Yashodhara: A Novel

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The story of Siddhartha Gautama leaving the palace to start his spiritual journey and attain enlightenment as the Buddha has been told innumerous times over the centuries. And yet, have we never wondered why his young wife, Yashodhara, still recovering from the birth of their son, sleeps soundly as her husband, the over-protected prince, departs, leaving behind his family and wealth and kingdom?

In Yashodhara, the gaps of history are imagined with fullness and fierceness: Who was the young girl and what shaped her worldview? When she married Siddhartha at the age of sixteen, did she know her conjugal life would soon change drastically? The Yashodhara we meet in Volga's feminist novel is quick-witted, compassionate and wants to pave a way for women to partake in spiritual learning as equals of men.

Volga is one of the most significant figures in contemporary Telugu literature. Her nearly-fifty publications include novels, plays, short-story collections, collections of essays and poetry, as well as translations. Presently the executive chairperson and founder member of Asmita Resource Centre for Women, Volga has edited the anthology of poems Neeli Meghalu, co-edited Sarihaddulu Leni Sandhyalu, which deals with feminist political praxis in Andhra Pradesh and co-authored the book Saramsam, which documents the anti-arrack struggle. She has co- authored Mahilavaranam/Womanscape, a volume on celebrating the women who shaped the history of Andhra Pradesh.

Volga has received several awards for her work, including the Best Writer Award from Potti Sriramulu Telugu University, the Rangavalli Memorial Award, the Ramineni Foundation Award, the Malathi Chandur Award, the Visala Sahiti Puraskaram, the Suseela Narayana Reddy Award, the Kandukuri Veerasalingam Literary Award, the Loknayak Foundation Award, the South Asia Laadli Media & Advertising Award for Gender Sensitivity. She received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2015 for her novel Vimuktha, published in English as The Liberation of Sita by Harper Perennial.

P.S.V. Prasad worked as associate professor in the department of English in Chundi Ranganayakulu Degree College and retired as its principal in 2013. He is the author of the the Telugu novel Samathavani and has written the scripts for two Telugu films, Mamasri and Aswani, for which he received the Kalasagar best film writer award.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages