Brief

SEDUCTION OF THE SEDUCER OF SEDUCERS is a spiritual, philosophical Indian woman's chronicling of her own life story, following her through a challenging childhood in India, to an adult life in America, and through a tumultuous marriage and romantic life.

What We Liked

This work stood out for its entirely original voice-- Mayuri is a strong, perseverant woman, and her story is told with constant and countless musings and commentaries of a modern world through a traditional Hindu lens. Sometimes the actions, emotions, and conundrums in this text can feel melodramatic and familiar, but it is the color and distinction of the main character's point-of-view that makes this work feel fresh, interesting, and engaging.

Film: This would be a solid candidate for adaptation to film in that this work seems to afford its audience a sure-handed portrait of a life that is in many ways alien to our own. How refreshing it would be to spend a few hours in the world of Mayuri, with all of her strife and strength, and with the power and presence of her faith. Mayuri's world is a colorful, intimidating, and poetic one, and it would be interesting to see it rendered on the big screen in all of its glory.

TV: This would be a solid adaptation for TV in terms of how robust its epic, decades-spanning story is. It was striking how eventful, high-stakes, and interesting the childhoods of Chandrashekhar and Mayuri were. The small-scale corruption and challenges they dealt with early in life felt massive, and it would be a perfect thread in a season of TV, among many others in this work. All in all, the characters, arcs, and journey of the protagonist feel large and built-out enough to warrant expansion on the small screen.

Key points:
1. The Hindu perspective-- Makes this work feel original and educationally valuable.
2. The childhoods of Mayuri and Chandrashekhar-- High-stakes, challenging, and distinct.
3. The strength and resilience of Mayuri-- She proves to be exemplary and admirable in many ways.
4. The drama-- The deterioration and aftermath of Mayuri's marriage proves to be eventful and memorable.
5. The resolution-- It is a relief and a reward that Mayuri seems to find solace despite her woes. It's a mature and bittersweet ending in many ways.

Synopsis

SEDUCTION OF THE SEDUCER OF SEDUCERS is one woman's chronicling of her own life story. In a variety of different writing styles, formats, and points-of-view, we follow the upbringing, education, romantic woes, and more adult conundrums of an Indian woman named MAYURI. Through and through, she weaves in Vedic proverbs and philosophies, invoking her Hindu gods and goddesses in commentary and reflection of her life and choices. First, we follow the courtship and later marriage of the straight-shooting ADITI and her suitor, the wise and poetic-minded AAKAASH.

After the traditional Indian courtship and marriage, they soon give birth to Mayuri and, years later, to CHANDRASHEKHAR, a son. Aakaash tries his best to endow his children with a vast cultural understanding and to pass on his traditional value system, while Mayuri finds herself often clashing with her more matter-of-fact mother, which becomes a major theme of their relationship.

We follow Mayuri and Chandrashekhar through their school days-- Mayuri finds herself victim of a rather cruel educator who seems to target her with discipline, while Chandrashekhar finds himself at the mercy of a corrupt teacher who deflates other kids' grades in order to benefit his own son.

Later, Mayuri heads to the United States for continued education. There, she finds herself often overwhelmed by the loud, vibrant American culture. She also experiences a profound sexual awakening, and she ponders and toils with her sexuality and spirituality as a result. She tries her best to stay focused on her studies and her future, going so far as to vow to never get married. However, she eventually meets the responsible, career-focused CHANAKYA, who woos and entices her. Before long, the two introduce each other to their families, and a union becomes imminent. They soon marry, and it is a joyous union, at least for a while.

However, a major rift develops in their relationship when Mayuri proves unable to conceive a child. This causes major spats between the two, and Mayuri becomes increasingly turned off by her husband's money-grubbing ways. Mayuri finds herself curious about a male acquaintance of theirs named FAUST. They even spend time alone together, with a simmering sexual tension no less. Mayuri withholds telling Chanakya about the hang-out for fear of his jealousy. Before long, the marriage crumbles, and it gets ugly-- Chanakya becomes entirely hateful, even trying to hire Faust to kill Mayuri. However, the feelings between Mayuri and Faust are profound and self-admitted. The volatility of the dynamic crescendos when Mayuri, alone and broken, crashes her car and ends up comatose.

Mayuri speaks to her favorite Hindu goddess while in the ether. Meanwhile, in the hospital Aakaash finds a doctor having sex with Mayuri while she is comatose. However, he claims he was inspired by a Hindu deity, and his act of "love" seems to wake Mayuri from her coma. Curiously, Mayuri and Aakaash seem to just let it slide for the simple fact that it worked in helping her wake up. Mayuri even starts to have a flirtatious kind of banter with SOREN, the doctor. However, she soon discovers that she is pregnant with Faust's child. She writes to him and informs him. After much self-reflection, she decides to terminate her pregnancy, finding solace in the philosophy in her faith that all women are mothers to all children. With that, now approaching middle-age, Mayuri finds a long sought-after peace of mind.

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