This is a fantastic retelling of the Greek mythological story of Hades and Persephone, which is one of my favourite, though the original one does not give one much scope to truly admire Hades or even Persephone for that matter. But in this retelling, the original essence has been retained while imbuing the flavour of our favourite couple.
So Sanskaar here, an orphan who though has the fire to prove himself carries his lineage or rather the lack of it as a personal hell - he is Hades, the king of the underworld whom everyone needs (Hades was entrusted with the task of keeping the souls of the dead from escaping to the living world) to do their bidding and yet is never considered as one of their own. The fire that burns in his soul threatens to be lost in this darkness or worse, burn him from inside and turn him into a dark embittered man. Also like Hades, he was misunderstood by those he considered to be own, or hoped that they would be his own - for if you read the mythological tales, of the three brothers; Zeus, Posieden and Hades, Hades is the only one who does not wreck havoc on earth, its people, its lands and waters. Further, his dog Cerebus, is Greek/ Latinised for spotted, which makes him a guy with a dog named Spot. That should make him large hearted, which he must be for when Hercules needed Cerebus for completion of one of his twelve tasks, Hades willing gave him his dog. What more proof do you need that he is a nice guy. Kidding aside, these characteristics beautifully moulded into the complex personality of Sanskaar, a willing son to the man who almost adopted him, a brother and friend, one who could share his business which he created (Okay, not comparing the Company "Karma" to Cerebus but then a reader could get the drift, on the other hand - Cerebus had three heads, and Karma has three partners, so maybe the imagery is not entirely wrong either.)
Persephone personified by Swara, is a beautiful twist, she is the light who is attracted and irresistibly drawn towards the melancholy that Sanskaar radiates - a twist, for in the original tale (though there are a few versions contrary to the popular one), Persephone was not attracted towards Hades, he was the one mesmerised by the light she radiated. But then it makes more sense, does it not, her light must be too bright and dazzling, she needed his darkness, the coldness. And on reading the tale, shades of Persephone are visible, her weeping or rather her
missing her family, and missing Sanskaar when with the family, her desire to be with Sanskaar (Hades never looked at any other woman - though in Greek mythology, Minthe (also Menthe, Mintha or Mentha) was a naiad associated with the river Cocytus. She was dazzled by Hades and made an attempt to seduce him, but Queen Persephone intervened and metamorphosed Minthe, in the words of Strabo's account, "into the garden mint, which some call hedyosmon (lit. 'sweet-smelling')". I guess Swara's anger at Sanskaar spending more time with Karma could be analogous to this story.
The influence of the mythological characters continues in Sharmistha, who as everyone's guess, is Demeter, though here she brings winter before Swara is taken by Sanskaar, an act which distances her daughter and increases the dark embers in Sanskaar. It takes a lot of time for both to reconcile and for Sanskaar to finally forgive her, much to the joy and happiness of Swara. (there is no mention of Demeter ever forgiving Hades but then mythology glossed over a lot of pertinent events, but this is a happy twist).
And what about the other characters, well Lucky, since you did not actually mention them, I will take the liberty to do so - Zues as Sujoy, the one who actually gives Sanskaar permission to marry his sister (more than Sekhar) and in another major twist, did not even have a love interest - a very bland version of the womanising Zeus, but all the more lovable for the same.
Dadi would be Hera, the jealous wife of Zeus, resurrected as Sujoy's grandmother, for whom none but the best would do (not a perfect fit but has some shades). What about Sekhar - he is Helios, the one who witness the abduction (it is only in some versions that it is mentioned that Hades raped Persephone, though all agree that he abducted her) and yet did nothing to stop it - in this tale it must be because as a father to one and mentor to another, he realised that Sanskaar need the light to warm his soul and Swara needed the darkness to see the stars.
Ragini could be Hectate who later turned out to be a very good friend of Persephone and who was instrumental in ensuring that Persephone did spend sometime in the underworld. In this story, she is quite instrumental in the wedding taking place.
ETA - I knew I missed something - Sahil is Pirithous. Pirithous was a greek hero, though I think he did not have much by way of brains, quite like Sahil here, who along with his best friend Theseus, thought themselves worthy of marrying daughters of Zeus. Theseus claimed Helen and Pirithous claimed Persephone. The two heros kidnapped the princess Hellen, and then descended into the underworld to kidnap Persephone, the queen of Hades.
Once in the underworld, Hades, who was wise to their plan, invited the heroes to a feast and sat them in magical chairs that caused them to forget their quest and even their identity. They sat, fixed to these chairs for some time, until the hero, Herakles (aka Hercules) found them. Herakles pulled Theseus from his chair and he immediately regained his memory. Together, Theseus and Herakles tried to free Pirithous, but try as they may the God of Death would not let go the man who had the hubris to attempt to steal his queen.
So Pirithous was stuck forever in the underworld, as in this tale Sahil is left to rot in prison.
And I have rambled on so much, but that is because I so loved that tale. Thank you for writing and sharing this with us.
Mangal Lakshmi
