Storytelling: Week 3 (The Return of the King)

He could remember the exact moment. Fourteen years ago. On that day where birds didn’t chirp, the sun hid behind the clouds, and a gloom had set over the whole kingdom. Rama said to look towards the horizon for his return on the last day of his exile.

Bharatha had promised he would end his life otherwise. You would think after so many years, the brother would have forgotten his lost sibling, but no. There he stood outside his home, which he exiled himself to after his sibling’s leave from their kingdom.

What was his purpose in life if his brother were not to return? No purpose. He sighed to himself and slowly started setting up everything for his self-inflicted death.

____

Rama marched with his army towards Nandigram, where his brother awaited him.

“March onwards, my people! We must make haste,” he boomed to the army following behind him. There was no time left. Just small seconds ticking. They weren’t going to make it.

____

“Brother, please don’t! He may yet show, there is still some time!” Sathrugna urged. “You cannot do this to yourself!”

Tears in his eyes, Bharatha brought up his hand, bringing his brother to silence. “You know this was my promise to Rama. He is the true king, brother.”

Sathrugna grabbed Bharatha’s wrist, tears flowing down his face as well. “Please. Just wait.”

____

Rama was running as fast as he could, everyone rushing behind him. “It is not possible,” he whispered, sadly. But then a thought came to mind.

“Hanuman! I need you to go ahead of us! As fast as you can, go to my brother and tell him we are coming!”

Hanuman nodded, growing bigger and quickly heading towards Nandigram.

___

Bharatha stared into the last light falling into the horizon and pushed away Sathrugna. “It’s time. You have to let me go.”

“No, brother!” Saruthragna cried.

Just then, they saw a figure in the horizon running quickly towards them.

“Brother, look!” Sathrugna yelled.

Bharatha was about to end his life, when Hanuman immediately came upon him and put out the fire.

“Rama is on his way.”

Bharatha stopped breathing. “Rama…?”

Right then, his eyes settled on another figure in the horizon and soon enough a huge army.

“He’s here,” Sathrugna whispered, his face soaked from the tears.

Bharatha crumbled onto the ground, feeling all the energy in him drain away.

"My King is finally home."

Rama's return to Adhoyda

Source: Google

Author’s note: This story was set during that specific last moment of Narayan's Ramayana where Rama realizes how little time is left till his fourteenth year is over and he has to return to his hometown where his brother, Bharatha, is waiting on him. I would have liked to make this moment more epic, but I was having a bit of writer's block so this is all I was able to come up with. The story I didn't really change at all, I simply expanded on the moment and put in some extra detail to it.

This moment was one that I had visualized in my head and I just wanted to show how panicky it was and how intense it was on both sides. That is why I had the change of scenes so many times between Rama and Bharatha, just to portray how important time was on both sides and how much it was all rushed and hectic. If you watch Lord of the Rings, then you know that my title is from the third movie "Return of the King" and there is a particular scene in that movie where Gandalf had told Aragorn to "look for me, at first light, on the fifth day," and that moment reminded me of Rama telling Bharatha before leaving for his exile that he will be there on that last day, so look out for him. I kind of wanted to bring that moment from Lord of the Rings into life in my story because the feeling of relief during that moment is insane. Here is a video to kind of make you see how I picture Rama on the horizon on that last day with his whole army behind him:

Bibliography: Narayan, R. K. (1972) The Ramayana.

Week 3: Reading Diary B (Attack on Lanka)

Narayan's Ramayana

Pages 131 - 171

• Hanuman's adventure after he crosses the water and finds Sita. 
• Sita is at the pleasure garden and is extremely sad, close enough to commit suicide. Hanuman appears and tells her who he is and then presents her Rama's momento. He then destroys Asoka Vana. 
• Sita's time at the Asoka Vana, how might her time there have passed?
• Ravana is in council where he is being told how he shouldn't have just taken the women, but dealt with the men first. Ravana is being very stubborn despite all the good advice being given to him.
• Vibhishana being thrown out by Ravana goes to Rama. Before meeting him, he spies on him for a bit. What is he thinking at this time?
• Planning out the attack on Lanka with Vibishana
• Bringing together everyone to build the bridge
• Ravana tries to trick Sita again. How is Sita feeling at this time? 
• They proceed into battle and Rama at the end of Day 1 hurts Ravana. What is going on in between the two days, when they take a break?
• Kumbarkana is awoken and vows to defeat Rama but is defeated himself. What are the thoughts of Ravana at this time, and prior to him being defeated? 
• After the war, Sita is returned to Rama but first goes through a test of purity by jumping into a fire. Rama's father is later sent down and Rama requests him to forgive his two wives. What is Dasharatha thinking at this time?
• Rama returns to Ayodha. His entry back into the kingdom, how do you think that proceeded?

Rama returns from exile

Source: Google

Week 3: Reading Diary A

Narayan's Ramayana

Pages 89-131

• Sita falls for Ravana's plan, hearing Rama call for help and so she tells Lakshmana to go to Rama, leaving her alone.
• Ravana is then able to kidnap her.
• Jatayu, the demi-god in eagle form, tries to save Sita but his wings get cut off.
• Story about this battle?
• Rama and Lakshmana come back to find him dying.
• On their way, they come to the kingdom of Kishkinda, where they meet the monkey, Hanuman. Sugriva, the younger brother of the Vali, king of this kingdom, lost his wife and is also in exile.
• Another possible battle story.
• With Rama's help, Sugriva is able to defeat Vali and becomes king. Tara, the wife, during this time told them not to fight... what might her thoughts have been during this time?
• Sugriva gives Rama Sita's jewelry, that she had dropped while being kidnapped by Ravana.
• Huge search parties are then sent out to find Sita, amongst them is Hanuman.
• Story about this particular huge search to find Sita.
• Sampathi, after reviving from seeing Rama, relays the news that Sita is at Lanka, across the ocean. 

Ravana versus Jatayu

Source: Google

Week 2: Indian Epics Topics

Possible Topic: The God Indra
This is a possible topic for me because when I was reading the story in Ramayana about the woman who was turned into a rock after she was seen with Indra by her husband, i was interested by how his character was so envious and lusty. What made me pursue this as a topic was when I read the part about him getting the "thousand eyes." There was something I read a long time ago that made mention of this feature, so Indra became a favorite of mine.
Research so far:
On the Wikipedia page that I found about Indra, it mentioned that Indra always carries a thunderbolt with him (which is what I assume is in his hands) and rides this elephant (as displayed in the image below). In the article, it says that he is a great leader and a great deity, however he "commits many kinds of mischief" and that's what I am more curious to learn about.

The God Indra

Source: Google

Possible Topic: Demons (Asuras)

For some reason, I assumed Asura was also a god because in the past I read something that mentioned Indra and Asura together, so I assumed they were both gods, but I may have read that wrong. Despite that, asuras stood out to me and were mentioned occasionally in Ramayana so I wanted to study on them some more.

Research so far:

On the Wikipedia page I read, it said that asuras are actually "power-seeking" deities so I was partially right by saying that asura was a deity. I continued further and found that they are kind of "nature spirits" and constantly are having battles with the "devas" or the deities. This "constant battle" is something I want to look further into.

Possible Topic: Love Story of Ahalya and Gautama

Of course, I'm a sucker for love stories so a love story most definitely had to be a possible topic for me. Out of all the pairings that I read so far, this one was one I loved the most because of the sincerity of Gautama prior to being with Ahalya towards Ahalya. Also, Indra played a part in this love story so that's why it was a winner for me. 

Research so far: 

On the Wikipedia page for Ahalya it stated that she was seduced by Indra, something we read in the Ramayana and the reason this story caught my eye. I was curious as to what was going through her mind when she realized Indra's disguise and also her years of living the life of a rock and also about her creation as the most beautiful women, which was done so by the god Brahma. 

Possible Topic: Heroes (Lakshmana) 

Lakshmana was a character I was attracted to ever since I read about his closeness to Rama and his protective instincts towards Rama as well as Sita. His strength and love for his brother are something I wanted to write about. Along with love stories, I'm also a sucker for heroes. 

Research so far:

I learned off the Wikipedia page that Lakshmana was highly skilled in archery and could "loose five hundred arrows in one shot." Wow, that's awesome. It was interesting when they mentioned his twin brother Shatrughna because though he is his twin, Lakshmana is very attached to his half-brother Rama. His "unswerving loyalty" as they said on the page, is what I want to write about. 

Just a Dream (Week 2 Storytelling)

Sita giggled amongst her maids as they spoke of one of the servant boys who brought havoc amongst the girls simply with his looks.

“Oh, he is so very dreamy,” cried one.

“Even more so, his smile,” swooned a second.

“It should be a crime to be so beautiful,” sighed a third.

“If only he would make me his,” dreamed a fourth, lounging beside the princess.

Smiling, Sita gazed at the beautiful garden from the gazebo where they were all settled, shading themselves from the sun. Her eyes slid from the trees to each of the girls surrounding her, their cheerful expressions cheering her heart.

“Oh!” one of the maids gasped. “There he is! There he is!”

Sita elegantly craned her neck back to get a glimpse of what the maids were shyly observing and whispering about.

The servant boy they spoke of was strolling down the pathway along with two other unfamiliar figures.

Sita shifted her gaze to one of the men following behind the servant boy, her expression molding to one parallel to the girls' expressions. She let out a small gasp of her own when her eyes fell in line with his.

Beautiful, she thought.

And then he was gone.

She had lost herself so deeply in those eyes that she hadn’t even realized she was no longer looking at them.

“Oh, did you see him? Did you?” she frantically asked the girls.

“Yes,” they all chorused, their thoughts consumed by a whole different being.

“He smiled at me this time,” said the fourth maid jovially.

“You? That wasn’t at you! It was at me!” the third hissed.

Sita shook out of her dream and blinked at the sudden change of atmosphere. When did it become so rowdy?

“Girls! Girls!” she said, silencing them immediately. “What is the matter?”

She probably shouldn’t have asked because they began yelling at each other all over again. Between all this confusion, she heard ‘servant boy.’

“Servant boy?” she uttered out loud.

“Yes!” replied maid number one. “His smile was directed right to me!”

The other maids countered her with the same argument.

“Girls! Girls!” Sita said again, her voice rising over the others. “Did you not see the man who was beside him?”

The maids all paused in sync. “What man?”

“The one tall figure who was walking a little behind the servant boy you were all so fondly giggling about. You saw him, yes?”

She was desperate to know.

The girls shook their heads. They were so absorbed in the other boy that they had not noticed Rama as he was passing through the gardens.

Sita felt weak.

Was it just a dream? she thought, sighing. If it was, it was the most beautiful dream she had ever witnessed.

Unbeknownst to her, in only a few short hours, her dream would become a reality.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: The main purpose of this story was to show from Sita's perspective, a snippet of what was happening when Sita and Rama met eyes for the very first time. I only showed it from Sita's point of view because we already know how Rama felt at that moment, though I had thought about expanding Rama's point of view too.

The moment when their eyes met was so very short-lived, and in my story I also made it brief just to show how quickly it happened. At the same time though, I wanted to express the connection that they had, at least on Sita's side. This scene was memorable to me especially now because we have finished Ramayana and know how *SPOILER ALERT* Sita gets swallowed into the ground after the whole separation between her and Rama and her attempt to come together again. It makes me sad to think that they went from such a cute beginning to that end.

Their weren't really any alterations from the original story. It was more just an idea I came up with, creating a kind of visual of that moment. 

Sita: Entranced in the Garden

Source: Google

Bibliography: 

• Narayan, R. K. (1972) The Ramayana.

Week 2: Reading Diary B (Rama's Life in Exile)

Narayan's Ramayana
Pages 53-89

• Despite everyone wanting him to stay, Rama still agrees to go away into exile as originally ordered from the promise. Bharatha, son of Keikayi, went to his brother Rama and told him that he did not want to be king and for him to come back.
• They had a long philosophical and interesting debate as to who should rule, but in the end Rama still agreed to the exile.*
• Bharatha agreed to rule (from the outskirts) till Rama returned after 14 years and not a day passed that.
• Rama meets Kamavalli, Ravana's sister, in the forest who is extremely beautiful. She tries to persuade him to marry her though he calmly states why he can't each time she tries until Sita comes out of the cottage and is seen by Kamavalli. The pair eventually went back inside the cottage after useless argument and Kamavalli went back to the forest, all love-sick, similar to how Sita was when she first saw Rama.
• She came back again, about to attack Sita when Lakshmana came in and cut off her ears, and nose, and breasts.
• Her brother is enraged when he sees how she has become mutilated. 
• However, he falls for Sita when he sees her similar to how his sister fell in love with Rama.
• Maricha, son of Thataka and uncle of Ravana, is asked by Ravana to help him get Sita. Maricha finally agrees since Ravana was not backing down and helps to distract Lakshmana and Rama, leaving Sita by herself. Ripe for the picking! 

Rama hunting the Golden Deer

Source: WikiCommons

Week 2: Reading Diary A (Starting the Ramayana)

Narayan's Ramayana
Reading notes: Pages 1-53

• King Dasaratha was childless, but with the help from his mentor, Sage Vasistha, he was able to find a way to get children. He had a total of four sons from his wives. Remember: Rama!
• Dasaratha had to give his son, Rama, to the sage Viswamithra who would take his son Rama to many places for specific purposes. Rama's brother Lakshmana came along too; the two are inseparable.
• How would Rama feel about this whole event?
• Rama ended Thataka, who was degraded to demonhood from a past event. Rama brought her to her end by piercing her throat.
• Ahalya, created by Brahma, was very beautiful. She was gifted to Sage Gautama who had pure intentions and was good. The God Indra, however, was very envious and wanted Ahalya all for himself. 
• He watched over Ahalya in different guises just to get glimpses of her, while also watching the habits of the sage. From this he plotted his scheme to get Ahalya, which he did and the sage caught the two in the act.
• Rama, once in Mithila, saw Sita (incarnation of Shiva's consort), and fell in love. Sita, after seeing a glimpse of him and having their eyes meet for a mere second, could not stop thinking about him and was going insane from all the thoughts of love.
• In the end, they got married.
• Kaikeyi, one of Dasaratha's wives came to him and told him that he had two promises he had to keep in which she can ask for anything. She asked for her son Bharatha to be king instead of Rama being crowned king and to exile Rama for 14 years so he would not get in the way (as she assumed). 

Rama and Sita

Source: Google

Overview

India is right next door to the country I was born in, Pakistan, so I suppose I know some things about India and the Indian culture. I haven't ever studied Indian history, but I've grown up watching Bollywood films, watching their dances, listening to their songs (though those I listen to are a lot more contemporary), and I speak a language very similar to that spoken in India. I'm not quite sure what all comes under "epic" literature, but I do enjoy and have read books like The Hobbit, The Hunger Games, Gone with the Wind, and Rebecca to name a few.

My travels overseas usually aim at my home country—Pakistan—but the closest I've ever gotten to India was the Wagah Border, the boundary line dividing India and Pakistan (after the partition of India) at which there is a ceremony held every day. The ceremony is a daily military practice of both countries where the flags are lowered, something that has been followed since 1959 and something that many people come to watch every day. It's quite entertaining, actually.

Seeing as my heritage is closely knit with that of India's, I had always wanted to learn about these Indian "gods/idols" and all these characters I either see in movies or hear about from friends that are Indian. From what I read in the overview for the books, all the stories seem very interesting and I'm ready to just delve into them. 

Nagada Sang Dhol: A Favorite of Mine

Source: YouTube

Wagah Border

Source: Google

Storybook Favorites

The first storybook I looked at from the past list of Indian Epics storybooks was Dharma News Weekly. I enjoyed how this storybook was set up in a newspaper layout with the author's "introduction" written as a note from the editor-in-chief and the titles given to each story/article were well-devised—like "Legal: Ahalya Released, Indra Convicted," for example. Because I held a similar position on my high school newspaper, writing stories as news articles really captured my attention.

The second storybook that became a favorite was "Tales of Dr. Love." Not only the title, but the content too got me interested. The title gave me a sense of what I was about to venture into and as a girl who loves reading about romance, of course I clicked on the button that lead me to the site. The stories were titled with the names of pairs from which I assumed they were stories of the love between the two. The font gave the storybook a very old classical look to it too, something I thought was a nice touch and went well with the whole concept the author was trying to portray.

The last storybook that I looked at was "Asuras Anonymous." The title was what first drew my attention and going in without any expectations or an idea of the layout and the contents, I was nicely surprised with a quote about good and evil. The conflict between good versus evil, that whole theme, was always something that peaked my interest, so having that as the very first thing when entering the website was a nice touch. Looking at some of the stories though, there were a few things I wish were done differently, but all in all it was creative and well executed.

Good versus Evil

Quote from "Asuras Anonymous"

Google

Introduction

Hello lovely people of the world!

My name is Khadija (pronounced Kah-Dee-Jah). I suppose the first thing you should know about me is that I am a nerd. I am pre-med with a major in microbiology and minor in psychology. If that doesn't already tell you, I'll say it out loud: I love science! It is absolutely fascinating. What I don't like are all the tests that I have to take while trying to learn, but hey, that's just how schools work so nothing I can do to change that.

My "nerdiness" continues on with my love for books. I don't know if reading qualifies as a hobby but it is definitely one of mine. My current obsession is the series of books by George R. R. Martin called "Game of Thrones." Unless you live under a rock, you most likely have at the least heard of these books. Or you've probably watched the show (the books are better).

Besides that, however, I'm completely an adventure kind-of girl. Anything with a thrill to it—bunjee jumping, sky diving, horseback riding, snowboarding (though I completely suck at this), parasailing—I am ready to do. I have yet to go parasailing and sky diving, but they are definitely the next two things I'll be scratching off my bucket list.

I like to be spontaneous, and so I'm just going to spontaneously cut this short right here because I'm sure you don't want me to keep listing off things about myself as if this is a dating site. So with that, my lovelies, adieu!

Game of Thrones. 

Most favorite character: Littlefinger

Source: Google

Week 1 Storytelling: The King’s Devious Plan

THE Queen of Hearts,

She made some tarts,

All on a summer's day;

The Knave of Hearts,

He stole those tarts,

And took them clean away.

The King of Hearts

Called for the tarts,

And beat the Knave full sore;

The Knave of Hearts

Brought back the tarts,

And vowed he'd steal no more.

(traditional nursery rhyme)

– – –

The Kingdom of Hearts had one holiday every year that they celebrated with the most enthuasiasm: Valentine’s Day. On this cheerful occassion, the townsfolk were running around giving chocolates and flowers to their loved ones and preparing themselves for the huge celebration in the evening.

Valentines Day Parade

Source: Google

However, inside the castle walls of this kingdom paced the King of Hearts, concocting yet another plan to survive this Valentines Day. For every year, his lovely missus, the Queen of Hearts, baked her sweet tarts for his stomach, and his stomach only.

Queen of Hearts baking tarts.

Source: Google

Those scrumptious scent of those tarts filled all the halls of the castle, but the King knew better. Those tarts were the worst tarts in the whole kingdom.

“My God,” said the King, “What will I ever do?”

“Sire,” said the Knave, “We have already tried all things to rid of those tarts.”

“I know! I know!” The King was so frustrated. He had tried all things possible to rid of those tarts, but alas he failed each time.

“Sire,” the Knave spoke up. “I believe the Lady, your Queen, has suspicion of your tart-plans.”

“Which is why this year I must make sure I do it right.”

The King paced back and forth, back and forth. “Aha! I’ve got it!”

He walked up to the Knave and poked his index finger at the Knave’s forehead. “You, my good lad, you will steal the tarts!”

The Knave’s eyes grew wide. “But sir, how will I ever do that? The Queen does not let any soul into the kitchen until she the tarts are ready.”

“That is where you are wrong, my boy!”

The King then pulled the Knave aside and they walked down the hall, whispering to each other of this devious little plan.

– – –

The cries could be heard through the whole kingdom. Someone had stolen the Queen’s tarts! The King rushed to his Queen to comfort her.

“Don’t you worry, my Lady! I shall search the whole kingdom for your tarts!”

And so the hunt began to find the tarts and finally brought forth was the Knave, tarts in hand, in front of the Queen to apologize.

“How dare you steal my Queen’s tarts! You shall be punished!” He pointed to the Knave. “Guards, take him to my chambers where I will beat him myself!”

And so the poor Knave was taken away and the tarts retrieved. The Queen went up to the King, tarts in hand.

“Oh my love, now you can enjoy the tarts!” The Queen spoke with much enthusiasm.

“But dear, the tarts are all ruined and have been ruined, look!” The King changed his expression to one of sadness.

The Queen smiled, a small glimmer in her eye. “Oh dear, don’t you worry.”

She pulled out another tart from behind her back. “I always have a spare.”

And then the King really did go and beat up the Knave, for the Knave had forgotten to steal the very last tart.

– – –

Author's Note. This story is based on the nursery rhyme "The Queen of Hearts" which you can find in The Nursery Rhyme Book, edited by Andrew Lang (1897). In the rhyme, the Queen of Hearts makes some tarts and the Knave steals them. However, the King finds them and beats up the Knave, returning the tarts to the Queen. In my story, I made a little twist to where the tarts being stolen was the King’s plan the whole time. He planned with the Knave to have him steal the tarts, because they tasted so horrible and return them all ruined. However, it did not work out in his favor since in the end, the Queen had extra left.

My Favorite Place

Summer Nightastic Fireworks at Disney World in Orlando, Florida. 

Source: Google

My time in this kingdom lasted only a short week, but that one week was enough to land this wondrous place the number one spot on my list of favorite places. Standing amongst the throng of people, I watched the fireworks light up the black sky and everything really did become magical. I get lost in this picture just staring at the luminous castle.

First Blog!

Ready for this EPIC adventure of blogging? I know I am.