i am shakuntala and i am not someone who suffers in silence and sheds tears in isolation. i am like the snake that opens up its hood and…strikes the fear of life and god…

The story of shakuntala is well known her upbringing in the ashram, her meeting with dushyant, their marriage and subsequent separation due to a curse and their final joyous reunion. what is not so well known, however, is that the gentle, lovelorn shakuntala immortalized by kalidasa is very different from the original shakuntala of the mahabharata a strong, fiery woman who stood up for her rights when she was spurned by her beloved.

In this thoughtful retelling of the story of shakuntala, utkarsh patel brings to the fore the original heroine, the bold and beautiful daughter of menaka and vishwamitra who fights to get herself and her son the recognition they deserve. she does not surrender to anyone, not even the king of hastinapur. retold to suit the modernday context, shakuntala: the woman wronged is a mustread to understand one of the most powerful yet underrated female characters of the mahabharata.