India, Sept. 6 -- An ecofiction that is also a feminist imagining of Sabari's life and purpose, On the Banks of the Pampa by the Telugu poet Volga highlights the impact of development on ecology.

Volga's mythological retellings are fierce; they dare to imagine the absences lingering in the presentation of marginal characters, often surprising the reader with their agency and power. This is clear in her earlier novels, The Liberation of Sita (2016), and Yashodhara (2019).

In On the Banks of the Pampa, translated by Purnima Tammireddy, Volga returns to the Ramayana to imagine the life of an elderly tribal woman who awaits Rama's arrival, as predicted by her guru, Matanga Muni. She is scorned for tasting the berries before offering them to...