• Aiswarya Lakshmi M.

Stories of a particular time always resonate with its society. In the Indian milieu, stories have been passed down from one generation to the next with certain ideological modifications. These versions change from one another based on the time, space and socio-cultural matrix of the community they are germinated from. Many Postmodernist Indian writers in English dismantle authority and sexist values by breaking stereotypes. This paper attempts to explore how notions of agency and victimhood are brilliantly dealt within these modern retellings of Indian epics. The paper will also focus on establishing the idea that the marginalized like sexual minorities and gender queer persons shared a comparatively better position in the prehistoric times in South Asia. Instead of marginalization queerness was deemed as ‘natural’ or sometimes celebrated. To validate this argument, the paper has analysed Devdutt Pattanaik’s book Shikhandi and The Other Tales They Don't Tell You. It is a collection of short stories from several myths across India which express the suppressed voices in the Grand Narratives of Indian mythology. The author exposes the queer presence in Indian folklores which describe about the gays, lesbians and hijras of the society which accepts queer behaviour, be it cross dressing or homosexual intimacies, as perfectly natural.

Queer Narrative, Folklore, Hegemony, Myth, Ideology, Retelling, Grand Narrative

"Transgressive Desires in Indian Mythology: A Reading of Shikhandi and Other Tales They Don’t Tell You", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.7, Issue 4, page no.603-606, April-2020, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2004086.pdf

"Transgressive Desires in Indian Mythology: A Reading of Shikhandi and Other Tales They Don’t Tell You", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.7, Issue 4, page no. pp603-606, April-2020, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2004086.pdf