Portfolio Guideline

First, let's explore a dark tale about Thataka's fall from grace in The Case of Thataka.

Next, read about he devastation of the Rakshasas in The Valakhilyas' Plea.

Here is a tale that shows how Sita lost trust in the man she loves in Sita's Trial.

Now, read a story about a man who remained silent while his wife drowned seven of their children in Shantanu's Misfortune.

Storytelling Week 9: Shantanu's Misfortune

When I first saw her by the river, I knew she was the woman whom I wanted to marry and mother my children.  She was absolutely beautiful with long, soft waves, like the water on a calm morning by the ocean, of rich dark hair that fell to her lower back.  Her olive skin looked softer than any piece of fine silk, and her eyes were a mesmerizing sepia color that would cause any noble man to become speechless.  She noticed me watching her from some trees not too far from the river bank.  She smiled and waved for me to walk over.  We didn’t speak much.  In fact, I never even asked for her name; however, I was so captivated by her beauty and charm that I asked her to become my wife.  Without any hesitation she assuredly said yes. 

Before I could fully take in my happiness and fortune at finding such a great beauty to be my wife, she made a demand that forced to uphold or else she would not agree to be my wife.  Furthermore, if I ever broke this promise during our marriage, our marriage would be over.  No matter what she did, at any time, I would never question her or her actions.  At the time, I thought nothing of this request.  I only thought of wedding this beautiful being before me and starting a family with her.  To me, this powerful request was an act of a woman ensuring her safety, happiness, and freedom within a marriage to a king.  For this reason, I quickly agreed to her demands.

A few days later, we were married in an elaborate wedding full of food, lights, and entertainment, and only a few months later, my wife was pregnant.  I was so elated to be a father and have an heir to my kingdom.  It was the most joyous time of my life.  Never throughout the first few months of our marriage did she do anything that would have caused concern.  In fact, she was a perfect wife who was humble and supportive.  She was a virtuous queen, and everyone within the kingdom adored her. 

Once our first child was born, we were overwhelmed with happiness.  I couldn’t wait to watch this child grow; however, my wish never came true.  After only a few months, my wife took our child to the Ganga River and drowned him.  I couldn’t believe that such an act was possible.  How could my beautiful wife who had never shown a harmful trait kill our innocent child?  I was heartbroken but I kept my silence in order to keep my marriage.  I thought that perhaps this was a one-time occurrence, or a test to see if I would truly hold to my promise.  However, my wife went on to kill six more of our children.  Once she became pregnant with our eighth child, I could no longer remain passive.  I knew that I had to destroy my marriage to save my child’s life.  

Giving her up was a difficult decision, but I had to save my child.  Every time I would hold him in my arms, I looked into his eyes and I saw myself.  I couldn’t handle seeing him die like the others.  I just couldn’t.

Shantanu meeting a beautiful women by the Ganga River.  Source: Wikipedia.

Author’s Note

For this week, I chose to tell the beginning of the Mahabharata where Shantanu meets Ganga, marries her, and discovers that she is drowning their children.  Within the original, Shantanu never questions or forbids Ganga to do this because of a promise that he made to her before they were married.  Essentially, I found it just so interesting for an individual to remain quiet while his children are murdered.  For this reason, I wanted to focus on Shantanu’s perspective and inner dialogue throughout these events.  I wanted to capture his fascination with Ganga and her beauty, which had an effect on him giving her whatever she asked for in order to become his wife.  I chose to have no dialogue within my story because I felt that it would distract from Shantanu’s thoughts, and the original gives some dialogue from the characters.  For these reasons, I felt that it was not needed.  I also chose to end this story before Ganga reveals her true actions because I wanted the sole focus to be on Shantanu’s thoughts while he sees his wife go from a good woman to the killer of his children.  While the story is very true to the original, I did expand on some details.  For example, within the original, their first child is given no specific gender, and Ganga is merely described as beautiful without any detail. 

Bibliography

Narayan, R. K. (1978). The Mahabharata.

Storytelling Week 5: The Valakhilyas' Plea

They come during the night in great hordes devouring any creature in their path.  They have destroyed us in so many ways.  We cannot go out anymore.  We are truly prisoners within our own forest, our own home.  The Rakshasas have taken everything away from us by destroying our safety. 

            They are horrible beasts who come in all forms.  Some stand taller than the trees of the forest with hands and feet that destroy any life.  Others crawl and slide on their stomachs, slurping up any creature on the ground with long tongues that have viscous spikes attached to them.  Some can even fly, picking up small animals by their necks and quickly crushing them.  But the most dangerous Rakshasas are the fast ones.  They can sprint on all fours or just two legs.  They have hands with a large claw used for gripping, tearing, and killing.  There are also Rakshasas with large red eyes, tiny black eyes, and some who have no eyes, only black pits that give no hint of a soul.  However, all of the monstrous Rakshasas that inhabit our forest have an unquenchable blood lust.  They stop at nothing.  They have no boundaries.  They only care about feeding on weaker creatures like us and they are never satisfied. 

            The things they do to creatures...terrible things that cannot be imagined by a sane mind.  We have witnessed our own being skinned alive without hesitation from the Rakshasas.  At first, they were fast deaths followed by fast consumption, only leaving piles of bones.  But they became hungry for suffering.  They tortured our people, played with them before feasting.  Now, they skin their victims alive slowly, tearing inches of skin off one piece at a time.  The screams are something that no one has ever heard before.  We are not sure if they are the screams of the poor creature who is dying or the Rakshasa.   They are agonizing and painful to hear.  None of us can forget those horrific sounds and some of us hear these screams in our sleep.  We cannot imagine how the Valakhilya who is dying must feel, and we never want to. 

            During the day, when we scavenge for food, we find bones, so many bones.  They are stripped of flesh.  Some are even hollow as if the Rakshasas have sipped the marrow from every bone.  You cannot imagine how many piles of bones we find.  We find small bones from our own kind and larger bones from humans, birds, deer, bears, and tigers.  Some piles have smaller Rakshasas within them.  How can such ruthless creatures who lust for death and blood even from one of their own exist.  If they can kill their own, they will surely destroy every trace of us, the small and innocent Valakhilya. 

            Rama, we are scared, terrified.  The life we live now is hopeless and meaningless because we know that a cruel and torturous existence is all that is left.  Please, Rama!  You cannot deny us our safety, our lives.  If you do not help us, we will die either from the Rakshasas or from our hopelessness.  

A Rakshasa depicted in the art of Yakshagana.  Source:Wikipedia.

Author’s Note

For this week, I wanted to retell the Valakhilyas’ plea to Rama.  Rama meets the Valakhilyas, who are tiny sages, in the Dandaka forest after his exile.  Within Buck’s version of the Ramayana, I found his use of detail and description of the Rakshasas from the perspective of Valakhilyas very intriguing.  However, I wished that there would have been more detail on what the Rakshasas did to the Valakhilyas and other beings within the forest.  For these reasons, I wanted to expand this detail in order to show how horrific these creatures really are.  I mainly did this by giving more detail and description of the type of destruction and fear the Valakhilyas have to deal with.  Overall, I wanted to expand this section of the Ramayana.  I didn’t include the dialogue from Rama, Lakshmana, and Sita because that was not what I wanted to focus on.  Instead, I just wanted to convey the type of distress that the Valakhilyas have to endure.  Essentially, I wanted to make it thematic, descriptive, and highly detailed.  At times, I did struggle because I didn’t want to sound too redundant.  I don’t believe that I was, but if you feel like some parts are redundant please tell me.  This retelling of the Valakhilyas’ plea is true to plot. 

Bibliography

Buck, William (1976). Ramayana: King Rama's Way. 

Week 3 Storytelling: Sita's Trial

            After months of existing in that place, feeling miserable, and living in fear, I was reunited with him.  From fourteen years of exile to months of abduction and war, we were together again.  I received a message to dress in my finest clothes.  I had never been so excited in my life.  It reminded me of the first day I met Rama.  My stomach dropped.  I felt weightless but so intense at the same time.  I couldn’t wait any longer to be in his embrace.  Just to be in his presence was enough to satisfy my ache at the moment.

            Once I arrived, I saw him.  The biggest smile flew across my face.  My eyes even started to sting with raw tears.  I just couldn’t wait any longer to be apart from Rama.  Before I approached him, I told myself that we would never be apart again.  I wanted to run and leap into his arms but I knew that would be inappropriate.  Instead, I walked slowly and hated every second of it.  When I finally stood before Rama, I couldn’t wait for him to hold me.  All I wanted was his touch.

            Instead of Rama holding or kissing me, or even him lightly touching my arm, Rama looked at me without emotion.  At that moment, my world collapsed.  I threw myself at his feet, begging for him to love me as he did before.  But he said nothing for several minutes.  Then the cruelest words came from his mouth.  He couldn’t trust me.  Rama accused me of doing the worst possible thing to any husband.  I had stood by his side through all these years and all these trials, but he needed me to prove myself again.  I didn’t understand why this was happening to me.  I did everything I could do to impress Rama.  Rama was the only reason why I wanted to live, but he threw me away without hesitation.  I didn’t want to live anymore.  My soul died in that very moment.  I had lived for Rama for so long that I didn’t know how to live for myself.  The only thing that I could do next was prove myself or die.  

          Once the fire was started, I was fully prepared to leave this life or prove to Rama that I was still virtuous.  After I came out of the fire, I thought everything would go back to normal for Rama and me, but it didn’t.  I didn’t feel the same.  I would have never questioned Rama if he had been the same situation, but he questioned me.  He immediately took me into his arms and declared me pure, but I never felt the same about him.  I thought I wanted to die without him, but now, I never wanted to live my life for him as I had done before.  Everything had changed.  He wasn’t the man I had fallen in love with, and I wasn’t the woman who had dedicated her entire life to him.

Sita enduring the trial by fire to prove her purity to Rama. Source: Wikipedia.

Author's Note

Sita is on trial because Rama must declare that her purity and virtue are not tarnished due to living with Ravana. Ultimately, the trial is done to stop the doubt that everyone must have about her living with another man. Within the original story, Narayan describes the trial from a third person perspective.  He also includes that it is the god Agni who stops her from being burned.  I left this out because I wanted to make the story realistic.  I wanted to focus on Sita’s perspective through the whole ordeal. I didn’t want to include dialogue within this story because I wanted the sole focus to be on Sita’s feelings of being betrayed by a man that she has devoted her life to. I felt that dialogue would take focus away from her thoughts. Of course, I understand that within the Ramayana this trial was done to appease the doubts of everyone else, but surely, Sita would have felt a bit sad. Aside from changing the point of view from this section, I also added Sita feeling hurt by this ordeal. Within the original, Sita and Rama’s relationship never changes due to this situation. However, within my story I wanted to show that she is so hurt by this that she is changed forever from being completely devoted to Rama. Other than these major changes, the rest of my story is true to the plot.

Bibliography

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

Storytelling Week 2: The Case of Thataka

“Let’s go,” Viswamithra shouted to Rama and Lakshmana, waking them up.

It was hard to believe that Rama and Lakshmana had managed to fall asleep in the crowded police car before they were expected to leave on their next assignment at dawn.  Viswamithra jumped into the driver’s seat and began to drive to Wasteland. 

Rama and Lakshmana had only been on the force for a few months, but Viswamithra had demanded that the two come on this assignment.  Without question, Rama and Lakshmana took the case but still questioned why they were chosen to go to Wasteland.  The Wasteland was a notorious trailer park that was avoided by cops because of the heavy drug use.  For this reason, the two rookies couldn’t believe that there was an assignment in this part of their district.

After a few minutes of riding in silence, Rama asked, “Viswamithra, what are we doing in Wasteland?”

            “We’re going to arrest a major dealer.”

“What!” Rama and Lakshmana both exclaimed.

“Are you sure that we should be on this assignment?” asked Lakshmana.

            “Yes,” Viswamithra answered plainly. 

After a long pause Rama asked, “Well, how are we taking him in?”

“He is a she, and her name is Thataka.  She’s sixty-five years old and a mother of two.”

“Really? Rare for a woman to be on the dealing side,” Rama said puzzled. 

“I know but don’t be deceived by her gender.  She’s been in this game for many years.”

“Years? How does a woman get into the drug business?” asked Lakshmana shocked.

            “To be honest,” Viswamithra started, “I don’t know the entire story but I do know enough.  She was from a pretty nice family but at about sixteen, she got pregnant by this regular hood rat named Sunda.  Thataka's parents disowned her, one kid turns into two.  How can a teenage mom and deadbeat dad support themselves and two kids? Sell cheap drugs.  Sunda was the main dealer, and she did whatever he asked.  I guess that’s how it all started.”

            "Well, how did she become a big dealer?" Rama asked annoyed.

“I suppose,” Viswamithra continued, “everything went okay until her sons Mareecha and Subahu were reported selling drugs around their high school.  The police followed the drugs back to their father and a few weeks later, the police set up a sting.  During the sting, things went bad, and there was a shootout.  Sunda was shot and killed, but then his sons joined in and killed three cops.  At the end of the day, four people were dead, Mareecha and Subahu were arrested on multiple felony counts, and Thataka was left alone in that trailer house.  She never graduated from high school.  All she knew was how to make easy money through dealing.  So, that’s what she did and she became the number one dealer in Wasteland, and Wasteland became the number one place to rot.  All these drugs and the people they create, no wonder this place can’t sustain any life.”

After a couple minutes of silence, Rama asked, “There’s one thing I still don’t get.  Why didn’t they arrest Thataka along with her sons?  They would’ve had to know she was a part of it.”

 “Simple, she was a woman,” Viswamithra said just as he put the car in park.  “Let’s go.”

An older cop car model from the Gorillaz music video "Stylo." Source:Wikipedia.

Author’s Note

For this post, I wanted to update “Thataka’s Story” with a contemporary setting and focus on crime, which is something that we can all relate to.  I only wanted to focus on Viswamithra telling Rama and Lakshmana her story and their reaction to it.  Within the original, I found Thataka’s back-story more interesting than the scene where she is killed.  She is described as someone who falls from a goddess to a demon.  Through this story, I wanted to explain why she fell and what really happened to her and her family.  Furthermore, her story allowed for so much creativity, and I felt like I could do the most with her back-story.  I wanted to show her suffering and how these choices led to her being alone, which is why I chose to have her sons leave.  Within the original story, she seems like a bitter and lonely woman.  For these reasons, I chose to not include Rama killing Thataka.  I chose the crime of drug dealing because the type of destruction it does to communities paralleled nicely to the type of destruction Thataka does to the land.  Within the original story, Mareecha and Subahu are a bad influence over their father, and Thataka and Sunda get married and then have children.  Other than these two changes, the rest of my story is true to plot.   

Bibliography

Narayan, R. K. (1972).  The Ramayana