Sons of Gods – The Mahabharata Retold by S. Aruna is a condensation of the epic Mahabharata. Below is an interview with S. Aruna – to understand what new she offers to the reader through the book, the language, the women characters etc. To those who have already read the Mahabharata or know the story, what new aspects does your book offer? Every writer who attempts a condensation of the Mahabharata will have a certain vision of which elements of the vast epic are essential, which less essential. Thus each condensation is unique in itself, since each one moulds together a different set of story elements. In my case, I was motivated to achieve three goals: first: it should essentially be a whole, rounded story similar in structure and style to a modern novel: that is, to bring the central story to life through the characters and dialogue while omitting almost all of the hundreds of “side-plots”, and avoiding the sermonising which, to my mind, detracts from the story in