‘… men’s dreams are built on women’s pain.’
Madhavi Mahadevan presents to us the tale of Drishadvati, an illegitimate princess born of Yayati, the philandering Suryavanshi king of Hastinapur. She is blessed (or cursed?) with a book—that she would sire four kings. Drishadvati, it was prophesied, was also ‘blessed’ such that she would regain her virginity after every birth. This boon made her the coveted prize of her times. In her patriarchal world, she was the commodity—surrogate for powerful kings whose lineage is threatened, the object of lustful yearnings of men, the vent for women’s dissatisfaction. It is only when she reclaims her fertility-for-hire for her own does she gain control of her destiny.
Bride of the Forest is the journey of a child who abruptly has to take the mantle of a woman. The protagonist, Drishadvati, or Madhavi, as a child is vivacious and intelligent, and has immense capacity for love, sacrifice and patience. She is passed around from person to person, commodified and used for what she can offer. Every time she conceives a child, she pays the price for Gaalav’s pride. Gaalav and his quest for acquiring Vishwamitra’s curious gurudakshina—eight hundred rare horses—leads him to repeatedly use Drishadvati’s boon for his gain.