Vol. 6, Issue 2, Part C (2024)

Kavita Kane’s Sita’s Sister defines the epic narrative of the Ramayana through the perspective of Urmila, the often-overlooked sister of Sita, thereby offering a fresh lens to explore female experiences within a traditionally patriarchal framework. The novel foregrounds the intricate dynamics of sisterhood, depicting both solidarity and rivalry as central to understanding women’s roles and relationships in mythological and cultural contexts. Through Urmila’s eyes, Kane illuminates the emotional labour, sacrifices, and resilience of women whose stories have historically been marginalised or silenced. The narrative highlights how female camaraderie functions as a source of strength, empathy, and mutual support, while also acknowledging the tensions, jealousy, and competition that can emerge within familial bonds. Urmila and Sita as distinct yet interconnected personalities, the novel interrogates the nuanced interplay between duty, loyalty, and personal desire. This duality challenges conventional readings of mythological women as passive or archetypal figures, instead presenting them as complex, self-aware, and morally engaged individuals.Kane’s work also situates these personal narratives within broader socio-cultural and gendered frameworks, revealing how epic tales often mirror societal expectations, norms, and hierarchies that shape women’s lives. The novel’s feminist re-interpretation emphasises agency, voice, and subjectivity, encouraging readers to rethink the portrayal of women in classical texts. The historical imagination with contemporary feminist sensibilities, Sita’s Sister underscores the importance of revisiting myth to recover marginalised perspectives and interrogate gendered power structures. The text thus contributes not only to literary discussions of re-interpretation and re-telling but also to the ongoing discourse on women’s solidarity, rivalry, and resilience across time.