In a distant land King Drupada was holding a grand event to
find a suitable husband for his beautiful daughter. King Drupada did not want
just any ordinary guy to marry her daughter. He wanted to find a man that is
very strong and skilled to protect the princess. This event was called Draupadi’s
swayamvar. Both the Pandavs and the Kauravs hear about this contest and decide
to go to make sure that the other does not win the beautiful princess.
The contest was a simple task. All the contestants had to do
to win the princess was to pick up the bow and to string it. But this was not
any ordinary bow, this bow was given to King Drupada by the gods and was really
heavy and stiff. It was not going to be an easy task to string this majestic
bow. To judge this contest Krishna, the reincarnation of Vishnu, was also going
to be at the swayamvar.
It was time for the competition, both the King and the
princess walk out to the courtyard where all the princes from many different
kingdoms are eagerly waiting to take a shot at the bow. To solve the problem of
who gets the turn to lift the bow first the king decided to let the princes
pick up the bow in a first come first serve basis. All the princes stand up and
line up behind the grand table where the bow lay. Each prince tried his best to try and pick up
the bow, they tugged as hard as they could but they still failed. Next in line
was Duryodhana who was representing the Kauravs. The whole courtyard watched in
silence as Duryodhana made his attempt. Duryodhana pulled as hard as he could
and all he could do was move the bow by an inch. By the time he managed to move
the bow he was completely worn out and tired and so he had to give up. The last
contestant was Arjun who was representing the Pandavs. At this point Draupadi
had given up hope that she is never going to get married. Arjun stood in front
of the bow, looked at it and prayed to the gods before he even tried to. He put
out his arm and held the bow, and without thinking lifted the bow effortlessly
and string the bow. Arjun stringed the bow so tight that the bow literally
snapped in half. The whole courtyard was watching with their eyes wide open in
awe of Arjun’s strength. This way Arjun won the contest and got the beautiful
princess as his wife.
Author’s Note:
I decided to retell the swayamvar story in my own words, and
I also decided to make a little different from the original story too. I chose
to tell the story from a narrator’s point of view to make it seem like we were
watching a contest on television.
- Narayan, R. K. (1978). The Mahabharata.
Hi Soham!
ReplyDeleteI really like your Storytelling post for this week! King Drupada's challenge was one of my favorite parts of the reading. I think you did a really good job interpretating the story. It is understandable but gives enough detail for the reader to play out in their head. You didn't give too much detail into each character, which I think actually worked with your story since the person talking (as you stated in your author's note) doesn't actually know Draupadi, Drupada, or Arjun. The picture you used works really good as well!
I'd consider adding a bit more detail into your future stories maybe.
Great job!
Hey, Soham! Great post- I really liked how you chose this story to re-wrote. I always love reading about royalty, princesses, and princes, so it was nice to re-read a story about it rather than one with so many curses in it. I love the detail you added and the tone you set. You did a great job of trying to make it sound like a TV show like you were hoping to do as you wrote in the author’s note. Mission accomplished.
ReplyDeleteHi Soham! Great choice of story to retell! I did the same episode from the Mahabharata, but I did it in the first person format from Draupadi's viewpoint. I like how you used a narrator's point of view and elaborated on details I didn't go into depth about, such as the characteristics of the bow and the struggle of the different princes to wield its power. I think a little more dialogue might give more color to your stories. Also, spacing out the different paragraphs really helps to read on a screen. Just some suggestions, great job!
ReplyDeleteHey good morning Soham! This is the second story I've read of yours so far and once again it’s a most enjoyable read. This happens to be one of my favorite stories from the readings and I'm really glad you decided to retell this specific story. Throughout your story you did a great job of keeping the original story line but also added a little more detail, which I feel, was greatly needed. I also think the picture you found fits the story really well and kind of helps the reader match a face with the characters. Keep up the great work and I hope to read more soon!
ReplyDeleteI love the picture you chose for your story, and I think you did a great job retelling it. I read your author’s note about trying to make it seem more like a TV competition, and I just really wish you had done more to make it seem like that. You could have made the narrator more of a reporter to make it seem more like a TV competition.
ReplyDelete