Celebrating Creative Mythology: Book Launch-Thus She Spake, All Ladies League Event, Lahe Lahe, Bangalore

22nd June, Sunday, the literary world witnessed yet another creation, a masterpiece. The book “Thus She Spake” was launched in the centre of the city, Lahe Lahe, a creative art space. The authors of the book released the paperback for the readers. It has gained appreciation and attention in both Amazon and Goodreads with a high rating. ThusSheSpake The book, Thus She Spake is one of its kind which will take the readers to a mythological journey through the eyes of different women.  The book is a creative interpretation of bold and vibrant mythological characters. It depicts the female spirit in various phases of womanhood.  Each tale is different and unfolds with startling clarity and succeeds in striking a unique note as it echoes from the hallowed pages of mythology, carrying the timeless ethos of the feminine muse, and interestingly, some of them voiced for the very first time. Releasing the book-ThusSheSpake The highlight of the authors: The stories are penned by below Authors: Dr. Suchitra Kaul Misra - Chairperson for ALL Karnataka Chapter and Founder of the Healing Garden, Anu Krishna - Chairperson for ALL Karnataka Coaching Chapter and Founder of WordWeave, Sandhya Kunjur - Marketing, Advertising & Communications Professional, Dr. Chaya Nair - Paediatrician and Founder of Banjara Toastmasters Club & Chrysanthemum Gavel Children's Club and RajaRajeshwari Nagasigamani (writing as A.R. Sara) - Chairperson for ALL Karnataka Readers & Writers Chapter and Founder of WildBean Coffee and ArsaraFables. It is Edited by Chaya Dronamraju - Founder of The Talent Bridge and ViceChairperson for ALL Karnataka Readers & Writers Chapter, and Illustrated by Bharati Sagar - Renowned international Artist The team of ThusSheSpake   Meet the core members A sneak peek into the launch: The launch was beautifully organized by All Ladies League and the evening was hosted by Dr. Suchitra Kaul Misra and Raja Rajeshwari Nagasigamani. The event was focused on giving a glimpse of the different women in mythology through various performances of Mohini Attam. Vasantha Vaikunth greeting the audience! On being asked, Rajeshwari spoke about the germination of the concept and shaping into a book. “The idea was rolling in for some time in many of our minds. I think this is the result of all the synergy created. Little a year and a half ago we decided to go for a brainstorming session. Based on the session, we wanted to look at all the talents and writers together and wanted to see if could have a collaborative project and that’s when the idea been brought in within us came forth. We had a wonderful manuscript coming up which included 5 authors, an illustrator, and an editor”, Rajeshri mentioned. Rajeshwari talking about the book “We got everything in-house in ALL, lovely world, a lovely resource of women. But I must say we had to play characters that must impact us from our rich mythology. Raj played Shiva’s daughter, Ashokasundari and I wanted to explore a character which is known, Radha. She chose a character that no one can think of and I chose a character everybody can relate to but in their own way, Radha. I wanted to do time travel and get into her skin, Dr. Kaul expressed. The book indulges into five strong characters which help us to experience their tumultuous, feisty and passionate lives as we delve into their worlds and explore the various facets of the feminine spirit. Radhe : A teenager on the cusp of adulthood experiences sacred love that transcends time and space. Uruvi (Karna’s wife): A young queen makes a heart-wrenching decision and invokes the feminine energy to blend into the eternal. Gandhari : A scarred princess with a painful past irrevocably changes the course of events in an epic saga before she finds redemption Surupnakha : A queen mother’s life hits a crescendo when she is into her twilight years. Ashoka Sundari (Shiva’s daughter): A goddess in training loses her way and slips into obscurity after a life-altering event.   The highlight of the evening was Sridevi Unni performing with her students from Monisha Arts. Inspired by Thus She Spake, Ms. Unni had creatively innovated, curated and choreographed the whole program. She is a Mohiniyattam Guru, an entrepreneur, and an actor. She has crossed regional boundaries, traversed Kerala to Karnataka as she adapted the traditional Mohini Attam numbers to Kannada and Hindi as well.  Since 2012, every year in Bengaluru, she conducts Mohini Nritya Utsav, a dance festival on Mohini Attam under the banner, Monisha Arts, her dance institution. Sridevi Unni with Dr. Suchitra Kaul The performance by Sridevi Unni along with her students gave new dimensions to the beautiful characters from mythology-Ramayana and Mahabharata.  The first performance gave the insights into the sacred love of Radha and Krishna in her signature MohiniAttam. It was followed by another graceful performance from the epic, Ramayana. It was the story of Ravana’s wife Mandodri who conceived Sita but because of her husband’s evil deeds, she got frustrated and donated to Bhumi. Through the performance, Ms. Unni gracefully expressed motherly love. Sreedevi Unni performing with her troupe When quizzed, the famous illustrator, Bharati Sagar shared about her work done for the book. “It was very easy for me to put my illustrations onto paper. There were so many aspects which I never knew about. I really liked the story of Ashokasundari”, she mentioned. Suchitra with Bharati Sagar   Quiz Master-Dr. Chaya The event was concluded in a graceful way with yet another strong performance by the troupe. The act depicted the pain and agony of Gandhari (a character from mythology, Mahabharata), who lost all her hundred sons. The women of Kurukshetra wailed in pain and Gandhari blamed Lord Krishna for all the misery.  Ms. Sridevi Unni’s performance justified the characters and successfully expressed feminine emotions. Sridevi Unni performing with his troupe. Buy Thus She Spake now! Click here to buy. To know more such books and authors, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Download our magazine Spunky Indian for exclusive stories.