I am currently on a journey to explore my cultural roots more and Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel comes at a great time. In the last decade, retellings of Hindu mythology have become quite popular. Kaikeyi is based on one of the two Hindu epics—the Ramayana. I had seen this book marketed as a retelling of the Ramayana and as someone who is familiar with that text and the role Kaikeyi actually played in that epic, it was even more exciting to dive into it, especially if you hadn’t thought much about what happened to Kaikeyi or why she did what she did.
Kaikeyi is the story of a woman who wants to make a difference in her husband’s kingdom and women’s lives when in her own homeland, she was a nobody in spite of being a princess. She is an amazing horse-rider, a fearless warrior, and an aspirational mother who understands that as a woman she has a role to play that is also set in stone by society, but that does not mean that she will not challenge it and forge her own path.
Knowing the Ramayana made this a very enjoyable book as many of these characters were known, even if some only by name, and finally got a glimpse of what their story would have been like! My reading experience of this book is incomplete without my background in the Ramayana, so here’s a brief summary!
The Ramayana is the story of Ram. King Dashrath of Ayodhya had three wives and, at the time of marrying his youngest wife, Kaikeyi, he had promised her that her son would be the king. When Dashrath is ready to abdicate the throne, Kaikeyi reminds him of his promise and Dashrath is forced to send Ram, his eldest born from his first wife, Kaushalya, on an exile. Plenty happens in the long years of exile and when finally Ram returns, taking his place on the throne, he forgives Kaikeyi. This video offers a more detailed summary of the epic. However, there are many versions of the Ramayana and some details may differ. For example, in Kaikeyi and stories I grew up with, Ram was not blue as well as recalling Kaikeyi being a jealous third queen who wanted more influence and was manipulated by her maid.
This is where this novel comes in—allowing people like me who are familiar with this epic and never questioned why she really sent Ram on exile to imagine her and get to know her side of the story. The focus is so much on Ram in the childhood tales that I was curious about who Kaikeyi was a person.
Vaishnavi Patel writes a beautiful version of this queen, imagining her as a young girl whose mother has left her and her brothers with their father. The journey of how she grows to be an amazing person who is sharp and aware of the pain that girls go through in a patriarchal society is depicted. Kaikeyi has discovered magic, but at the same time, she is forsaken by gods. She is not perfect and has learned ways to manipulate people, but she is also not all-bad that the Ramayana summary videos make her to be.
Patel succeeded in redefining what little I knew of Kaikeyi and making her into an unforgettable character that would fight gods to keep her morals and mortal world at peace. Her portrayal is refreshing and immersive. The court of Ayodhya is described vividly and it sounds like a peaceful kingdom that Kaikeyi built with her sister wives. She has some magic and the part of her being god-touched was new to me. The power Kaikeyi had was intriguing and how she grew to understand and use it better—how it caused her so much more pain for her decisions, but she had to undertake those actions anyway to stand by her morals.
The presence of Ravana in Kaikeyi was also quite interesting. Ravana is the antagonist of the Ramayana, the ashura that Lord Vishnu has reincarnated on earth as Ram to destroy. His friendship with Kaikeyi was something unexpected to me. This book plays with a certain version of the Ramayana where Sita is actually Ravana’s daughter. Kaikeyi sets it up as something that can be explored in the future. Through the time it does cover, the story sets up the stage for the Ramayana, and like all hindu epics, there is a semi-frequent reminder by gods that it is all inevitable anyway.
I don’t know much about Ram’s childhood, but in all stories I grew up with, he was portrayed as an amazing person. In some aspects, the version of Ram in Kaikeyi makes perfect sense: as someone who knows he is god incarnate, he would exert certain influences, bordering on manipulation, on the people around him. He would take the teachings of the gods very seriously and would not be open to change, particularly the changing role of women. Where it got a little out of hand for me was when he decided to get a god’s help to teach Kaikeyi, his mother, a lesson. I cannot reconcile this version of Ram with the benevolent prince and king of the original epic. How could he be so disrespectful towards Kaikeyi, especially considering the values he was brought up with? This is one of the few points where I felt that this book differed from the sentiments of the original that I am familiar with.
The way this was written gave me the opportunity to understand the pain that Kaikeyi and the mothers felt as they saw Ram’s transformation too late to correct it and had to send him away. It also makes me curious to see how this Ram evolves into the one I grew up knowing, because with retellings, the main events cannot change and one can’t deviate too much from the fundamental teachings and characters.
Kaikeyi and Ayodhya have been the highlights of this book, especially the portrayal of Kaikeyi as a powerful queen who was misunderstood and yet always tried to do what was in the best interest of her family and kingdom. The men in her life sometimes claimed promises made to her as their own and caused meaningless war to defend their pride. There were many times when I felt angry towards the men and the way they treated the women in this book. I loved that she had the support of Dashrath’s other wives and that the three of them held the kingdom together in times of chaos.
Kaikeyi is not just another mythology fantasy to me. It stands by itself, as a unique work inspired by the earlier history that led to the Ramayana, portraying one of the many takes on the events. It made me feel at home. Little things like the use of regional dialects of that time in the writing (this is most obvious with the use of the word ‘radyni’ which means ‘queen’. In Hindi, we use ‘rani’.) added a lot to the book for me. Kaikeyi is complete with powerful women, court intrigue, magic, war with humans, fights with supernatural beings, familial and political tensions of the time when the world was composed of princely states. This will be a cherished addition to the Hindu mythology and retelling section in my home library.
Kaikeyi is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
“I was born on the full moon under an auspicious constellation, the holiest of positions—much good it did me.”
So begins Kaikeyi’s story. The only daughter of the kingdom of Kekaya, she is raised on tales about the might and benevolence of the gods: how they churned the vast ocean to obtain the nectar of immortality, how they vanquish evil and ensure the land of Bharat prospers, and how they offer powerful boons to the devout and the wise. Yet she watches as her father unceremoniously banishes her mother, listens as her own worth is reduced to how great a marriage alliance she can secure. And when she calls upon the gods for help, they never seem to hear.
Desperate for some measure of independence, she turns to the texts she once read with her mother and discovers a magic that is hers alone. With this power, Kaikeyi transforms herself from an overlooked princess into a warrior, diplomat, and most favored queen, determined to carve a better world for herself and the women around her.
But as the evil from her childhood stories threatens the cosmic order, the path she has forged clashes with the destiny the gods have chosen for her family. And Kaikeyi must decide if resistance is worth the destruction it will wreak—and what legacy she intends to leave behind.
A stunning debut from a powerful new voice, Kaikeyi is a tale of fate, family, courage, and heartbreak—of an extraordinary woman determined to leave her mark in a world where gods and men dictate the shape of things to come.
Content notes include violence, war, sexism.
