‘The Girl Who Chose’ is a book that Devdutt Pattanaik has written targeting the young audience, essentially in the age group 6-12. The book, as mentioned in the tag line, is a new way of telling the Ramayana. This is a good start for any parent to get her/his kid into reading Ramayana alongside the ever-popular Amar Chitra Katha Series. ‘The Girl Who Chose’ considers the life of Sita and narrates it in five simple chapters indicating five choices she made has various junctures in her life. Th...

The book is actually for children, and hence has beautiful illustrations and large fonts, but young adults can definitely read it too. The book talks about Ramayana from Sita's point of view, of the five choices she had and what were the choices she made and the consequences that followed. The book also talks about the times when she did not have a choice and obeyed the rules made.

Usually Ramayana is always visualised as Ram Vs Ravana and every other character is just a supporting role, but...

This is a simplified and beautifully illustrated retelling of the Ramayana for children. The perspective of the author is that the Ramayana unfolded the way it did because of five choices that Sita made.

I loved the illustrations (made by the author himself) and the fast-paced narrative. It chops off a lot of detail without compromising on the essence of the original. This keeps the book small enough for kids to remain engaged throughout the tale. Also very interesting are the footnotes on a...

The author has chosen two words! Yes, two words that were chosen very carefully, and which by the very essence of them rule each one of us from inside, mostly unknowingly. They are rules and choices. Where rules are imposed, choices are ours to make. And, how these choices play a vital role in our lives is the theme of this book. Ramayana has numerous characters present in it. The character that Devdutt chose, though is a well-known (and considered to be the heroine of this epic), whether any...

The Girl Who Chose explains Ramayana on the basis of five choices Sita made. Sita was not bound by any rules she was free to choose. Sita's five choices eventually makes Ramayana. It's a good start for young ones to know about Ramayana if they have not heard about it earlier.

The book was really interesting with its illustrations which run little over 100 pages. Devdutt have covered most of the important segments from the epic. And, as expected it was very simple and easy to read.

Even thou...

We all have grown up listening to the story of Ramayana and even today when we are given the story of Indian mythology, we end up going back to our childhood and listening to all of them with as much eagerness as we did back then. What I feel glad about is in today’s time we have authors like Devdutt Pattanaik who strive to present a more interesting take on the mythology for people of all ages. His latest offering “The Girl Who Chose” is an illustrative version of the Ramayana. How could I j...

This was a book suggestion I got online. Before the book arrived, I had many pre-conceived notions about the book . The complete story of Ramayana told in a Children's book with Sita's perspective. Will it be true to the gold standard set by Ramanand Sagar's TV version? Why use the word girl then? Is it a feminist spin on the revered mythological epic? (When I finished the book, I found out that author hailed from my state of Odisha). So here is my unbiased review of the book ;).

It is the ...

“You are bound by rules, Not I. I am free to choose.

Although I have introduced with him two years back, through his fascinating book “Shikhandi” As he seems interested into retelling of mythological figures but with a fresh perspective of his own.
There are things going on, we generally accept them without even questioning, here Devdutt Pattanaik does a tremendous job by unfolding many truths into most comprehended manner.
This time he tried to narrate a Ramayana in an easiest frame so th...

Devdutt Pattanaik this times takes a spin and looks at Ramayana from the point of view of the choices Sita made. He points out that the ancient Indian epic is as much about Rama's obsession with rules and Ravana's disdain for rules as it is about the different choices that Sita, as the central female character in the story, makes. He makes the reader question - what if she had chosen differently? He also imparts little moral standards spewed all over the epic in the most interesting way, alon...

The book is all about Sita and the five choices she makes all along the story and how they change the course of the story impacting all the important and also the not so important characters in the epic. This book isn’t another retelling of the epic but rather focuses on what Sita chooses in the story and Devdutt narrates fantastically without deviating or indulging in any contemporary thoughts staying true to the epic.

The illustrations by the author are uncomplicated making us inquisitive...