With the creative adjectives and strong imagery, Sanatani painted vivid imagery of the character in my head. This sassy character, Mercury closely reminded me of the Greek God Hermes. From his impeccable attire to his unending knowledge about business and trades, Hermes felt like the Greek counterpart of Mercury.
Welcome on board The Great Father of Time, the best teacher of life and the de facto co-ruler of the Solar System—Saturn, the only planet in the Cosmos who can stand up to the Sun as its equal. Surprised, are you? I was too when I was first introduced to him while reading The Little Light by Dipa Sanatani.
Jupiter is a character that displays silent strength. We often think of strength as bravado and toughness. Yet, I believe real strength does not thump its chest to intimidate others. It is born out of compassion for all living beings. Believe me – it is far harder to exercise compassion than it is to gain power through intimidation.
As an astrologer myself, I was curious about the development of Rahu’s character in the book. I waited impatiently for him to appear. I was not disappointed. He enters with a flourish, making his appearance as a magnificent Red Dragon. He wears the disdain of the rest of the planets as lightly as an ornament on his costume.
The child in me always believed that somewhere somehow all the living entities in this universe are assisting each other to find their true purpose. This invisible inter-relation of entities is beyond past, present, and future.
With her very colourful and engaging characters, Sanatani manages to create strong imagery in our heads which readers can relate to their own lives on earth. What is amazing about the narrative style is the human-like conversations between different Celestial Beings that makes it easy for the readers to quickly grasp the storyline.
When our life is laid down in front of our eyes, one choice after the other, it all comes down to one question – did we really lead our own life by our own rules or were our decisions just results of already decided consequences which leave us with no choice?
The genesis of fairy tales can be traced back to tradition of oral stories told by wandering storytellers. Such stories, which were passed on from mouth to mouth for long years without being written down ever, fascinated the children for centuries and kept their imagination alive. These stories remain in their memory along with their deep underlying moral streak, even when kids grow up. Such is the power of folklore and fairytales.
“Trying something new is always exciting. When I got the proposal to do character sketching, I was quite excited and a bit anxious. For me, giving life to imagination is a huge task as I mostly draw using references. But once I started the work, I felt good. It was a pleasure to work with the author. She always had a clear view about the work and how to develop it.”
“Spirituality is faith and experience based whereas science is fact and observation based. I don’t see why the two can’t coexist. We humans have a great capacity for imagination and compassion. We’re also incredibly analytical and rational. It’s how our brains are wired – to live with these two contradictions and still function.”