ASHWATTHAMA

The mythical tragic hero Ashwatthama, after the war of Mahabharata, was given a strange curse by Lord Krishna - that he would be immortal, but live forever with the pain of his wounds. Ishvaku who is on vacation from his boarding school is narrated this story by his mother before she gets killed in an attack by the bandits in the village. Ishvaku is sent to his maternal village situated in the Chambal ravines. The maternal family that is trying to hold its feudal values is on the verge of a break up, surviving only through its religious beliefs and display. Ishvaku has strange encounters in the village and the myth of Ashwathama comes back to haunt him again one day. The story is a metanarrative where mythological and real stories come together to follow the child’s internal and external journey.