Praise
The most lyrical of all such attempts to see the Mahabharata through the eyes of its characters is the remarkable dramatic poem Until the Lions by the Kerala-born, Paris-based poet, dance producer, and librettist Karthika Naïr ... The thirty haunting, heartrending chapters, in a wide range of forms and styles, resonate powerfully with one another...Women whose names are known from the Sanskrit epic but whose character and inner experience are muted there suddenly come to life as full-blooded people caught up in the destruction endemic to a male world...
Until the Lions is a powerful lesson in how the legacy of hate can flow from one generation to another. Naïr’s writing is constantly informed by the intricate structures of choreography and, at the same time, has had a profound influence on several prominent dance artists of this generation.
Until the Lions is a triumph of narrative and poetic risk-taking. Five years in the making, Naïr’s collection of poems, written in the voices of women in the Mahabharata, has been rightly hailed as a magnum opus by the critics. The most recognisably remarkable thing about the books is its beautiful, languorous, old-world English that blends right in with her subject matter.
There is a dazzling range of forms from pantoums and ghazals, to Spanish glosa and sestinas; all of which is carried off with considerable aplomb and bravura technique . . . But what Naïr has done in Until the Lions is recast the Mahabharata in language which reaches deep into the core of the original and makes it triumphantly, vibrantly new.
A fascinating and creative interpretation of the Mahabharata.
Karthika retells the Mahabharata in many voices, each hitherto unheard of, and it is impossible not to be captivated by them. A brilliant poetic tribute to the epic.
The Mahabharata will always take you back to the deepest existential questions. It continues to instigate superlative writing as well. Karthika Naïr’s Until the Lions (Harper Collins) is an unshakeable masterpiece of modern poetry, and one of the great retellings of the text.
Yet beyond its blood-soaked destinies and edgy verse is a moving humanist call to better understand history and epic, and our own violent impulses that (mis)shape both. Naïr’s raw representation of emotion, metaphysical meditations and technical artistry make her one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary Indian poetry in English today.
Until the Lions was a revelation about the kind of power that can be held within lines of words… The lines of Amba, for instance, are so intense it felt like they were faintly vibrating before my eye.
Extras
Read an interview with Naïr in Mint Lounge here.
Read a piece in French on Naïr and Ursula Le Guin from En attendant Nadeau here.
Tishani Doshi and Naïr discuss dance, poetry, and the legacy of mythology for Granta Magazine here.
Read an excerpt of Until the Lions over at Live Mint here.
Watch Karthika Naïr read from Until the Lions at the Winter Warmer Poetry Festival here. She comes on about 40 minutes in.
Watch Karthika Naïr and Jai Arjun Singh discuss stage adaptations of Until the Lions, at the Jaipur Literature Festival, here.
Listen to Karthika Naïr and David Naimon discuss Until the Lions on Between the Covers here.