Love, revenge, compassion, betrayal, dignity, confidence and devotion: the canvas of Draupadi: The Fire-Born Princess (Campfire Graphic Novels) by Saraswati Nagpal is accumulated with emotions of various colours. Captured directly from the Indian epic Mahabharata, the book magnificently portrays the life of Draupadi. Unique in its craft, the book follows a very engaging pattern of narration that it manages to sketch Draupadi and her emotions straight into the reader's mind.
Born from a fire ritual, draupadi's life is rich with experiences of various kind. Though she fell in love with Arjuna, one of the five pandava brothers, it is so destined for her to live as the common wife of all the five brothers. Her life undergoes many transformations wherein she plays the roles of a beautiful princess, a powerful queen, the wife of pandavas, and even a commoner in the dark forests. Right from her birth to her heavenly ascension, Draupadi: The Fire-Born Princess (Campfire Graphic Novels) magnificently illustrates draupadi as an astonishingly powerful woman who holds the centre stage.
With a multitude of stories interwoven in a single thread, it is undoubtedly tedious to detach a single character from mahabharata and distinctly speak about it. The beauty of this craft lies in the author's successful effort to depict Draupadi's perspectives alone in the book, that too without disturbing the flow and naturality of the epic at any point. The author has chosen to narrate the story from a first person perspective, which also gives the reader a clear picture on her predecessors. The book is rich with its magical illustrations by artist Manu, which add on to the beauty of the craft. Published by Campfire in 2013, the book is available in paperback.
Key Features:
- The book is widely acclaimed for its novelty in approach and presentation of a massive concept in a subtle format.
- The book was widely reviewed by many international media including the The New York Journal of Books.