Khona

A woman of profound wisdom, Khona was also known as Leelavati. Her story is ancient, shrouded in the veils of legend. Yet, from what can be gathered, she was a brilliant astrologer, as was her husband, Mihir. Her father-in-law was the renowned astrologer Varaha Mihir. Upon witnessing the growing fame and intellectual prowess of his daughter-in-law, Varaha Mihir was consumed by insecurity and envy. The story of Leelavati’s tongue being severed by her father-in-law’s order, and her subsequent transformation into ‘Khona’, has crossed the boundaries of generations.

The century-old wisdom preserved in Khona’s Bachan (Khana’s Maxims) carries the scent of water, soil, crops, and the common people. But is this truth truly Leelavati’s alone? Or are these facts a collective compilation of ancient knowledge, woven into the rain, silt, and climate of this land over ages? Was Leelavati’s fate so brutal simply because she was a woman, or was it because she, as a woman, chose to align herself with the common farmers? Or was it patriarchy, the class structure, or both that stood in opposition to her?

Driven by a life-defying passion that cared for neither her husband Mihir nor the constraints of society, she was carried beyond the horizon. Khona’s truth survived, passed down verbatim by the farmers through the ages.

Yet, questions remain: Is Khona’s truth the ultimate, singular truth? Can what is considered flawless today become a falsehood tomorrow? Was her fatal obsession with standing by the truth merely a stubborn resolve? In the end, Khona herself confronts these very questions.