I try not to do it in any of my stories. But in modern day fantasy fiction I think this is a very common thing that we get to see
Thank you so much for sharing that with Kash. I think this brings me to my last question for today. Do tell us a little bit about the mythology project that you cofounded and the work that you have been doing around bringing myths, legends, folktales and ancient leave systems of India to the forefront
Utkarsh Patel
@utkarshmp · 2:17
So the idea is to give a view of what mythology is or how mythology was meant to be in the initial stages, also give resources, also tell you where it's come from, not just say that it exists in mythology, so it's got to be true. But that's the effort that we do. And do check our website, it's www, the mythologyproject.com, and follow us on Instagram and Facebook for regular updates. We conduct, as I said, numerous sessions
Thank you so much for taking the time out and joining this conversation and for sharing your super interesting takes and perspectives on mythology. I have absolutely loved having this conversation with you and would definitely want to bring you on for more such conversations. I shall also go ahead and share the Amazon link to your book Indra The Rise and Fall of a Hero here for our listeners to check out. Thanks again. All the best and more. Power of woods
