Sundara Kãnda
Subtitle: Hanuman’s Odyssey
Publisher: Project Gutenberg Self-publishing Press
Published: 2013
First sentence: Egged on by peers Vayu’s son
Enshrined by man as Hanuman
Enthused himself to shoulder
Search of Seetha, Rama’s spouse  
Snared whom Ravan to Lanka
Sea across that hundred leagues.
Description: Whereas Mahabharata's Bhagvad-Gita is taken as a philosophical guide, Ramayana's Sundara Kãnda is sought for spiritual solace; many believe that reading it or hearing it recited would remove all hurdles and usher in good tidings! Miracles apart, it's in the nature of this great epic to inculcate fortitude and generate hope in man for it’s a depiction of how Hanuman goes about his errand against all odds. 	
Besides, it portrays how Seetha, on the verge of self-immolation, overcomes despair to see life in a new light? With rhythm of its verse and the flow of the narrative this sloka to sloka transcreation of the canto beautiful of Valmiki's adi kavya - the foremost poetical composition in the world, Hanuman's Odyssey that paves the way for Rama to rescue his kidnapped wife is bound to charm the readers and listeners alike. 

Interestingly, as the following verse illustrates, this epic was the forerunner of the magic realism of our times – “Gripped she then him by shadow / Cast which Hanuman coast to coast, Recalled he in dismay then / What Sugreev said at outset / That one fiend had aptitude / To grip its prey by mere shadow.” 

On a personal note, my paternal grandfather, Bulusu Thimmaiah-garu, like many in his time, was a life-long practitioner of Sundara Kãnda parayana (the epic’s daily recital in part or full), whose spirituality could have providentially guided me in this, rather an effortless, trans-creative endeavour.
Table of contents: title: Canto 1 - Hurdles in Skies; title: Canto 2 - City in Clouds; title: Canto 3 - Prelude to Entry; title: Canto 4 - Foray into Fort; title: Canto 5 - Life in Lanka; title: Canto 6 - Precincts to Beat; title: Canto 7 - Palace in the Plane; title: Canto 8 - Pushpak’s Prowess; title: Canto 9 - Harem at Night; title: Canto 10 - Women in Want; title: Canto 11 - Qualms of Celibate; title: Canto 12 - At Wits End; title: Canto 13 - Errand in the Bend; title: Canto 14 - Garden of Grief; title: Canto 15 - Withered Flower; title: Canto 16 - She is Seetha; title: Canto 17 - Guards all Hideous; title: Canto 18 - Ravan on Heat; title: Canto 19 - Dame in Despair; title: Canto 20 - Womanizer at Work; title: Canto 21 - Steadfast in Love; title: Canto 22 - Deadline to Death; title: Canto 23 - Guards that Pander; title: Canto 24 - Carrot and Stick; title: Canto 25 - Hapless Soul; title: Canto 26 - Wandering Thoughts; title: Canto 27 - Dream of a Nightmare; title: Canto 28 - On the Verge; title: Canto 29 - Good Tidings; title: Canto 30 - Hanuman’s Dilemma; title: Canto 31 - Rama’s Ballad; title: Canto 32 - Is it True?; title: Canto 33 - Genesis of Exile; title: Canto 34 - Swings in Mood; title: Canto 35 - Winning the Trust; title: Canto 36 - More of the Same; title: Canto 37 - Aborted Move; title: Canto 38 - Story to Tell; title: Canto 39 - Doubts to the Fore; title: Canto 40 - Repeats the Dose; title: Canto 41 - Rampage in the Park; title: Canto 42 - Panic in the Town; title: Canto 43 -Itching for Fight; title: Canto 44 -Takes on Prahastha’s Son; title: Canto 45 - Marshals in the Mire; title: Canto 46 - Generals in the Dumps; title: Canto 47 - Akshay’s Life on Line; title: Canto 48 - It takes Indrajit; title: Canto 49 - Ravan’s Darbar; title: Canto 50 - Cause of Loss; title: Canto 51 - Advice to Deliver; title: Canto 52 -Placates the Sibling; title: Canto 53 - Tail on Fire; title: Canto 54 - Arson to Hurt; title: Canto 55 - What of Seetha?; title: Canto 56 - Havoc of a Take-off; title: Canto 57 - Flight sans Hassles; title: Canto 58 - Odyssey in a Nutshell; title: Canto 59 - Pep Talk to Peers; title: Canto 60 - Angad on Rebound; title: Canto 61 - Eying the Madhuvan; title: Canto 62 - Orgy in the Garden; title: Canto 63 - Sugreev’s Reading; title: Canto 64 - Return of the Platoon; title: Canto 65 - News in Brief; title: Canto 66 - Tears in Torrents; title: Canto 67 - Hanuman’s Replay; title: Canto 68 - Times of Hope; title: Peep into Yuddha Kanda: War on Ravan; title: 1. Embrace of a Gift; title: 2.  Coronation and After