Acknowledgements

I am grateful to my friend J. Birje Patil, teacher and poet, who was the first to look through this manuscript and suggest several improvements.

Shailaja I am grateful to for her editorial inputs and for staying with me all the way through.

To S.K. Ray Chaudhuri I am deeply indebted for bringing the manuscript to the final stages.

I am obliged to Shantanu Ray Chaudhuri who steered the manuscript through several stages.

Finally, my gratitude to V.K. Karthika, Publisher, HarperCollins India, who encouraged me to write my version of the Mahabharata.