Week 14 Story: Sita: The Independent Woman

Sita: The Independent Woman

Sita got home from her long day of work and just slouched on her couch. She had been working hard for the last few months just to get her bills paid on time. Ever since her husband Ram had dumped her, she had had to move out of their apartment and find her own place. 

She still hadn’t forgotten about that day. Ram had dumped her in front of everyone at the hospital she had been working at then. He had asked her to move out of their apartment, as well as his life. She had cried for days on end after she had moved out.

Sita ended up moving in with a friend for almost three weeks until her friend’s roommate came back. She was lucky that she knew somebody who was moving out of that apartment building and she got his apartment. She continued working, taking double shifts so she could make more money. She considered herself lucky that her parents had raised her to be independent because she knew she would be able to make it on her own. 

When it had been a few weeks after their breakup, she found out she was pregnant. She was scared about what was going to happen. When she told her parents, they said they would support her completely. She hadn’t even told Rama yet but she knows it’s not going to go well. “Oh well,” she thought. “I’ll raise this baby on my own. I don’t need Ram.”

One day she went to one of her prenatal checkups and found out she was having twins. Ever since that day, she realized she was going to have to tell Ram now. She had gone to his apartment, their old apartment, and had a talk with him. At first, he was mad that she hadn’t told him when she had first found out. But nonetheless, he was ready to offer her any kind of support she needed. In that moment, Sita realized that she didn’t need him anymore. Over the past few months she had kept herself busy that she didn’t really think about Ram as much. 

Sita looked at Ram and said “Listen, I only came to tell you so you wouldn’t be blindsided one day if you found out from someone else. I didn’t come here to ask for your help.”

“But what about child support? You can’t handle two babies all by yourself with your salary,” said Ram.

“You don’t know what I can do now, Ram. I may have seemed dependent on you when we were together, but I have changed since then. I can and I will go through this all by myself. I already have enough support that I need from my family and friends,” said Sita. “Oh, and I want the divorce finalized now.”

And on that note, she left his apartment and his life. But this time, she left with her dignity intact and her head held high. 

Ram sees a pregnant Sita. Source: Youtube.

Bibliography: Sita Sings the Blues. Nina Paley.

Author's Note: After watching Sita Sings the Blues, I realized how much I hated how clingy and dependent Sita was portrayed in the movie. I decided to write a modern day version of how Rama had exiled Sita even after she had gone through his Agnipariksha, the fire test, to prove that she was still pure. In this modern version, I wanted to give her a new personality and be independent, so I wrote about her having a job and being able to pay her bills all by herself. In the Ramayana, Rama doesn't know about Sita being pregnant until much later when he finds two boys singing about him. I wanted to change that up and show he does find out and offers Sita help, but she is independent and doesn't need his help. 

Week 13 Story: Arjun and Subha's Relaxing Evening

Arjun and Subha's Relaxing Evening

Abhimanyu fighting in the Chakravyuha. Source: Wikimedia.

It is a warm, summer evening. A couple can be seen sitting on a bench in their backyard, talking animatedly. The husband rubs the wife’s stomach, trying to feel their baby kick. 

“I can’t wait till he gets here,” says Arjun the husband. 

“I know, me neither. I just want to not look so big anymore,” says the wife, Subha. 

Arjun laughed at his wife’s whining. Ever since they found out she was pregnant, he felt much happier every day. He couldn’t wait until his son arrived in this world. They had already picked out a named. They were going to name him Abhimanyu. 

“Tell me a story, Arjun,” said Subha.

“About what,” asked Arjun.

“Anything. I’m just in the mood for a story or something. I want the baby to hear too,” said Subha.

“Hmm. What story should I tell her,” thought Arjun. He kept thinking and thinking until he finally settled on telling her about the Chakravyuha. 

“Subha, do you know what the Chakravyuha is,” asked Arjun. “No,” answered his wife. 

“Well, then prepare yourself for a little history lesson. When I was little, my dad would always tell me stories about wars and battles,” said Arjun. “I got to learn a lot of old-timey war strategies such as formations. One of my favorite formations he told me about was the Chakravyuha. It’s a multi-tiered defensive formation that looks like a blooming lotus if you look at it from above. The warriors would be places in positions where it would be tough to fight and tough to leave. It was used in the battle of Kurukshetra. That was a battle between the Kauravas and Pandavas from the Mahabharata. You know what’s a big coincidence?”

“What,” asked Subha.

“One of the great warriors who died in the Chakravyuha, his name was also Abhimanyu. He fought everyone in that Chakravyuha all by himself. He was courageous and literally fought till his death.”

“Oh, really?” questioned Subha.

“Yes,” exclaimed Arjun. “When our boy grows up, I’m going to tell him stories about this great warrior Abhimanyu and the war stories I know. I hope the stories will inspire him to be just as courageous as his namesake.”

Little did they know, their son was listening to everything they said from the womb. 

Bibliography:

Birth of Abhimanyu. Epified: Mahabharata.

Chakravyuha. Wikipedia.

Author's Note: I watched an Epified: Mahabharata video where more of Arjuna and Subhadra's relationship is shown. There's a part where she is pregnant and the narrator says that Arjuna used to tell Subhadra stories, and Abhimanyu would be listening from the womb. One of them included the strategy of the Chakravyuha. I thought to write a story about how I think an interaction between them would be like. I also had to look up some more on the Chakravyuha so I could actually describe it. 

Week 12: The Long Lost Son

The Long Lost Son

*I have updated this story for my portfolio project and the newer version is here on my website. I gave the story a new name as well. 

Cousins battling. Source: Wikimedia. 

“I can’t wait for the tournament,” Bhima announced loudly to his brother. The five Pandava brothers had been so excited all morning for this tournament. 

This tournament was between them and their cousins, the Kauravas. The purpose of the tournament was to see how much they had learned in their training from Kripacharya and Drona. Their skills would be tested today. Their talents would be exhibited in front of everyone including the royal family and the public. 

“I hope none of my sons get hurt today,” hoped Kunti. She had bene excited for the tournament as well. She knew her sons had all trained so hard. They had so much energy in them that she knew this would be a perfect way for them to exert all of that energy. 

At the tournament, all of the cousins had went and showcased the talents in front of the crowd. The one who stood out the most was her son, Arjuna. Everyone was stunned by his skills in archery and use of weapons. They watched in awe and admiration. She felt immense pride for her son. But then came along a man named Karna.

Karna said he had trained from Parshuram himself, so he wanted to challenge Arjuna. She watched as Karna surpassed all the feats Arjuna had made. She could tell from her son’s face that was getting angrier by the second. She watched as Arjuna refused to let Karna be crowned the victor.

Kunti couldn’t help but stare at Karna. For some reason, she felt a connection to this man. He looked familiar to her. She listened as Kripacharya stepped in and said they couldn’t let him fight if Karna wasn’t from a royal bloodline. They wanted to know his lineage.

“I don’t know about my lineage. All I know from my parents is that I was found in a basket floating down the river. I was brought up a charioteer and his wife, my mother. They are the only family I know,” explained Karna.

Kunti was in shock. She couldn’t believe what she had just heard. “Could this… could he… is this… no, that’s not possible. But it can be. But how?” thought Kunti. She started to panic. She started to feel dizzy and her vision was getting darker. She lost consciousness the moment she realized that Karna was her firstborn. 

Author's Note: I based this story off of an interaction from an Epified: Mahabharata video. In the video, Karna becomes King, Kunti finds out for the first time that the man challenging Arjuna is actually her firstborn she had given up. In the video, the narrator focuses more on the tension between the men, and the part about Kunti fainting is briefly mentioned towards the end. I thought since I had already written a story about Kunti giving about baby Karna in her perspective, I would write this in her perspective as well. 

Bibliography:

Karna becomes King. Epified: Mahabharata. 

Week 11 Story: The Secret Superhero, Part 2

The Secret Superhero: Part 2

Cards. Source: Pixabay.

When Krish got back to his apartment, he couldn’t help but think about his morning. He had used his power for the first time in a long while. He didn’t want to admit it, but it felt good to feel that power surge through him. The last time he had used his power, it hadn’t ended well.

For as long as he could remember, he was told to hide his power. Krish knew he couldn’t let anyone know. He recalled the one incident when he was younger that made his power known to his mother. 

His mother had been teaching Krish a new card game when she had seen a pot of milk boiling over on the stove. She had left him briefly to go attend to the milk, but those few moments of being left alone had made him so angry. He didn’t realize he was doing it but he saw the other pot of milk suddenly overturn itself. Krish had just stared at it with wide eyes. He couldn’t comprehend what had just happened.

But his mother could. She knew what had happened. She had feared for the day his power would show up in full form. Thinking back to when he was a toddler and had unconsciously moved his toys around, she had hoped that he wouldn’t figure out about his ability until he was much older. She wasn’t ready to explain to him how he was special just yet.

“Mom, what just happened?” asked Krish. Yashi, his mother, was looking at him funny. 

“Krish, there is something I need to tell you but I need you to remain calm and not freak out, okay?” said Yashi.

“Okay, what is it?” questioned Krish. 

“Well, umm, there’s this thing. You have this power called telekinesis. It means you can move things with your mind, just like you did with the pot of milk.” 

“Wait, you mean to tell me, that was me? Idid that?” 

“Yes, but listen Krish. You cannot tell people about this ability. There are people in this world who don’t like people who are different, and I don’t want anything to happen to you. So promise me you won’t tell anyone,” said his mother.

Coming back to his current situation, Krish felt conflicted about telling the kid at the park about his power. “Maybe I shouldn’t have told him,” thought Krish. 

He remembers not being able to tell his friends about his power as he was growing up. There was instances where he couldn’t control his ability and things happened, but he never knew how to explain it without not giving away his secret. So he kept quiet and let people think he was weird.

But he had to admit it. Telling someone about it had made him feel so much better. It made him feel more confident in a way.

“Maybe I shouldn’t hide it anymore,” he thought. “I need to be me now. No more hiding. I can use my power for good, like I did today.”

Author's Note: I wanted to continue on from my last superhero story and give some more information on why Krish wanted to Sri to not tell anyone about his power. In The Childhood of Krishna chapter of the Shri Krishna of Dwarka reading, I found a little part where he and his mother Yashoda are playing but she has to leave him and go inside for a few minutes to go attend to the milk that was boiling over. This makes Krishna angry and he goes and overturns another pot of milk. I thought that would be a perfect scene to tweak with and have him overturn the milk with his mind instead of him physically do it. That would be a perfect way for his power to show up. 

Bibliography:

The Childhood of Krishna by C.A. Kincaid.

Week 10 Story: The Secret Superhero

The Secret Superhero

Trees in a park. Source: Public Domain Pictures. 

“Help! Please, someone help me!” screamed the boy from the top of the tree. Sri was holding on tightly to the biggest branch he could find. He knew the branch could break any moment now, and he was afraid of falling to ground and breaking a limb. His friend had dared him to climb the tallest tree to prove he wasn’t scared of heights. Sri had to prove to them he wasn’t scared but he didn’t want to look like a loser either so he took the challenge. Now here he was, about to fall from 50 feet up.

From a few feet away, Krish heard the call for help. He was on his daily jog through the park. He ran faster towards the voice. He soon found the source of the voice. Hidden in between many trees, he saw something in one of them. As he looked closer, he could see that it was a little boy hanging from a tree branch.

He rushed to the boy. “Let go, I’ll catch you,” he called to the boy. The boy looked down and shook his head. “No, I’m scared!” Sri screamed.

“I can catch you, I promise,” Krish told the. But Sri adamantly refused. 

Krish looked around to make sure no one was watching and concentrated on the boy. Before him he saw the boy floating down to the ground. In a matter of a few seconds, the boy stood right in front of him.

“How did you do that!” exclaimed Sri at Krish. “Are you a magician?”

Krish laughed at that. “No, I’m not. But I do have this secret superpower. I can get things to move with my mind. It’s called telekinesis. But you can’t tell anyone about what just happened, okay? No one can know,” said Krish.

“Why not? You’re a superhero! Everyone should know,” said Sri. He looked so confused as to why this man wouldn’t want to tell everyone about his powers.

“Because… people won’t understand. People think I’m weird anyway. But just promise me you won’t tell anyone,” Krish looked at the boy with pleading eyes. 

“Okay. I promise I won’t,” Sri told Krish. Krish breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the boy and said, “thank you, I appreciate that.” 

"Um, can you show me what else you can move with your mind?" Sri asked Krish. "Well, I guess I'll show you just once and that's it."

"Okay!" smiled an excited Sri. He watched as Krish looked attentively at a big log. He saw the log start to float. Krish looked at the boy through the corner of his eye and smiled as he saw the boy's eyes get bigger. Krish used his power to throw the log almost 25 feet away. 

"Wow! That was so cool! Can you do that again?" asked Sri. "I really can't, I have to be somewhere now. Sorry kid. You need to get back to your friends anyway," said Krish. 

“Oh okay. By the way, what’s your name mister?” asked Sri. Krish smiled at the boy. “I’m Krish, what’s your name?” 

“Sridhama, but you can call me Sri. Everyone calls me that.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you Sri. Now try not getting stuck in a tree again. Who knows, I won’t be around to save you next time,” laughed Krish.

“Oh, don’t worry. I won’t ever make that mistake again. But at least now that I know you’re a superhero, you’ll come help me if I ever need help again right?” asked Sri.

Krish laughed again. “Sure kid. But remember, you can’t tell anyone else.” 

“I know I know. Thanks for saving me, Krish!” And with that, Sri ran back to his friends thinking about his new superhero friend Krish.  

Author's Note: Krishna is known for being this divine being who has all these kinds of powers that he uses to help people. I thought it would be cool to give him a modern day superpower like telekinesis. I got the idea of him having powers from different Epified videos that show him being almost like a superhero.

Bibliography:

Dreams and Music.  

Krishna Humbles Brahma.

Week 7 Story: What Arjuna and Karna Were Really Thinking

*I have updated this story and the newer version can be found listed under Inner Thoughts on my website. 

Arjun and Karan battle. Source: Wikimedia. 

Arjuna’s POV

Arjuna watched as his brother Karna stepped onto the battlefield, bow at the ready. “Look at his stupid face,” thought Arjuna. 

He looked around at all of his soldiers and his brother’s soldiers to see them all watching. He knew in that moment. He knew this was going to be the last fight. The winner though, that he didn’t know. He wasn’t sure who was going to come out victorious in the end but he knew he was going to give his all. So slowly, he started making his way onto the battlefield. 

“I have to win this fight. If Karna beats me, my soldiers are going to make fun of me. Bhima is going to crush me to death. Literally crush me to death,” thought Arjuna.

As he took his place on his chariot, he looked up to see Karna staring at him.

Karna’s POV

“Oh brother, you are so going down today,” thought Karna. “There is no way I’m losing to my little brother.” 

Karna couldn’t help but cringe when he saw his brother. He looked like a fly and a fly Karna so badly want to smash. 

He began shooting arrows at Arjuna, hoping one of them would pierce him in the heart. His arrows were hitting Arjuna spot on and he knew from the way Arjuna reacted that they were stinging like snakes. 

Arjuna’s POV

“Bloody hell! These arrows are stinging so badly. Karna is getting it now.” He set off his own set of arrows and they it looked like a rain shower of arrows had descended on Karna. 

Arjuna felt his bow snap and knew he was in trouble. “Stop, Karna! You can’t attack me like this. You know that’s against the rules.” But from the look on Karna’s face, he knew his brother didn’t care.

Karna’s POV

“HAHA you little brat. That’s what you get,” thought Karna. He continued to shoot arrows at Arjuna until he knew he was gravely injured.

However, he saw Arjuna get up and restring his bow, and his brother did not look too happy. But Karna wasn’t scared. As he was about to send another set of arrows on Arjuna, he felt his chariot sink into the ground.  

“Oh no. No no no!” cried Karna. “Stop, Arjuna! You can’t attack me right now.” 

Arjuna’s POV

“Oh heck no. What a hypocrite!” thought Arjuna. Before he could reply, his friend Krishna started talking.

“Karna, what you said is right, but you’re being a hypocrite you know? Didn’t you shoot arrows at Arjuna even though he was injured? Didn’t you and your soldiers surround Abhimanyu and kill him brutally?” asked Krishna.

As he heard his son’s name, Arjuna felt the rage he had subdued rise again and he snatched his bow. He looked at Karna with all the rage he had and let the crescent-bladed arrow go.”

He saw his brother’s head fall off his shoulders, and in that moment all he could think of was his son. 

“That was for my son. Rest in peace, Karna. You won’t be missed.”

Bibliography

Arjuna and Karna. Indian Myth and Legend. Donald A. Mackenzie.

Week 6 Story: Kunti's Farewell

*I have updated this story and this newer version is on my website listed under Rough Goodbyes.

Kunti bids farewell to Karna. Source: Mojarto. 

Kunti's Farewell

As Kunti made her way down to the river with her newborn son, she couldn't help feeling overwhelmed with emotions of all range. She had millions of thoughts running through mind.

"What will people think if they find out? How will I face everyone," thought Kunti. But the one thought that was the most prominent was "can I really give up my son?" She held back tears for she knew she had to be strong about this. 

She stared down at her boy, her beautiful baby Karna. Out of all the emotions she was feeling, she felt shame at the moment. Shame that she knew will haunt her for the rest of her life if she didn't do what she was about to do. 

At the riverbed, she wrapped Karna in the softest of sheets and laid his head down a costly, soft pillow. She placed the basket in the water and floated him down the river. This she couldn't hold back the tears. Kunti cried her heart for the son she knew she had lost, quite possible for ever. 

"Oh my child, I hope you are protected by everyone. Please protect my baby," she pleaded to the gods. "May you be shielded from harm. May your father, the sun god, give you warmth." 

Kunti sat there watching her baby float away from her. She sat for hours after just staring at the river, thinking about what she had just done. She thought about who will find her son, who will raise him.

She even thought about how her life would've been if she had kept Karna. She thought about all the trouble her little boy would've caused, about all the times she would be running after him to punish him. Kunti wallowed in her grief for a little bit longer but she knew she couldn't stay like this forever. She mustered together all the strength she could and started on her way back home. All the while, she still thought about her actions and hoped for a bright future for her son.

Author's Note: I used the source "Kunti and Her Son" by Donald A Mackenzie, from Indian Myth and Legend. In the original chapter, Kunti is shown leaving Karna at a river and floating him away. We don't know exactly what must have gone on in her head at the time, but I thought of something that I think would be what she must have gone through.