Review: Mohini: The Enchantress

Mohini: The Enchantress by Anuja Chandramouli
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lord Vishnu is the operator of universe. He maintains the balance between the forces of good and evil. One of the tools is incarnation. He took birth in animal forms and later one in male forms. The main avatars known as Dashvatar (10 incarnations) include Matsya, Varaha, Rama, Krishna etc.

Where does Mohini fit in? She is said to be only female incarnation of lord Vishnu and is not included in the Dashavtar. She has a small and specific role to play during churning of the sea (Samudra Manthan).

However in this novel Anuja gave her a bigger role. Mohini name comes from Hindi word “Moh” meaning infatuation or illusion. Mohini is someone who seduces with her beauty, viles, magic and enchantment. She is incapable of love according to Shkati, which is not a bad thing per se but a sad thing nevertheless. 

This story is not linear. Mohini says

“I am Mohini. And this is my story. But if you are looking for a simple old story with a beginning, middle and end, you are going to be disappointed.”

I read almost all the novels by Anuja Chadramouli and I always felt it. The stories have beautiful and lyrical prose, lofty vocabulary but the structure was nonlinear. That distracted me. This book admits it in the beginning itself.

I liked it for the beautiful prose and thoughts. There are many but I will reproduce some of the portions which I liked much.

“The fabled age of heroes and heroines, warriors and the wise will end. Only the puniest of mortals will remain trapped in the maudlin existence worth only the morbid, mundane and monotonous, which will prompt them into increasing acts of desperation to alleviate the sameness and sickness of it all.” 

This has come to pass. We can see the whole world is going crazy due to zombie like reverie created by mobile phones and social media. Everything is false and nothing is sacred. 

“The female of the species keep harping about equal rights, and yet when they are treated just like the same, they can’t handle it.”

Is it a veiled attack on modern day feminism? Your guess is as good as mine.

“Unlike stories, dreams have neither a beginning nor an ending. I continued to traipse from story to next.” 

The book is worth reading and gives a glimpse of eternal conflict between good and evil. Vishnu is all about balance. Both of these are necessary perhaps and when the scale tips on one side he steps in. Mohini was one such tool. 4/5 stars.

P.S. On lighter note I made my son read Anuja’s book for her English composition studies. You may also try.

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