End of the Circle: A Fable of Love

By Mandakini Mathur and Kripa Bhatia

Blurring the lines between the human and the divine, between the sensual and the sacred, the story of Radha and Krishna has captured the imagination of a land from times immemorial. Radha in the folklore is a married woman deeply in love with the ‘village boy’ Krishna who has stolen the hearts of many. Hence the character of Radha embodies an intense deep longing for the seemingly impossible. The agony and the ecstasy of separation and union with the beloved encapsulates a profound aesthetic idea for exploring the different shades of love both at the human and spiritual level. The journey of our protagonist Maya, echoes the quest of Radha. The overarching rainbow of emotions in both these stories is that of a pure and empowering love that transcends all social norms and restrictions. Although venerated as an iconic divine pair and frozen as idols in temples, does Radha ever get to live with Krishna? This is a story of impossible Love. Maya summons enough courage to overcome all odds, which includes fighting her own inner demons. But can such a story have any conclusive end? It would be like reaching the end of a circle

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing India
• Release date: Dec 19, 2019
• ISBN: 9781543706000

Mandakini Mathur

Mandakini Mathur is a poet, playwright, writer and film maker. And a lifelong student of ancient Indian art and philosophy. She did her M.Phil in cinema studies from the Sorbonne, Paris. She is the founder of Devrai Art Village, an NGO that works with Adivasi craftsmen to make sculptures in metal and stone fusion. Her previous book – Radha, Poems of Love was recently published to much critical acclaim. She is based in Panchgani, India where she now lives and works. She can be reached at [e-mail].

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Copyright © 2019 Mandakini Mathur. All rights reserved.

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Partridge India

000 800 10062 62

www.partridgepublishing.com/india

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

ISBN

ISBN: 978-1-5437-0599-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5437-0600-0 (e)

12/19/2019

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Contents

Author’s Note

Foreword

Preface

The timeless season of rain

Autumn with its stamp of the full moon

Winter which keeps love warm

Spring that descends silently between moments…

Summer that dries laughter

Again the rains

Glossary (in order of appearance)

Dedicated to Vanmala, Tai Atya, my Aunt, who seeded my mind with Radha very early in childhood.

Author’s Note

There are certain images which get engraved in your psyche forever. One such image is that of my aunt Vanmala, a well-known film star, who while on her deathbed clung on to a photo frame of Radha. Although in a state of hopeless despair, her body wracked with the searing pain during the last stage of cancer, she would try to focus her attention on the longing of Radha for Krishna. She wanted to join the eternal Raasleela as a Gopi and waited for her death as if it were a meeting with her beloved.

On a more worldly level, I would like to thank my husband Atul and friend Viv Macadam who sieved through the manuscript many a time, sifting the chaff out and leaving the essential intact.

Although a mere ‘thank you’ seems inadequate, I would nonetheless like to say thanks to Kripa who painted a mindscape of Radha as tangible as a landscape.

And lastly I am thrilled to express my gratitude to Harsha V Dehejia, a scholar of eminence on Indian Art and Aesthetics who has as if validated all my efforts by writing a Foreword to this book.

Foreword

Walk gently lest you disturb the flowers, speak softly so as not to wake up the birds, have gentle thoughts and speak in whispers for you are entering an enchanted world of love created by Mandakini. It is a world of hushed conversations on the bank of the Yamuna, shafts of moonlight that light up forest paths, the throb of desire in every part of the body and the pangs of longing in every space in the mind. Mandakini weaves a tale of shringara, of parakiya love of Maya, who is now Radha and now an abhisarika. Then there is Akshay, her beloved, who craves for her touch and is intoxicated with her smells. And Raghav, Maya’s husband who understands Maya more than she knows. The romantic narrative, richly sensuous and tastefully erotic, weaves and meanders between Krishna and Radha of the Gita Govinda and Maya and Akshay of the real world, and we are kept captive by the love and longing, pain and pathos of the many shades and textures of shringara. We feel exhilarated in moments of samyoga and are poignant in times of viyoga of the lovers. Mandakini skilfully uses the viraha of Maya and Akshay to move shringara to shringara bhakti and in so doing elevates their love and bring it close to that of Radha and Krishna. Mandakini’s well crafted words create beautiful poetic images, there is a palpable sensuality in them and she portrays the landscape with a poet’s heart. Between moments of evocative silence and words and gestures of unabashed love, Mandakini’s Maya takes us to the foot steps of Radha in Vrindavana. Radha for her epitomizes the strength that keeps the pain of longing alive. She stands firm like a rock against which lash the waves of Time, crumbling slowly, dissolving into water till she becomes one with the dance of the waves. Thus the longing of Radha for Mandakini easily slides into becoming a metaphor for a spiritual longing, for a constant who we refer to as God. As we reluctantly put the book down we whisper Radhe! Radhe!

Harsha V. Dehejia