By any standards, ancient epics are heavy on testosterone. Mortal women cause war, become its spoils, bewitch its victors or just wait for their menfolk to make their way back home. The Sanskrit epic Mahabharata has its share of war and bewitchment, but Panchaali (also known as Draupadi), the woman who narrates Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's feminised retelling, is a fascinating oddity: princess and maidservant, demure beauty and vengeful schemer. By a twist of fate, she ends up married to five brothers at the same time and plays a part in causing the great war of Mahabharat. A little jejune at times, Divakaruni's languid and elegant prose remains seductive as it reimagines the woman at the heart of the story and weaves myth into a modern idiom.
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