Reading Notes: The Chase, Ravana and Sita, Part B

The Chase

from Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie

•   Plot: The demon Maricha is disguised as a golden deer. He is pierced through heart with an arrow by Rama. Maricha in turn mimics Rama and tricks Sita into thinking that Rama had actually died. Lakshmana actually realized that it is not his brother and this makes Sita mad. 
•  I loved all the dialogue in this certain chapter. It gave me an idea on how to write dramatic dialogues for my own story.

Ravana kidnapping Sita. Source: Flickr.

Ravana and Sita

from Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie and Ramayana, The Epic of Rama, Prince of India by Romesh Dutt

•       Plot: Ravana, the king of Lanka, is a Rakshasa. He disguises himself as a wise man so he can talk to Sita because he is enchanted by her beauty. He flirts with Sita and tries to convince her to become his wife. Sita gets furious and asks him “do you know who I am? I am the wife of the god-like Rama.” Ravana in a fit of rage, abducts her and flies off into the sky on his chariot. 
•  Once again, I liked all of the dialogues in this chapter. I specifically liked when Ravana said “I can torture the sun and shoot arrows through the earth.” I personally believe that one line has strong imagery and just something powerful about it. 
•  I think something I could do for this story is switch the viewpoints for both Ravana and Sita and write it in a more modern way. 

Reading Notes: PDE Ramayana, Part A

Ayodhya, the setting of the Ramayana. Source: Wikimedia.

King Dasharatha

from Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie

Right off the bat, I loved the attention of detail to the setting in the King Dasharatha chapter. I think the author described the setting in such a way that you can imagine the place in your head and that is something that I want to incorporate in my story. I think I will actually look up a real place and try to describe it as best as I can in words.

 Vishvamitra

from Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists by Sister Nivedita

In the Vishvamitra chapter, I like that the brothers Rama and Lakshmana set out on an adventure. I started watching the show Supernatural on Netflix this summer and the two brothers in that show set out on adventures in every episode to do a new “job”, kind of like how these two brothers are. I think I might incorporate some of that show into my story too. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I can see the similarities in the show and this epic.