രണ്ടാമൂഴം | Randamoozham in Vayanashala

Nov 13, 2010 Arun Divakar rated it it was amazing

Strong,compassionate & empathetic. This work stands like a colossus on the shores of Malayalam Literature. The worlds knows Bheema of the Mahabharatha as a beast of war, the elder brother was a paragon of virtue and the casanova-esque thrid brother was a super star all over. Bheema was treated as a bozo who lumbers around with a club bashing up the brains of the Kauravas in TV and in books. How many of these writers saw the hurt & pain being marked a moron gave Bheema ? How many of them saw Bhee Strong,compassionate & empathetic. This work stands like a colossus on the shores of Malayalam Literature. The worlds knows Bheema of the Mahabharatha as a beast of war, the elder brother was a paragon of virtue and the casanova-esque thrid brother was a super star all over. Bheema was treated as a bozo who lumbers around with a club bashing up the brains of the Kauravas in TV and in books. How many of these writers saw the hurt & pain being marked a moron gave Bheema ? How many of them saw Bheema the father ? The son ? The Husband ?...not many did. It took an MT to look beyond the stereotypical labels and bring out the human being in Bheema.

Randamoozham ( for those uninitiated in malayalam, this means "the second round") is by far one of the best literary works I have had the pleasure of reading. Based on the Mahabharatha, it tells the entire epic from the viewpoint of Bheema. Bheema is a most unlikely protagonist in the sense that nothing but his brawn sets him apart. Once when asked about his inspiration for such a work MT replied that the pregnant pauses placed by Vyasa in the Mahabharatha made him think of such a work. Chapters in the Mahabharatha end in places which poses a lot of questions for us & contradictions are galore as in any epic. In one instance the warrior code of the Kshatriyas state that it is the warrior who kills the maximum of the enemies is the one entitled for the crown. If such was the case, Bheema would have been the king but it is his brother who ends up becoming one.

The most manipulative of ladies in literature Draupadi dances him to her whims and Bheema ends up accepting the fact that she played him along all the way. The most powerful of scenes is the one where Krishna walks into the army camp after the death of Bheema's half-demon son in battle, seeing the camp in sorrow Krishna proclaims " good that he died of Karna's hand else it should have been my hand some day". Quite natural for a King to say about a demon but he said this within earshot of the father who stood looking at the body of his slain offspring. This was from the mouth of a man who lectured his friend on the fact that the soul was just a sort of dress for the human body. A few days after this, Krishna is beyond grief when his own nephew is slain in battle, this is one of those acute observations the author makes in te pages.

MT gives the tale a human touch withouth adding any of the mythos or making any character less human than what it actually could have been.The language is powerful & moving and i reread this more than once. With time I am sure I will read this again & again..Just one of those works which is beyond the realm of literature for me. ...more

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Dec 13, 2012 Sarath Krishnan added it

There are so many interpretations and translations on Mahabharatha and Ramayana world wide. Every new translation adds something to the original story. This particular novel foregrounds the Mahabharatha story from the point of view of the 'real hero', Bhima. There is nothing unusual in looking into that epic from that angle. In fact, it is not the first time that one literary work has been subjected to reinterpret or renarrate from the point of view of some other characters from the same novel. ...more

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May 17, 2011 Soumya rated it really liked it

Shelves: malayalam

This novel is very touching one. Nammal orikkalum nokkiyittillatha koniloode nokkiya mahabharatha kadha pole. Bheema... a great man in Mahabharatham... Veeranaya arjunaneyum... dharmathil ninnu adi patharathathennu nam viswasikkunna yudhishtiraneyum maathram kandittulla nammle Mahabharathathile yadhardha veerane kanichu thannathu ee novel aanu...Valare realistic aaya novel...
pakshe chila nimishangalil chila sambhavangal aviswasaniyamayi thonnam... ithu vare kettittulla kadhakalil ninnum vyathyas ...more

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Jul 26, 2012 Krishnanunni rated it really liked it

MT's Magnum Opus....One of my all time favourite....intense and gripping narration...Literally 'Bheeman" grows large in you as you walk along with story....
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Feb 16, 2012 Jinesh rated it it was amazing

Shelves: malayalam, owned-books

It was really an amazing book to read.

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Jun 13, 2010 Athul Raj rated it it was amazing

Shelves: malayalam

This is an example of M.T.Vasudevan Nair's brilliance. He filled the gaps in the untold, untouched parts of the epic to recreate a true classic. From the eyes of the strongest of Pandavas, Bheeman, he tells us the story of human nature, desires and much more. Cunningly eliminating all the supernatural elements in the epic, he makes it the story real humans. ...more

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