The Forgotten Wife by Madhavi Mahadevan is the story of Hidimbi, a ‘rakshasi’ (demoness), and Bhima, one of the esteemed Pandavas from the Mahabharata. It is a tale that features lust and romance and a series of events that begins with the burning of a house.
Kunti and the five Pandavas have escaped the Kauravas once more, and they know their reprieve is temporary. For they should have died in a house that was torched — and instead, six others died in their stead. And while the Kauravas’ plans to decimate the Pandavas were thwarted, the deaths of those six weigh heavy on the Pandavas, and Kunti.
It is during their flight that they find themselves in a certain forest of rakshasas, Varnavata, and here, they are almost immediately challenged by the mighty Hidimba, half-brother to the beauteous Hidimbi.
The young Hidimbi has been forewarned about the citizens of the nation of Aryavarta, and yet, she is fascinated by them. She is particularly intrigued by Bhima and decides she wants to marry him. She is persistent and pervasive, and Bhima himself is confused about his feelings for her.
Eventually, they do marry, and that marriage, Hidimbi is told, will only last a year. She will bear a son in the meantime. She agrees to it all, and later, as the time for Bhima to depart draws near, she begins to doubt herself, her husband, and the one-year marriage that is threatening to tear her family apart. Besides, her son is different from all the other rakshasas, for he is bald, and as he grows up, he seeks his father.
There is little Hidimbi can do then, despite her foresight. By now, the great war between the Pandavas and Kauravas looms large, and her precious son Ghatotkacha, a warrior of repute, decides to join the battle along with his father Bhima.
The Forgotten Wife is an interesting exploration of Hidimbi, her birth, her life as a rakshasi, and her tumultuous emotions. She is unlike any woman Bhima has seen before, and even Kunti, distant and reserved, is impressed by her. Hidimbi does not share her brother’s violent interests, and while she does mourn his death at Bhima’s hands, she does not really miss him. She is feisty and unpredictable, and she does try to acclimatise herself to her new role as a dutiful wife.
She is also acutely aware of her status as a rakshasi. It does not matter that her father was a Gandharva; she is still a rakshasi to an outsider. She tries to rally for the rights of her people, and convince the Pandavas that they are not the savage forest dwellers the men think they are. Her arguments are unsubtle and fiery, and she is a firm believer in equal rights. An Arya’s culture is not hers, but this does not give them the right to believe rakshasas are barbaric, she declares.
And then the narrative proceeds to portray the rakshasas as utterly barbaric, which is rather perplexing.
There are also strange anachronisms scattered throughout the book. References to zombies, cauliflower noses, veterinary hospitals, and candles. Hidimbi’s tirades are sometimes reminiscent of an angsty modern teen. Dialogues, in general, are too colloquial, and almost everyone delivers a long speech.
Despite these faults, the writing flows well and the descriptions of the forest and the characters’ hopes and dreams are poetic. Bhima is a confused individual who must figure out where he stands with respect to Hidimbi. He is attracted to her and he does not want to be. He is hot-tempered, impulsive, and deeply loyal to his brothers and his mother. Despite his disagreements with Kunti and Yudhistira, he will do as they say. And they, in turn, understand him.
All in all, The Forgotten Wife is an interesting read, not too complicated, and yet, not simplistic. The writing is fluid and the narrative is easily readable. The anachronisms, modern references and dialogues are rather awkward, however. They distract from the story, and more attention to detail in that regard would have greatly improved the narrative.