This might be the stock-in-trade of Tamil cinema lyricists, but to readers in English, it still has a touch of freshness. Compelling voicesHidimbi, the much-maligned demon-wife of Bhima, gets no “Sakhi” or “Thozhi” to confide in: the reader is her companion. Writers and readers alike are drawn irresistibly to the Mahabharata: its endless and intricate tapestry offers something new and intriguing to everyone who looks closely. These footnotes, one hopes, will be yet another embellishment in its delicate embroidery, although it must be acknowledged that this fabric only shines in patches. She teaches English literature at the Department of Liberal Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Manipal Academy of Higher Education.