Thousands of years had passed since the kidnapping of Sita and things were going well. Rama and Sita were very happy together and very soon to be expecting a baby boy.
One day Sita was feeling nauseous and had a killer headache so she decided to
go take a nap to help her condition. Ram was alone and had nothing to do
because Sita went to sleep, so he decided to dress up as a commoner and take a
stroll through his kingdom and just observe the people to see if they had any
problems. Ram was known to be a great king and was loved by his people because
he cared for his people. Ram approached the market where most people are during
the day to sell their crafts and products so they can make a living.
While walking through the market, he came across a few men gossiping
about his beloved queen Sita. He stopped and hid around the corner of the shop
and listened in on the conversation. The men were talking about how the queen
was kidnapped by Ravana thousands of years ago and that the baby she was carrying
was not Ram’s but Ravana’s. Rama was disgusted by hearing this and angrily
walked back to the palace where he ordered his guards to call every person in
town who thought Sita cheated on Ram and slept with Ravana. Rama knew this was not true because Sita had jumped into fire in order to prove her innocence.
The guards went out and gathered almost the whole town. Ram
walked out to the courtyard where the people waited for him patiently whispering
and wondering why they were summoned so suddenly. At this point Ram was both
disgusted and disappointed in his people for not respecting their queen and
gossiping about her. Sita also walked out, wondering why there were so many
people in the courtyard. She asked Ram why they were there, and Ram told her
that they all thought that she had cheated on Ram with Ravan. Sita was shocked
to hear this and was scared about what Ram was going to do next, especially
because Ram was known to do anything to make his people happy. Sita was scared
that Ram was going to tell her to leave forever and to never come back.
What Sita did not know was that Ram loved her
unconditionally and trusted her. He had to have believed her because she proved
herself innocent in front of the fire god, Agni. Ram spoke up and explained to
his people about how disappointed he was. He also explained how it was
impossible that the baby boy that they were expecting could be Ravana’s when Rama killed Ravana thousands of years ago. Not only that but he
also told everyone how she proved herself innocent. Sita was surprised when she
heard Ram take her side and fell into tears of happiness.
The people looked at each other, ashamed at their stupidity. They couldn’t
believe what injustice they had done to their queen so they started to
apologize for what they had done. To make it up to Sita the whole kingdom
decided to throw a grand festival for the baby shower.
Author's Note:
I was inspired to write this story because I thought it was
really unfair to Sita when she was left at the river and exiled by Ram in the original
story in the book. I decided that Sita shouldn’t be abandoned just because of
what others talk about. In the book Ram hears that his people thought Sita had
not been loyal to him, so he exiled her and left her at the river just to make
his people happy. I thought that if someone really loved a person, then he or
she should stand up for that person. In the story I also decided to describe
Ram’s characteristics as a king and also as a husband a little bit more. I chose the picture of Sita in the fire to give a visual of her proving her
innocence mainly because that is how I pictured it happen with Agni inside waiting for her. There is no way that anyone that is willing to jump into fire just
to prove to their innocence to the person he or she loves. I wrote about one child instead of twins because I forgot that she was carrying twins.
Bibliography:
- Buck, William (1976). Ramayana: King Rama's Way.
Hey Soham, I just finished reading your Portfolio story: Sita is Not Abandoned, and was also very interesting in this plotline. I also was very unhappy with the way Sita was treated in the epic and I also plan to write a story about an alternate happier ending for her. Overall, your short story showed a lot of aspects of the large world that I also would have liked to have seen, such as how Rama is as a king to his people and as a husband to Sita. I also agree that if anyone is willing to step into flames for another person then they should never be exiled. I’m glad you gave the story a happy ending and had the idea to throw a baby shower for Kusha and Luva. This gives me the idea to write spin off stories where Rama’s children are with him initially since birth. I really do not enjoy the way Rama’s later life turned out and would love to see alternate stories to multiple aspects of his later life. Maybe you could even use actual dialogues amongst the characters to further show different sides of the characters. Overall, a great story! Keep up the great work!
ReplyDeleteSoham,
ReplyDeleteGreat job on your story! I love how you made the ending happy, I really was expecting Ram to leave Sita because he truly does want to make everyone happy. I agree with you about how treating Sita the way she was treated is so unfair and cruel. It saddens me to see how Ram's life turned out later on. I still can't believe that he trusted the people and their rumors over Sita and her word. It doesn't make sense to me why you would marry someone and then just not trust me. I'm glad you brought up the Agni side of the story and how Sita stepped into this flame just to prove her innocence. Your story just gave me an idea to maybe write a spin-off to Sita and the Agni scene for my next story! Thanks Soham! Haha. I think a small way that you could improve would be to maybe elaborate a little bit on what happened when Sita stepped into that fire. For example, when Ram is telling the courtyard full of people why he is on Sita's side, maybe he could throw in a little more detail about why and how Sita stepped into this fire to prove her innocence. Other then that, great job!
Hi Soham! I really loved your story because it corrected something that I felt was so wrong in the original! I also thought the story that you wrote for the characters was much more true to what we had learned about them in the past! When I first read this part in the Ramayana, I was enraged at Rama. I thought that it was very out of character for Rama to send Sita away without just cause. I understood of course that he was concerned about what his people thought, but he should have been more concerned about his love for Sita and the truth like in your story! I think that's why I loved your story so much! I love that he stood by Sita and pointed out how silly the gossip of his people was. Sita had clearly already proven herself to them, she shouldn't have had to do that again! I really like how you showed Rama to be trusting and loving toward Sita. I felt it was very appropriate that Rama would make the people feel ashamed for talking about their queen in that manner. I think one way you could improve on your writing is to have Rama actually address his people using dialogue. I think that would really add to your story! Besides that, thank you for giving Rama and Sita a happy ending! Great job!
ReplyDeleteI think this is a really great way to retell this story. I too thought that Rama's actions were a bit extreme, and that he shouldn't have to kick Sita out just to please the gossiping townspeople. This story seems much more like how it should have gone, in my opinion. I always thought it was weird that the people doubted Sita, even though she went through the test of fire to prove her purity. It seemed strange that the people loved Rama so much, and trusted his righteousness, but that they would doubt and gossip about Sita, when Rama trusted her. I think they deserved a stern talking to.
ReplyDeleteHey Soham! Great job on your portfolio, it is really coming along. First of all, I think your blog layout looks really good! The map at the top of it is really a nice touch. I liked how you picked a story of Rama and Sita to tell. Some of those are my absolute favorites! Your title is very straight forward after reading the story. I like it! I agree with you that Sita should not have been abandoned because of what people said. I feel like that was very foolish and that Rama should have stood up for her. I did not understand in the other version why she would go into fire to prove her innocence. I do like the image you chose though of her in the fire even though its not what I pictured while reading the book. I also thought it was interesting how you took the last part off Ravana's and Rama's name. Why did you do that? Great job this week! I look forward to reading more of your posts in the future!
ReplyDeleteHey Soham. I completely agree with you! Sita's banishment may have been the most surprising and ridiculous parts of the Ramayana. I just could not believe that Rama would so blindly exile her after spending years trying to get her back, especially just because some of his subjects were gossiping about her. He was their king and she was their queen, in any other story they probably would have been exiled themselves, or worse. Another interesting point to raise is that Ravana took Sita hostage ten thousand years earlier, so one might expect that any child conceived during her captivity should have been born well before the time of this event. I really enjoyed the way that you recreated this story with a much happier ending. When I read the original, I just kept thinking to myself "surely Rama won't make such an irrational decision." Low and behold, he did. The story was great. The only spelling/grammar mistake that I noticed was that you said the baby "was not of Ram's but of Ravan's." I may be mistaken, but I don't think that the possessive s at the end of each character's name is necessary since you already specified that the child is of the character. I really enjoyed the story. Great job!
ReplyDeleteGood morning Soham! I absolutely love your rendition of this story. I always thought it was dumb that the people would think that a guy that died a thousand years ago knocked up Sita. I’m glad you had Ram stand up for Sita and clear up any confusion with the town’s people. I also thought it was a good change that you ended up having Sita stay in the city rather than be exiled. I have to say, fantastic job on the story and I look forward to reading more in the near future.
ReplyDeleteHey Soham! I liked that you chose this story! I always enjoy when people expand on this because I feel like Sita really got screwed. Sita is such a loyal, strong, loving character and the story of her banishment angers me every time. I feel like Sita gets the short end of the stick quite often, especially considering how little she does to deserve any bad consequences. Anyway, I love that you had Rama stand up for Sita. I like to imagine him as an honorable, respectful, somewhat traditional character and I wish in the original telling that he had manned-up and stood up for her. I couldn't help thinking he was smarter than to believe what he did. However, I do understand that these stories were written in an INCREDIBLY different time, especially when it comes to women and their place in society. I like that your story kept Sita in the city as well. The only thing about your story that I thought was confusing or strange was that you didn't write out Rama's full name. Is there a particular reason for why you chose to leave the final "a" off of Rama? The other characters have their normal names, which is why it seemed odd. Overall, great story!
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