Week 1, Storytelling,The Raven the Serpent and the Bracelet, Portfolio

(Source: worthless-lies)

THE RAVEN, THE SERPENT, AND THE BRACELET

There was a quaint little red brick house in the cul de sac of the suburbs of  Oklahoma City which housed a sweet little nuclear family with the 2.5 kids and a dog. A regular American Dream come true. The tan brick house next door to the red brick house in that same cul de sac also housed a family with 2.5 kids and a dog, all of whom felt they were part of the American standard of middle class life. The two families shared many things in common, such as the neighborhood they lived in, family size and newspapers.

The two families also had many differences. The Ravenwoods that lived in the red brick house had a subscription to the local newspaper. The next door neighbors, the Serpents, also had a subscription, but for some reason found it necessary to steal the Ravenwoods' paper too. They had just moved to the house a few weeks before. The missing newspaper really angered the Ravenwoods as they were dependent on having the paper for their family's daily routine.

So, Mr. Ravenwood confronted Mr. Serpent one morning about the incident in question. Even though Mr. Ravenwood had been bothered by the uncaring manner that Mr. Serpent had shown, Mr. Ravenwood kindly extended an invitation to Mr. Serpent and his lovely family to come over as a friendly gesture. "Would you and yours please come and join my family tomorrow for a lovely backyard barbeque?"

Mr. Serpent was not only taken aback by the confrontation by Mr. Ravenwood's accusations of stealing, he was enraged about being invited to a backyard barbeque where animals' flesh would be being burned and consumed! He had no qualms at all about telling Mr. Ravenwood as much. He narrowed his eyes and answered, "Absolutely not! We Serpents are vegan vegetarians of course!"
 After  yelling rudely to Mr. Ravenwood, the brooding Mr. Serpent slithered off back into his tan brick house in the cul de sac.

And all this got Mr. Ravenwood to thinking.

That night Mr. Ravenwood decided to set his trap for Mr. Serpent. He had thought long and hard about how to make sure that Mr. Serpent would no longer be stealing his newspaper, and end the troubles for good.

The other house in the neighborhood cul de sac was the grey brick house. The grey brick house owners, the Queens, cooperated with  Mr. Ravenwood to set his trap.The family had a video camera for anti-theft surveillance, and they set it up so that it got pointed right at Mr. Serpent's house and also at Mr. Ravenwood's house in order to prove that in fact Mr. Serpent was stealing the newspapers.

Once the video footage had been recorded of the incident, Mr. Ravenwood presented the evidence to police officer Jewele Bangle. Mrs. Bangle found that it was enough proof to to have Mr. Serpent arrested for theft. Mr. Ravenwood watched smugly as Mr. Serpent was sped off in the back of the squad car. And once again the cul de sac was ideal.

Bibliography:
"THE RAVEN, THE SERPENT, AND THE BRACELET"Copyright (c) 2000-2015 Indian Fables by Ramaswami Raju (1887) Yesterday's Classics, LLC. All Rights Reserved. T h e B a l d w i n P r o j e c t@mainlesson.com

Author's note:

The story caught my attention on the list of fables. I to chose to read this one because of how iconic ravens and serpents are in folklore. I had great fun in the retelling of the story of the bird and the snake.The animals seem to find their way into all sorts of legends, myths and stories the world over. The moral of the story is,"The wicked often fail to appreciate kindness in others, and compel them to work their ruin." I find it is an interesting motif that is found in many great stories.

The original story is about a raven and a snake who live in the same tree, and the two animals just act according to their own animal nature, such as the snake eating the baby birds in the nest because it was hungry and needed to survive. The raven being a very intelligent bird tried to reason with a snake, who was of course not willing to cooperate. The snake in the end was killed because the angry bird sought revenge on the snake for eating its offspring and for being rude. I tried to keep with the same moral of the story, but change the setting to make it more up to date and human related. The bracelet reference is the officer, Jewele Bangle. Punny?

word508note217

Week 9, Storytelling, Summer Love, Portfolio

Lord Ganesha image found on Google images www.astrogems.com

Ganesha The Remover of All Obastacles

 Amar Chitra Katha 

Vol 509

and 

Star-Crossed Lovers 

Amar Chitra Katha Vol 661

Author's Note:

I chose this reading  because I love this guy, Ganesha! This is a very new experience for me, as I am not familiar with reading comic books at all, much less one from another culture. So, I am going to move out of my comfort zone of doing the same thing and do something brand new! I will be drawing from two comic books to tell this one story about star-crossed lovers who get a little help from the remover of all obstacles.


In the comic book version of Ganesha the remover of all obstacles, the story involves the creation of Ganesha by his mother and the drama it causes for his parents and how he gets an elephant's head. The comic book version of the Star-Crossed Lovers is about a young man who goes to study with a Guru to learn the art of being brought back to life after death. He falls in love with the Guru's daughter and they have an affair. But once the young man learns the art he leaves and breaks the young lady's heart, but she gets over it.

 I am choosing to create the setting of the story to be in a city I used to live in Sedona, Arizona, and I used to work at the Center for the New Age store. I also know a famous bronze artist there. I have changed most of the names to protect the actual people. I am including many photos in echo of a comic book theme that uses so many illustrations to fill in the ideas that words do not express.

Summer Love

Sedona, Arizona www.visitarizona.com

Jay loved his job at the local farmer's market in the colorful little desert southwest town of Sedona. He had recently moved to Sedona, Arizona  to work with John, a master artisan of bronze sculptures as a student aiming to learn from the best. Jay had to work at the farmer's market to support himself while he was in town.

Jay at the farmer's market
image found
www.carlsbad-village.com

 He worked by day and practiced sculpting at night at John's studio. 

 Sedona, Arizona Studio/Gallery at HozHo Plaza
www.jamesmuir.comwww.jamesmuir.com

He first met Elisse while at work at the farmer's market. Jay was working at the booth selling fresh organic prickly pear cactus jelly and raw desert honey. Elisse was out running errands and stopped at the market to grab a quick wheatgrass to get a boost of energy.

Wheatgrass
image lbjpersonalsolutions.com

Elisse felt a shock of energy that had nothing at all to do with the wheat grass. When her eyes locked with Jay's at the market it was as if the fates had brought together the binary set of magnets. She felt her cheeks flush and she smiled and then went on her way to getting her list of chores done.

Jay could not shake the feeling he got from the beautiful stranger he exchanged a special smile and moment with. He felt rather smitten, but who knows if they would even see each other again. Sedona is a resort town where people come and go.

 Later that evening after his shift at the market and before the night session at the studio Jay had to go grab some dinner. He enjoyed a salad on the patio at the trendy Oak Creek Brewery at Tlaquapaque and then began his leisurely walk to the studio. On his way he stopped at a store. The bright colors of the mural caught his attention, so he decided to go in.

Center for the New Age image found on Pinterest

Jay went into the store and in the entryway stood a six foot tall statue of the Hindu god Ganesha. The statue was made of bronze. It was strange for Jay to see an elephant's head on a human body as he was unfamiliar with the backstory.

Jay was greeted by a store employee welcoming him to the store and he took the opportunity to ask about the statue.

The beautiful young lady named Carla answered," The elephant-headed deity is the son of Parvati, who is the wife of  god Shiva. His name is Ganesha and he is the remover of all obstacles. Something tells me that you could use some of his help." She smiled and laughed her blue eyes twinkled.

"It is that obvious, huh?" Jay chuckled and smiled. He was of course thinking again of the lady he had an exchange with earlier that day. Jay thought to himself, "Ganesha, help a guy out to find his girl. That is the obstacle I face today."

Carla brought Jay a fresh bowl of milk to offer to the statue. "Here, this is what Ganesha likes to drink. If you want him to help you, offer him some milk."

Jay was sure his face was betraying him and showing his lack of knowledge and in addition, a bit of skepticism. "Wow, this is new. Okay, thank you." Jay took the bowl and set it down in front of the bronze of the deity.

Bowl of coconut milk for Ganesha

image found 

www.bluelightlady.com

Jay looked for a bit around the store. It was interesting. There were books, jewelry, crystals, clothing, candles, psychic readers and aura photos. It was not really his thing, but he was glad he stopped in and he went on his way to the studio up the road a ways.

When Jay arrived at the studio he was astounded to see Elisse. The girl from the farmer's market earlier. 'Man, that Hindu deity Ganesha really works fast," Jay thought to himself. As it turns out, Elisse was John's daughter. John was the master artisan of the bronze  sculpting and owned the studio. Elisse had been gone on a business trip and had returned just the day before.

Jay and Elisse worked together over a summer creating the wax statue that is made before pouring the bronze cast. It was a small piece of art, but it was a symbol of perfection to the star-crossed lovers. Jay and Elisse fell passionately in love that summer. With art, with each other, with life.

The Arizona desert heat dancing on the red sandstone rock can really bring out the primal forces in people. It starts with a buzzing in your soul. You want to hike to the tallest red butte and meditate under a full moon in a drum circle. You want to drink wheatgrass and have your fortune told. You begin to believe in soul mates, destiny, and the magic of the gods. Every day is like a day in paradise.

But alas, all good things must end, right? It would appear to be the case for the young star-crossed lovers. The thing about being star-crossed is that it doesn't last. It always ends in tragedy. The summer drew to a close and so did the love affair for the two young artists.  Jay had to return home. He really had a great time that summer. He grew in so many ways as a human in so many new directions.

When he thought about his future, Elisse was just not in the picture. Jay had a psychic reader tell him all about how their souls unite in each lifetime to teach each other lessons but it is not a relationship meant for mundane life. So he said his goodbyes to John and Elisse. They were sad to see him go. But that is Sedona for you- people come and go.

John, Elisse's father, was glad to see his daughter so happy and accomplished. He was also very impressed with the young apprentice's work. Jay showed amazing talent and great progress in such short time.

Osho Zen Tarot Deck 

image found 

www.bluelightlady.com

word count 986 note 269

Week 7, Storytelling, Ari and His College Trip Abroad

Author's Note & Bibliography:
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.

Arjun's Journey

Epified Mahabharata

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.

The underwater city Ari visits.   digital-art-gallery.com

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.

Ari's accidental wife-www.bollyberg.com

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.

Week 6, Storytelling, I am not buying what you are selling chump!, Portfolio

The Mongoose image found www.quickanddirtytips.com

I am not buying what you are selling, chump!

Manny the Mongoose lives in the Bay Ridge area of Brooklyn. It's a beautiful and historical area of New York. He has lived there his whole life, and his father before him and his father's father and so on. They have all served in the Temple since they first arrived in the "New World" or New York centuries ago. It is an important function and honor to have a Mongoose serve in the Temple. It has always been so since the reign of King Yudhishthira in the Temple in the "Old World" of India. 

Image found on Yelp.com

Manny, not unlike his ancestors before him, is well respected on the streets for his wisdom. He carries a keen sense of what is valuable and what is not. He can empathetically feel when someone is sincere and when they are not. It's kinda like a built-in lie detector. It's a great talent to have while working in the Temple. 

However, to most people Manny the Mongoose sounds a bit like a snarky alley rat with a thick Brooklyn accent. He is not a guy who holds back when he has something to say. He can be pretty hard to ignore.

And so it so happens to be one lovely April afternoon in the tiny Bay Ridge Temple. A gaunt, dirty young woman walks into the temple. She is so pale and so thin! Manny could tell right away this is not the type of thinness induced by vanity's sake like some of the people you'd see in the city. 

The lovely lotus-like lady has brought offerings of food and flowers to the deities. And yet it is plain to see the girl does not really have it to give. She herself is close to fainting from lack of nutrition. 

She must have some story, Manny thinks to himself. He puts one hand on his hip and shifts his weight to the wall he is leaning on in the corner where no one notices him.

Many of the other people who have come to offer praise and offerings do notice the frail young woman so seemingly out of place. But only one among them will do anything about it.

"Hey lady, you okay?" asks the little boy. He had just walked into the Temple with his family.

"Yes, thank you for asking, that is very kind of you," says the stranger. She smiles at the boy and then passes out. 

Manny the Mongoose is now on high alert! His tail is all puffed out! He puts his tiny furry hands on his face and mutters, "Oy Vey! What's with this! Somebody shoot me already!"

"Mah, did yous see dat?" exclaims the little boy to his mother. The boy quickly runs over to the lady on the floor to offer her his assistance.

Meanwhile, the other people are doing nothing to offer assistance to the struggling woman or to help the young boy who wants to help her.

Manny is scanning the room of sacred space, looking at the lights emanating from the  hearts of the congregation. They are all wealthy professional people who have come to offer food and gifts to the deities. Yet they all shrink away from the mess of a person before them.

In apathy they will do nothing but what they came to the Temple to do. Manny the Mongoose is smelling the guilt and shame in the room like putrid flesh rotting. It is making his tiny black nose twitch and his usually calm temper rise.

The heart of the young boy who desperately wants to help sparkles in golden amber light, not like the dull yellow of the greedy ones. He acts from kindness in his heart. His wealthy father had lost his job a few weeks ago. His family has been struggling to pay for things yet, the food that they brought as an offering they offer to the young woman to revive her strength. 

Many people in the room are astonished and are judging the boy harshly for this. This too lets out a stink that Manny the Mongoose feels is foul indeed. "That's it! Enough! I am not buying what you are selling, chump!" the mongoose shouts with his loudest roar he can muster.

Manny the Mongoose leaps up on the lectern in the corner of the Temple and he begins to tell the worshippers a thing or two. He quotes to the audience: "Ye kings, this great sacrifice is not equal to a little measure of powdered barley given away by a liberal brahmin of Kurukshetra, who was observing the unccha vow." Then he launches into the tale of  the Brahmin and his family. The audience just stands there with their mouths hanging open riveted in place.

While the audience is in reality shock because a mongoose is speaking English in a thick Brooklyn accent, rehearsing the story from the Mahabharata, they nearly miss the other miraculous happening in the room. The emaciated woman eats the meager meal that the young boy offers and then she is transformed into Lakshmi, the goddess of luck and wealth. She is so thankful for the generous offering that she blesses the young boy and his mother with a gift of prosperity and abundance.

Lakshmi, image found www.eprarthana.com

Author's Note and Bibliography: 

I wrote this story after reading the original story, The Mongoose, found in The Story of the Great War by Annie Besant (1899) found in Mahabharata Online: Public Domain Edition. This was my favorite story I read this week. It reminded me of a similar story in the Bible about strangers/guests and ironically being in the company of  angels. (Hebrews 13:2 Aramaic Bible in Plain English) "And do not forget kindness to strangers, for by this, some who, while they were unaware, were worthy to receive Angels."

In the original story, The Mongoose, the brahmin had his entire family starving in famine and they sacrifice their last morsels of food to a stranger. The stranger turns into the God Dharma who blesses them with food and abundance. The  "unchha vow" (Sanskrit unchha vrtti) which means living upon grains picked up from fields after the crops have been harvested.

The reign of King Yudhishthira in the Temple in the "Old World" of India is a reference also to the original story where the mongoose is half golden and says the same quote he says in this story. The king makes a huge offering of wealth that does not measure up to the sacrifice as the meager morsel of food that the starving brahmin offers.

I love that the cute little mongoose is the narrator! I usually do not like stories with the whole animal themes, but this story is cute. Almost as cute as the image of the mongoose. He has such a smug look on his tiny furry face. I can picture him telling such a great tale, with his own reasons for pointing out how the kings should be giving away more of their abundance. 

word count; 864 note;286

Week 4, Storytelling, Sita and Rama Unraveled, Portfolio

Rama and Sita

"So, Sita, would you like to tell me what is the worst part?" Dr. Laura smiled at Sita from behind the big exotic teak desk. 

"Yes, of course. After marrying a prince, then being exiled was bad. Being kidnapped by an evil demon was not good.When I literally jumped into fire for Rama to prove my innocence in marriage was the worst, until I found out I was pregnant. Rama left our home to go be the king. It was awful to be all alone and raising his twin sons. But that was, again, not the worst. No, I think the worst is when he..." and Sita broke off a sob raising her delicate royal hand dripping with expensive gold and jewels to her mouth.

"The worst is when he shows up after all the hard work is done  18 years later to claim the glory of the children as if it were somehow all his efforts. I knew he had to be away for his job, but he was gone for so long. I never gave up the faith of our love while he was gone. Rama just does not feel the same way." Sita looked down into her lap, feeling loss and betrayal.

"So, Sita, what I hear you saying is that you are angry and hurt because Rama is king and had to be away while you had to raise the children alone? You still feel the same for him as you always have, but you feel that Rama is not reciprocating these feelings?" Dr. Laura asked.

"Rama, can you take the time now to tell Sita how much  you value all the sacrifice and hard work she has endured alone? Sometimes people really need to know that you aren't just taking them for granted." Dr. Laura spoke softly but firmly as if metered by an invisible metronome.

Rama nervously glanced around the sunny office of Dr. Laura. He was soaking in the exotic sweet- smelling plants, the bookcase full of books that Dr. Laura wrote, colorful glass art pieces, the pictures of Dr. Laura on her travels, the details like the ornate woven rug that was probably from Istanbul by the looks of its superior craftsmanship. It was almost too intense, too difficult for him to look up at the most beautiful woman in the world. His wife Sita was truly beyond compare. 

"It is very kind of you to do so much work for so little thanks in return, Sita. I am sorry I did not tell you how grateful I am for your sacrifices. You and our children are amazing." Rama choked out the words as he fondly gazed upon the face of his partner forever bound.

Dr. Laura was really hoping for a breakthrough today. And soon too. She was looking forward to making it to the new oxygen bar that opened up on Mulholland Drive. Sessions with these high maintenance couples could really be taxing. Self-care is a must!

Oxygen Bar

"You know what, Rama? I think it is your turn to prove yourself to me for a change! Would you walk through fire to be with me and our children? How about if you prove yourself to me by giving up the one thing you cannot live without! That is what I want from you, Rama! Will you give up your job and come home and be a husband and a father?" Sita demanded as she stood up from the couch and flailed her arms akimbo. 

"Yes, Sita, if you will have me, I will be glad to come home." Rama felt his stomach sinking as he had now given his word. This was not the choice he had wanted to make, giving up being the king of everything. But he knew that he had broken her heart too many times...

Sita throws her arms around Rama and they embrace.

Dr. Laura smiles because this is the breakthrough she knew was there. "Okay then, we will see you folks next week!"

Author's Note:
Like some really great humans, Rama and Sita are just so dysfunctional. It really makes for a great story on couples therapy to me. This is a continuation of the last story I had written about Sita and Rama called Rama and Sita Hit a Snag.  Sita has the heart of a saint. In the ending of the movie that inspired this story Sita jumps into Mother Earth. I  have ended it with Rama needing to prove himself by trial of something more modern. Being an active parent: being a good dad and husband is the work of kings and heroes in my opinion!

The animated story of Sita Sings the Blues is awesome. I dare you to not enjoy the clever show! Because I think it's impossible not to laugh, smile, groove to the music and feel touched by the moving stories. 

I like how there is a mixture of tales happening at once. The couple in San Francisco and Rama and Sita. The layers parallel with the Vishnu and Lakshmi avatars. I love the colorful art and melancholic music. The people in the background that are narrating the stories are priceless because they are showing the different variations of the story with their comments, even commenting on what may be original to one version of the story. 

Link to my last story Rama and Sita Hit a Snag

Link to the original Sita Sings the Blues

Bibliography: Author: Nina Paley. Title: Sita Sings the BluesYear: 2008.
word count 687, author count 183

Week 5 , Storytelling, Ari and His Gators

Image: Arjuna and apsarahttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Arjuna_and_river_Nymph.jpg

"Ari, it's about time you showed your ugly mug man! What the heavens were you up to? The pictures I got on the cell phone were pretty interesting though." Karl, Ari's brother heckled him. The two boys did not grow up together but they were cut from the same cloth and enjoyed many of the same interests. They had found each other at school and immediately bonded.

"What pictures?" Ari seemed confused by the comment. Honestly, he was a little confused as to what exactly he had been doing lately. Very vivid dreams of gorgeous women, or was it a dream?

"Seriously? I really thought you were sending them on purpose to show me how much fun you were having without me... five gorgeous...here. Look for yourself, it's just mean." Karl was smiling and enjoying the discomfort that Ari was feeling. It's a brother thing.

"Five....wait...oh man it was real. I thought I must have been dreaming. I  know how mid-term stress can really mess with dreams. Wow, I can see why you thought I sent these on purpose brother." Ari was stricken with awe and humor.

The pictures that had been sent to Karl's phone were proof that this elaborate memory was real. Would Karl believe the rest of what he remembered? Would he believe that those women were gators? By the toenails of Indra, no one would believe him. They would surely believe he had been hitting the lotus blossom a little to hard to be believed. Ari himself was not sure if he believed it.

Ari was so far from home. He and Karl, who was like a brother to him, were attending Florida State University and they were on their own. Their parents had sent them out into the world to get an education and find their way in life. The school was great, really great. Karl and Ari both excelled in academics and athletics. They lacked time to dedicate to romantic relationships, but they did not lack eyeballs nor hormones. Even though they lived in modern times, their parents still lived in the traditional ways of India and of arranged marriages. So chasing beautiful women was not something they really thought much about because it was out of their control.

Karl and Ari shared an apartment close to campus. Everything is within walking distance of campus, like the bars. That is what Ari and Karl were up to last night. They were at the rowdy and crowded sports bar grabbing portabella burgers and beers. Nothing seemed all that different than any other Friday night. They had split up for the night when Karl said he was headed to the library to pick up the latest issue of the Indian comic books they read and head home. Ari decided to walk home and on his way home he decided he would stop at the gym and go for a swim to work off his meal of carbohydrates.

 Olympic sized pool image; shalamche.com

Ari liked to swim at this time of night because it was usually deserted. He liked the alone time to relax his mind. This is not the scene that Ari found that night. As he stood by the olympic sized indoor pool, nostrils assaulted with fumes of chlorine, his attention was drawn to the movement in the pool. Five alligators were in the swimming pool. Floating, hovering with their cold blooded eyes peering out of the water. The movement Ari had seen were the eyes of the gators snap open and size him up.

Gah. Ari's blood ran cold. His respiration sped up, senses heightened in fight or flight when the timer went off and the lights dimmed and then kicked on some that had been off for power saving purposes. That didn't help to calm things down. When Ari's sight adjusted, the scene was somewhat different. His pulsed still raced, just not for the same reason.

Five beautiful Florida State Gator cheerleaders were in the pool. Scantily clad. Exceedingly delightful. They all turned their attention on Ari. They were like Sirens of ancient mariners lore that led their victims to their death. Their voices were melodic and inviting.

"Hey, the water is perfect for a dip. Come and join the fun. We won't bite too much!" the voices of the Gators chorused and taunted seductively.

Ari was at a loss for what happened after all that. Without the photos he had sent to Karl, Ari may not have believed it was real. Partly because it sounds a little bit like the story he grew up hearing from his parents. The epic hero Arjuna is supposedly one of their ancestors in the stories of the Mahabharata. Their family is descended from divinity. Arjuna had also had a go with five gator women in his time. Maybe those Gators also had ancestry of water nymphs! You never know, right!

Ari laughed out loud after having a few moments of reverie reviewing the photos on Karl's phone. He smiled and handed the phone to Karl. He paused to rest his hand on Karl's shoulder before heading to bed at 8 o'clock in the morning, the walk of shame.

"I have seen things I cannot un-see. I have done things I cannot un-do. Namaste Karl!" Ari said.

Author's Note and Bibliography: This story is very loosely based on the PDE Mahabharata, Arjuna and the Apsaras,Source; From The Indian Heroes by C. A. Kincaid (1921).

I chose to focus on retelling this story of Arjuna as a hero rescuing five beautiful nymphs who were cursed to be alligators until the fate of Arjuna would rescue them because it seems so different in nature than many of the other stories of Arjuna in this part of the Mahabharata. The whimsy of Arjuna not believing the warnings of the elders that the water could be dangerous and in his hubris rescued the cursed nymphs.

I wanted to retell the story in a more modern way, and with a twist of comedy. I thought it would be kinda fun to have Ari send photos of the five water nymphs having a good time since he was basically unable to resist their charms. That is something that I added because a modern person would think to send pictures of an unbelievable situation. I wanted Karl in my story to be sorta like the brother of Arjuna, Karna. I also wanted to kind of run a thread of reincarnation parallel with Ari being ancestral and reincarnated version of Arjuna. The Gator cheerleaders for Florida State University are a metaphor for the nymphs that were cursed in the original. They are where I drew a lot of my story from. The story nearly wrote itself from there. I am not a follower of any sport, nor do I favor their university, just as a disclaimer!

(word count 863) (author's note 261)

Week 3, Storytelling, Rama and Sita Hit a Snag, Portfolio

Rama and Sita Hit a Snag

Sita image found www.youtube.com
Full video for the image found on
Sri Rama Rajyam movie scenes | Seeta Angry at Lava Kusa | Balakrishna | Nayantara

The aromatic smell of sandalwood and sage wafted in the air lightly mingling with the soothing sounds of the water fountain complementing the therapeutic setting of Dr. Laura's  Beverly Hills home office. With all the exotic plants and art in the quixotically decorated home showcasing the to- die- for weather of sunny southern California, Rama was glad they chose to travel here for the session. A fresh bit of scenery and a change of pace might just be what the doctor ordered!

Rama felt that sitting on the therapist's couch was like sitting on a cozy cloud. This was in stark contrast to the amount of emotional discomfort that was heavily weighing in the room, coming from Sita. While Rama was feeling optimistic, Sita was full of inner rage. Sita felt that things were bad enough when they young newlyweds, and Sita was kidnapped and held captive, but the lack of compassion that Rama had for Sita when she came home was crushing.

Dr. Laura thought it would make a good starting point to talk about how this made Rama and Sita feel. "Okay, Sita, you start first. Let's start with what is bothering you."

"Rama, it really hurts me when you lack faith in me to be faithful to you, because my faith in you is all I had to get me through this whole long mess!" Sita said in a short hurtful tone.

"Sita, my love. It hurts me that you don't understand the kind of position that your public drama has put me in. It is hard to make everyone happy all the time. This is why I like pets. They don't complain when you have to make choices," Rama grumbled.

It was hard to tell Sita even then that his faith and love in her is what drove him to accomplish all the great feats he had to undergo to get her back. The irony of the situation was what had caused his drinking problem, the sleepless nights.

"Sita is the most beautiful woman in the world, how is it possible that Ravana...oh," Rama winced.

"By the fires of Agni, Rama! You don't think I know you have a job to do? Pfftt. I may have been born at night, but I was not born last night! I just needed you to believe in me, and it felt as if you had lost faith and trust in me, and that hurt more than anything." Sita huffed and pouted her plump lips.

The blond American therapist looked up from her tablet where she was playing Sudoku while she was listening to the divine couple get their jabs in. She looked at them both with scrutiny on her face, silently judging them and giving them good odds at staying together long term. The Sudoku helped the doctor keep her logic skills in tip-top condition. She gave them good odds of staying together because of their body language. They still oriented themselves towards each other. And of course, because they found their way here, to get help.

"So, Sita, can you forgive Rama for this lack of emotion? Do you think you can move past this?" the therapist asked.

"Oh, yes. I can forgive him for his loyalty to his duty as a king and of caring for the correct action of office. No, I don't forgive his lack of showing emotions. But the worst part you have not even heard yet!"

Rama sat with his head down in shame, because his wife was right. How could he forgive himself for what he had put her through? 

Author's Note: In the original story Rama and Sita are avatars of Vishnu and Lakshmi. Their love is eternal. Somehow eternal is not without struggles. Life after life they have struggles that humans can relate to like in this instance where Rama and Sita had to overcome being exiled from their home, then separated from each other and now the obstacle of still having to be separated because of Rama's duty as a king. Their love is tested to the point of insanity.

I chose this story to rewrite because it is the start of when a bad situation just got worse instead of ending happily ever after for Rama and Sita. As the reader of the storyline, it's a jolt because the divine couple incarnate are reunited and the obstacles have been overcome! But it is really not, because as we learn here in this chapter it would be socially unacceptable for Rama to be with Sita. Rama is in no position to rock the boat that he just got into politically. This is probably where the therapist would like to start to focus on broken trust. The Blondie song "Heart of Glass" echoes in my mind as theme music for this episode in their marriage.

I chose not to give the resolution at the end of the story like in the original. Also, I want to add another story that will bring more of Rama and Sita to another counseling session where they talk about the ordeal by fire and the children. The cliffhanger is on purpose, so tune in next week to find out what happens next!

The image I chose to represent Sita as being heartbroken, more human and not so removed from emotion that many other images may portray. This image is from a television soap opera in India about Rama and Sita.  

Here is the link to the song if you are curious: Blondie - Heart Of Glass.

Link to the original story PDE Ramayana: Sita and Rama

Bibliography: Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists by Sister Nivedita (1914)