IF INDIANS WERE ASKED to name the most important female character from our myths, the majority would think immediately of Sita. She stands at the forefront of our imagination, epitomising Indian womanhood. But for many, the name conjures up a docile personality, beautiful but fragile and endangered, in need of proper male protection—an image that has been imprinted into us through decades of calendar art and popular serials.

Be like Sita, girls are told. Translation: Accept the troubles that are a part of female destiny; don’t make waves.

But Sita is far stronger than we have given her credit for. My goal in making her the heroine and narrator of my new novel is to highlight the qualities that make her immensely contemporary,