It is always interesting and compelling when there is a contemporary re-reading of older texts and textual traditions because it keeps the connection between the past and present alive and vibrant. It is not necessary to reiterate the truism that in India traditions persist, but instead of remaining unchanged, they constantly change. The text of Valmiki’s Ramayana—yes, there is the issue of fixing the critical edition—gets interpreted in innumerable ways. In India, over the centuries, and it will be inaccurate to say that it happens only in India, the writers have used the seed story of the main text and made imaginative changes in the story. The Homeric characters and stories were rewritten in the plays and tales into late antiquity in the Hellenic world.
August 2025, volume 49, No 8