Yudhishtar and Draupadi: A Tale of Love, Passion and the Riddles of Existence Revised Edition

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A marvelous poetic interpretation of a key episode from the Mahabharata In the forest, in the stillness of the morning, Yudhishtar, custodian of morality, oblivious to scale or balance, unthinking, made love to this woman, his wife, Draupadi. A long poem in rhymed sonnets, Yudhishtar and Draupadi is an imaginative retelling of the encounter between the Pandavas and the Yaksha of the pool, which finds Yudhishtar, the eldest Pandava, answering fundamental philosophical questions about existence as the lives of his brothers hang in the balance. Unknown to him, also at stake is his relationship with Draupadi, who is still furious with him for having wagered her at the game of dice with the Kauravas (‘he hadn’t won her; she wasn’t his to lose’). About the Author Pavan K. Varma studied history at St. Stephen’s College, Delhi and took a degree in law from Delhi University. A member of the Indian Foreign Service, he has served in Moscow, in New York at the Indian Mission to the United Nations, in London, where he was Director of the Nehru Centre, and as India’s High Commissioner in Cyprus. He is at present India’s Ambassador inBhutan. Apart from his own books, he has also translated Gulzar (Selected Poems), Kaifi Azmi (Selected Poems), and Atal Bihari Vajpayee (21 Poems) into English for Penguin. Gulzar started out as a poet with the Progressive Writers’ Association. He turned lyricist with Bimal Roy’s Bandini (1963). While working as Roy’s full-time assistant, he wrote scripts, dialogues and lyrics for several film- makers before directing his first feature film Mere Apne in 1971. Over the next decade and a half he made some of the enduring classics of Hindi cinema, and continues to be one of the most popular lyricists in mainstream Hindi cinema with several chartbusters to his credit in recent years. Gulzar has published a number of poetry anthologies, collections of short stories, and a biography of Mirza Ghalib. He is regarded as one of India’s finest writers for children with several books for children to his credit. Apart from the many Filmfare and National Awards for his films and lyrics, Gulzar has also received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2002 and the Padma Bhushan in 2004. He lives and works in Mumbai