I wrote a story two weeks ago using the college student Ari to tell part of the story of the Mahabharata where Arjuna is in exile. The story Ari and His Gators actually happens chronologically after this story in the original context. The original stories I found in two different sources. I kept the Ari character to connect these two stories.
In the original version of this story, Arjun's Journey, that I watched on Youtube, Epified Mahabharata
it tells the tale of Arjuna meeting the water nymph that wants to marry him, and he leaves only to go find a beautiful princess and pretending to be a Brahman married the girl and has children with her and then goes back home, running away in the middle of the night. He also had a wife back home.
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| image found Warwick Goble—1913, Indian Myth |
Now that Ari was in his junior year of college at Florida State University it was time for him to go study abroad for his degree in Cultural Anthropology. He would be travelling to India. He was very excited about this trip because his ancestry is Indian even though his family had lived in the United States for several generations. He had never been anywhere outside of his country before, so he was naturally curious about what he would discover about himself on this trip. So he decided to start a blog to record his journey. This is what it says:
Day 1 of trip- I finally made it to my destination after nearly an entire day in flight transit! I am so happy to be here, the youth hostel here is nice. I can't wait for tomorrow.
Day 2 of trip- This place is amazing. The food I have eaten today is otherworldly good. Mumbai is, just wow. I have no words. I feel so at home here, like I have been here before. The smells of the city, a mixture of foods and industry that stirs something deep in the soul.
Day 3 of trip- I met some other students here today. It was neat to find others that are here having the trip of a lifetime and also being a little bit blindsided with culture shock. We are all going to meet up tomorrow to go for a swim. I think that will help me to work off some of my nervous energy from such a change of pace of travelling.
Week 2 of trip- One of the guys showed us a spot on the river that is apparently enchanted. A local had told him not to go there. He was curious. He went. So we all went. Then I went back alone. I cannot believe how much time has passed. I thought I was gone a few hours. Weeks have passed. I thought I was having a dream about a beautiful woman....I don't know. I think it was real. She knew my name, Arjuna. This is a little strange because mostly people just call me Ari. She was so beautiful, radiant. She told me she was the daughter of a Naga king. I don't know her name, I can only remember her eyes....Oh, and curiously we were in a water palace. She wanted me to stay there with her. I ran away. If I didn't know better, I'd say I was kidnapped by a water nymph.
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| The underwater city Ari visits. |
Week 6 of trip- I want to go home. I came here to study abroad, and I thought it was going to be an academic experience. What I have learned is that these women are lovely, but will be the death of me. I accidently got married. Don't judge me. Bollywood is alluring. I do not know how to handle my liquor. She is gorgeous and very wealthy, her father is a bit of a movie king. She is also pregnant. My mother is going to have kittens she will be so mad at me.
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| Ari's accidental wife- |
End of trip!!!
I am so happy to be home on American soil. I love India, but I think India may love me a bit too much. I really missed American pizza. I think I will load these photos onto a flash drive, get some pizza and call it good.
LaDawn,
ReplyDeleteI really like the story idea of a college student travelling abroad and using a diary or blog type concept to tell the story. In day 2 I like how you described how Ari feels like he has been there before by saying the smells of the city and food are familiar, it’s great narration! I think your story is very creative and although it is a diary and shorter notes are probably most appropriate, I would recommend using a few longer sentences in some spots for the daily blog posts. Great work!
LaDawn,
ReplyDeleteI absolutely loved your story!! This is the first time I’ve read a story in a blog-type format and I have to say, it is one of my favorite styles I’ve seen thus far! It was so easy to read and it kept my interest as I was waiting to see what he did each day. I also loved the bit of humor you put in towards the end and how you phrased it--“I accidentally got married. Don’t judge me.” Favorite part of the story haha! Awesome job!
LaDawn, I am impressed yet again by your storytelling abilities. I love how you put in extra work to really understand the scenes. I liked that your author's note came first so I knew exactly what you would be writing about. Your story was really fun to read! I loved the blog format, because it's just like this class! Awesome job and I know I will be back to read more!
ReplyDeleteI saw "college trip" in the title and just had to read a story setting up the characters from the epics in a college situation. :) I also appreciate that Ari's majoring in anthropology. It sounds like he got a little too immersed in participant observation... I suppose his trip ended up being the stuff of legends (no pun intended), with the stereotype of college students partying hard and having some unexpected consequences when they wake up in the morning.
ReplyDeleteI really liked your story! The diary format was so great! I loved reading it! It was an easy format to follow and it felt so immersive. Like I loved reading his diary. I think the format made the story even more interesting to red. So, great job! I love to see creativity with the way the story is written.
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