‘The Book of Ram’ by Devdutt Pattanaik delves into the life of Lord Ram through his relationships – son of Dashrath, student of various sages, husband of Sita, enemy of Ravana and many more. What the book deals about is better understood from the words of the author - ‘As Vishwamitra's student, aged 13, he had one of his first lessons. That decisions must be made in context,’ says Pattanaik. On the one hand, Ram had to protect Rishi Vishwamitra's yagna from the rakshasi, Tadaka, which means he had to kill her but wasn't killing a woman – a creator of life – one of the worst crimes in the Vedic world? On the other hand, with one touch of his hand, he liberated Ahalya, wife of Rishi Gautam, who had been sexually unfaithful and cursed to turn to stone. But wasn't infidelity a sin? ‘It showed him that everything had to be dealt with in context,’ says Pattanaik. ‘When do you kill a woman? When do you save a woman? Tadaka had to be killed whatever her sex because she int