Styles For Miles

TOPIC: For my topic, I will be writing about the women of the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. More specifically, I am interested in Sita and also Draupadi. In the Ramayana, Sita has such interesting depth. She was the woman that Rama fell madly in love with, so much so that he could describe her feet enough to set her apart from other women. I would like to look into her side of the story as much as I could. Also, Draupadi would have so many interesting aspects of her story to explore. She found out that she was the prize in a chess match. No woman ever wants to find out she's the object of a game. If I gave her a voice, I think she would have a lot to say.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

1. The Ramayana: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic by R.K. Narayan (2006).

2. The Mahabharata by R.K. Narayan (2000).


POSSIBLE STYLES:

Newspaper Reporting: This would definitely be in the Third-Person format. I was imagining it like a reporter finding either Draupadi or Sita after the whole story happens and getting their thoughts. Or it could be more like a reporter on the scene just reporting what he sees. The images could be in a style like photojournalism. The whole Storybook website could also be designed to look like a newspaper.

Coffee Shop: I do not know how sold I am on this particular style. I imagine this to be Sita and Draupadi meeting in a coffee shop like so many good friends like to do. They find a cozy couch and just talk about the things that went on in the past week. This would be a very interesting way to get into the very depth of their feelings on their lives. There is nothing really like two good friends and coffee to get two women to talk about their stories. It would be the most interesting if I told it from one of their sides. So, I could tell the story from Draupadi's point of view and that would even allow readers to see her thoughts on Sita's story.

PTA Moms: Going off the last idea, it might be interesting to imagine these two women as moms involved in their children's schools. Ravana could turn into an evil principal from another school who admires Sita's PTA organization skills. This idea is seeming a little out there and more on a Doctor Who level of storytelling.

Miss America Pageant: A last idea could be imagining Draupadi and Sita as contestants in the Miss India pageant. It would be rather easy to include the craziness of Sita being kidnapped and perhaps Draupadi is the stakes in a gamble on who wins the pageant. This would definitely be a Third-Person Storytelling type of project.

 

 

 

Draupadi



 

Storytelling for Week 3: The Visit

*knock, knock*

Tressa looked up from her book. She had been thoroughly engrossed in her new copy of Gardening in Indian Climates for Beginners. She would develop that green thumb one day and show Michael that he had not married a girl without the ability to cook.

*knock, knock*

Tressa was slightly confused. She and Michael were new to town and had not really met anyone would just come on over for a visit. Should she open the door? She had sent Michael to the store for a new bag of rice, so no one was at the house besides her.

On the other hand, she could just picture the happiness on Michael's face if he came back and found her chatting with a new friend while they both held cups of steaming tea.

*knock, knock*

"Coming!" Making up her mind, Tressa moved to the door. Opening it, she found an older gentleman.

"Hello, my dear! I noticed you and your husband had moved into the neighborhood and wanted to introduce myself. I brought cookies!" With that, he presented a tin decorated with charming deer in a lovely grassy area surrounded by woods.

Tressa hesitated. This seemed a little off, but he did seem like a sweet old man. And how could she refuse cookies?

imagine this full of cookies

"Of course! Come right in!" she opened the door for him to shuffle inside.

"Thank you, dearie, thank you so much," he settled into the sofa she motioned him towards, "There are not a lot of people who would be willing to spend time with a lonely old man like me."

Her heart softened. Why did she have misgivings about this situation again?

"No, I bet you are just lovely. I was just thinking that I needed to meet some people in the area. Oh, and my name is Tressa," she paused as she waited for him to give his name.

He did not share his name. "Oh, my dear, I am surprised you are not swamped with visitors already! But tell me, is your husband out?"

"Yes he is," as soon as Tressa said this, she regretted it. She should not have mentioned that she was here alone.

The old man began to chuckle. Tressa was very confused. As his chuckle grew louder and slowly morphed into an evil laugh, she realized she had made a very big mistake.

"Who are you?" she cried as light began to encircle him.

The light was blinding and then it vanished. The man was no longer a cute old man. He was blue! He had ten heads!

"I am Ravana, the lord of the demons! I am here to take you hostage!"

"What in the world??" Tressa couldn't breathe. Ravana scooped her up with the ground surrounding her and ran out the door with an evil chuckle.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: In the original story, Ravana disguises himself and meets with Sita while Rama is away hunting the golden deer (which coincidentally made an appearance on Ravana’s cookie tin in the above retelling of the story). Sita let him in although the reader obviously knew it was a bad guy. This made me wonder what it was like from Sita’s point of view for the whole situation. I thought it was kind of a hilarious encounter when Ravana scooped up Sita and took her away. It made me wonder what had been going on in Sita's mind during their little "visit" and how she was probably terrified when Ravana transformed into the ten-headed lord of the demons. So, I tried to imagine what she was thinking with some different characters in a slightly more modern setting to help readers relate to the shock and terror when she finally realized what was going on in her house. Except I just kept laughing when I thought about her seeing him with the ten heads. I hope the seriousness and the comedic touch came through in this retelling. The original is from R. K. Narayan's The Ramayana: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic (2006)

Reading Diary B [Narayan's Ramayana]

I read from R. K. Narayan's The Ramayana.

It seems really strange to be finally finishing the story. Good battled evil and good won. I would have to say that my favorite part of these pages comes from Narayan's epilogue. I like where he explained that Hanuman had been advised to dedicate his like to serve Vishnu. He did this without even thinking about it when he realized who Rama really was. This demonstrates some awesome loyalty. It even was stated that if Rama's name was whispered, Hanuman was there. Even if the story of Rama was told, he would be present. Narayan states that Hanuman is one of the most important characters in the Ramayana and the narrator will often pay a tribute to him when the story is told.

If this book was a movie, the battle of Ravana and Rama would be the part where audience members were perched on the edge of their seat, holding their breath, and wondering how Rama was going to be able to take down the evil Ravana. It would definitely turn into one of the most talked about movie scenes of the season. I wonder if Rama would have been able to take down his enemy if he had not dedicated so much time to really think about his next moves.

Ravana and Rama in Battle

Reading Diary A [Narayan's Ramayana]

I read from R. K. Narayan's The Ramayana.

These were some very interesting pages of the Ramayana. There were battles and deaths. There were abductions and disguises. This part of the story felt like a truly epic Indian Epic. I am a visual learner, so I adored the multiple descriptions of different scenes. The moments where Rama is contemplating his future course of action is a great example of this. The way the clouds are described make it easy to picture.

Ravana kidnapping Sita

Also, the part where Sita threw down her jewelry so they could have a way to find her was rather brilliant. Even when they found Sita among all the ladies, she had thought ahead to keep a small piece of jewelry so they knew that it was really her. These actions demonstrate that Sita kept a level head through everything. It really is no wonder why the god Vishnu incarnate would love this woman. 

Rama demonstrates that he loves Sita so much. When they doubt they will be able to find her, Rama assures them they will know and describes Sita's feet in such loving detail. He has paid attention to her. I feel like there is probably a good marriage lesson in here somewhere. However, that is something for a different class and a different conversation.