Word: mahabharata
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...world's longest poem - over 1.8 million words, containing over one hundred thousand verses and approximately ten times the length of the Iliad and Odyssey combined. And now India's celebrated epic the Mahabharata, the writing of which began around 300 B. C. by the venerated Hindu figure Vyasa, is being written again - one 140-character tweet at a time...
...format has its creative advantages. Instead of telling the classic story through the eyes of a the main narrator as in the original Mahabharata, Sreedharan takes the point of view of an heretofore one- dimensional character, Bhima, one of the five Pandava brothers who defeat their cousins, the Kauravas, in tale's central battle. "Bhima has been the brawny superman of Mahabharata," says the Indian-born academic and journalist. "Here he is being presented as someone who is really sensitive and intelligent." (Watch TIME's video "Twitter Poetry on the Plinth in London...
...mention non-Indians who haven't grown up listening to the epics stories, find the long, complicated tale too difficult to follow. Even in modern retellings - of which there are many - the Hindu philosophy, the wide cast of characters, and the scope of the tale make the Mahabharata a challenging read. Sreedharan says he wants to simplify the story and make it accessible to both young Indians and foreigners alike. "Without giving it the canopy of an epic, if it's projected as just a tale - and a beautiful tale - it'll be interesting for anyone...
...aunt” or “uncle,” depending on the exact relation, such a modern progression toward family breakdown and divide seems incongruous. But then again, partition in Indian history is a recurrent theme, referenced even in the Sanskrit epic “The Mahabharata,” where dividing the kingdom of Hastinapura among cousin, princely heirs is proposed as an alternative to war (although war inevitably ensues). In 1947, geographic partitioning of the subcontinent, intended to veil cultural-turned-political differences, later became the subtext for South Asia’s modern political narrative...
...collective memory, or dismissed as the result of wayward relatives and brash younger generations. Surely Dhirubhai Ambani may be rolling over in his grave, but today’s evidence for familial breakdown is rooted in themes of family disputes that are as timeless as “The Mahabharata.” Quarrelling families are not a modern phenomenon in India, but the recent move away from the joint-family arrangement is arguably facilitated by more modern trends—India’s continuing growth and a booming real estate market. These factors are nonetheless coupled with desires...