hi so i’m a hindu girl and i’ll never read aru shah and here’s why.
over the past few years, since the release of the aru shah novels, all my non-indian friends have been telling me to go read aru shah because of the “amazing representation” and “it’s about hinduism adhithi you’ll love it” and “it’s even written by an indian author”. i remember giving it thought, but then i gave the blurb a look at my local costco and decided that i would not be reading it that day, preferably ever.
for reference, here’s the blurb:
“Best-selling author Rick Riordan introduces this adventure by Roshani Chokshi about twelve-year-old Aru Shah, who has a tendency to stretch the truth in order to fit in at school. While her classmates are jetting off to family vacations in exotic locales, she’ll be spending her autumn break at home, in the Museum of Ancient Indian Art and Culture, waiting for her mom to return from her latest archeological trip.
Is it any wonder that Aru makes up stories about being royalty, traveling to Paris, and having a chauffeur? One day, three schoolmates show up at Aru’s doorstep to catch her in a lie. They don’t believe her claim that the museum’s Lamp of Bharata is cursed, and they dare Aru to prove it. Just a quick light, Aru thinks. Then she can get herself out of this mess and never ever fib again.
But lighting the lamp has dire consequences. She unwittingly frees the Sleeper, an ancient demon whose duty it is to awaken the God of Destruction. Her classmates and beloved mother are frozen in time, and it’s up to Aru to save them.The only way to stop the demon is to find the reincarnations of the five legendary Pandava brothers, protagonists of the Hindu epic poem, the Mahabharata, and journey through the Kingdom of Death. But how is one girl in Spider-Man pajamas supposed to do all that?”
i was, decidedly, not a fan.
to keep it simple, i find the entire premise of this series offensive.
in rick riordan’s (very similarly structured) books, he discusses greek and roman gods/godesses. greek and roman mythology is considered exactly that. myth.
the greek and roman religions died ages ago, and a quick google will tell you everything you need to know about their end. although there are many, many issues with rick riordan’s books, and i absolutely do not excuse any of the offensive material in his works, the concept of greek/roman gods was never a subject of criticism. here, the concept of hindu gods as characters is literally the root of the problem.
tharini (@saavitris) hits the nail right on the head in this post. the fact that roshani chokshi portrays actual gods that many, many actual people worship today as characters, and often as unlikeable characters (i’ve read reviews) bothers me very, very deeply.
i’m not an extremely religious person, but i do believe in these gods (on occasion, story for another day), and seeing them portrayed as nothing more than characters in a story when, for me and many others, they are divine beings with divine abilities, frankly offends me. people actually worship these gods, and turning them into characters for your book to entertain others (or maybe just to turn a profit) is incredibly, for lack of a better word, offensive to a huge community.
(of course, there’s also the case of norse “mythology”, but i am not a part of the norse pagan religion, and therefore have no authority on the subject.)
now that my main point is made, i’d like to hit some smaller points. in the blurb above, aru is said to lie often just to fit in, and honestly? i do not vibe with that statement. i don’t know about the culture in other places, but in the school that i went to, indian girls were always seen as people you could never trust, people who always lied, and seeing a character that fits that stereotype and is supposedly never redeemed for it just makes me uncomfortable.
also, most of her lies seem to be about having money/being rich? just an observation.
i will also point out, before ending this post, that i have seen many complaints from not just hindus, but non-hindus with google as well, that the “mythology” and “lore” in the novels gets so inaccurate at times that it’s “borderline offensive”. big yikes. if you’re gonna portray my religion as fake, at least do it accurately.
point is: i find this series highly offensive. the above text is why.
(also i’ve seen reviews that say the writing is shit, so that gives me immense satisfaction.)
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