Indian Epics Spring 2018

Edit: This story has been transferred to my Portfolio . Click here to view the most up to date version.         When Ravana and Mandodari were young, they fell in love at first sight. She was beautiful and he was strong. As time went on, Mandodari noticed her husband’s weakness for other women. Though she was lovely and good, he wanted to be with more than one woman. So he married a second wife. But this was not enough. He married a third and a fourth. Ravana could never have enough wives and lovers despite the fact that his queen was the most beautiful, kind, and intelligent of them all. She stood by him and loved him despite all of this.         Then, he set his eyes upon a married woman–Sita. He kidnapped her from her husband, Rama, and brought her to his domain to rape and defile her. This was too much for Mandodari. She begged Ravana to let the girl go and return her to Rama. He refused to listen to her. When Sita consistently refused to ...

The part where Ravana uses magic to make Sita see things that aren't real is crazy. It's such an interesting and fun idea/topic. Ravana makes me think of a stalker/bad relationship. I could write about a woman being manipulated by her boyfriend to see things that are fake. Maybe his goal would be to drive her crazy or make her be with him even though she wants out of the relationship. The scene is quite moving where Rama and Lakshmana are lying there near dead and the army is terrified and ready to go home. And then in sails this legendary king of the birds who revives Rama and his brother. I enjoyed the energy and emotion of this part and would like to try to recreate this feeling in my own work somehow. The idea of a sleepy and tired giant interested me. Although I think if I wrote on this, my giant would be friendly. Maybe this would be the protector of a forest and only awakens when needed. I felt bad for Mandodari. Her husband died fighting the guy whose wife he s...

        Sugriva's story about how he and his brother became estranged might be interesting to work with. I like the idea of a misunderstanding between brothers leading to their becoming enemies. In my version, I think I'd have the brothers communicate and come to an agreement/truce instead of trying to kill each other. Maybe they even talk it out when one brother can't bring himself to truly hurt the other.         I also thought it was cool that, though Vali was blinded by rage and determination, his wife sensed that this was a trap and begged him not to go. That might be another story I could write. In mine, however, the man would be smart enough to listen to his wife and escape his death.         Hanuman's going to save Sita was very nice but it would've been much more romantic if Rama had gone to find his love. I thought he had a hard time sitting still and not doing anything to help Sita. Also, it was silly that Hanuman ...