Week 9 Story: Kumba

        Once, there was a young woman named Kumba who lived a very hard life. Her story begins with a man. He was very handsome and a king. He promised Kumba expensive gifts and his endless love. She of course adored him. They spoke of marriage and a future together. After a time, Kumba became pregnant. She did not worry because she knew her love would marry her and they would start their lives together. But, when she told the man of his unborn child, his expression was cold and stony. He told her he would have nothing to do with the baby and had her physically removed from his palace as she cried.

        Kumba’s family was very proud and moral. They did not know of her affair or the child. So, she had the child in secret and hid her pregnancy from everyone. When the child was born, it could not have been more perfect. The little boy did not cry but smiled up at his mother right after birth. Kumba wept but knew the child could not stay with her. She brought the baby to an orphanage and left him there.
        Years later, she boiled with rage and regret. Her ex-lover spread rumors about her. He said she was not pure and would not make a proper wife to anyone. She gave up on trying to find a man who would take her as a wife. Instead, she spent her time training with weapons and getting stronger. This was frowned upon by her family and friends, but Kumba was a broken woman craving revenge. She worked with masters in the art of battle and became very skilled with a bow and arrow. She was better than many men. 

        One day, she returned to her ex-lover’s palace. The guards saw her bow and arrows and refused to let her in. But the king saw her and laughed.
        “Do you not see that she is a woman? What could she do with that dainty bow? Allow her to pass,” the king called. He wanted to mock her further and looked forward to the chance to beat her down once more.
        “So, you remember me after these many years? And you still have no regrets for your actions?” Kumba asked the man she once loved so dearly. He laughed again.
        “You are not the only woman I’ve promised everything and given nothing. I take what I want. I am a king,” he said with piercing eyes.
        Kumba realized now that he would continue to do to others what he had done to her. When she set out for his palace, she wasn’t sure what exactly she intended to do with her bow, but now her mind was made up. The entertained expression on his face quickly turned to one of shock as Kumba’s arrow struck his heart. She had drawn an arrow from her quiver and shot it so quickly, he did not have time to react. The guards did not notice until the king’s body slumped out of his throne and thumped onto the ground.
        Kumba approached the freshly vacated throne and sat atop it. The guards looked at one another panicked and confused. There had not been a queen before, but the tradition was that if someone slayed the king, they themselves became the ruler. She glared at each of them and threatened to end them with her bow as well if they tried to stop her.


Author’s Note:
        I sort of combined aspects from Amba and Kunti’s stories. In Kunti’s story, she calls upon the sun god and he gives her a son. Since she is not married, she can’t keep the child and sends him away in a basket on the river. In Amba’s story, she has a lover who is a king, but she is taken away to be wed to another man. She begs to be with her lover and is allowed to go to him, but he rejects her and she is left with nowhere to go.
        I thought both these women had really devastating things happen to them, specifically Amba. I created “Kumba” from the two women’s names. Kumba gave her child to an orphanage instead of the river because I felt like I would be more trusting of another human to find a place for my child than the river. I really disliked this common theme in the Mahabharata that women are weak and have no power. So, I decided to have Kumba get revenge on the man who wronged her and obtain a great level of power. Honestly, I was kind of rushed writing this story so I’m hoping to be able to come back and really add to this. I’m considering having Kumba search for her son and maybe start an orphanage for other children to fill the hole in her heart.

Bibliography:

        "Amba's Ruin" from Mahabharata: Karmic Revolution by Epified

        "Son of the Sun" from Mahabharata: Karmic Revolution by Epified

Image Information: Archer, Source: Pixabay