Week 7 Storytelling: Mandodari's Love

Dear Diary,

Every moment that my love has been away from me has left me feeling as if I cannot breathe. I know not whether he will return to me when this war comes to an end. But Ravana is the king of all Lanka, and I must believe that he will prosper.

Like the others, I told him that this war was senseless and that he should return the beautiful maiden to her husband. I have heard much about this Rama from the way that the servants gossip like bored women. I know that he is not one that should be messed with. Ravana did not listen to me.

But Ravana is my life, my light. I do not know how I would live without him should he fall against such an admittedly admirable foe. Even if the sight of that woman he had brought in brought me jealousy. The servants muttered that she was more fair than I, and my love spent so much of his valuable time doting over her. And with all of the time that he spent doting on her, trying to make her love him as he loves her, I was there.

Yet, my love pines for her more than he does for me. I have never been put second to any of Ravana’s other wives, so why should I be for this woman? So yes, I do admit jealousy. Who could blame me? My love for Ravana can never falter, and I will love him twice as hard so that I can give him the love that she will not.

Would it be ill for a part of me to wish that this Rama won the war so that he could take back this woman? Yes, it would. How dare I think such things? The end of this war means the end of the life of the one who shall lose, and the gossiping servants believe that even my immortal Ravana could fall to the hands of this foe.

So I will push the ill thoughts from my mind and focus on the joy that will overcome me when I see my beloved again. Perhaps this Sita will continue to refuse him, and in anger he will cast her aside. It will be then that he will see me, and remember the fairness that I drew him in with in the first place. For I love him more than this woman ever could, and he should be able to remember that when he comes home from war.

Ah, I believe that I have heard the west gate open. That must be my Ravana returning to me. I must go greet him.

Until we meet again, my diary,

Mandodari

Image Information: Mandodari Approaches Ravana; Web Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Author's Note:

 In The Ramayana Ravana has many wives. However, his favorite is Mandodari. She is very beautiful and fair, and is rivaled in looks by Sita. She loves Ravana fiercely; even though he has many faults about him she can see past them. Mandodari is one of the many individuals who urges Ravana to give Sita back to Rama, because she knows that what he has done is wrong, and that Rama can make him pay for his sins. She is crushed when she sees Ravana come back from the war dead and runs to his body in tears.

I thought that the character of Mandodari was an interesting one. I liked that she loved Ravana as much as she did even though he was nearly evil. I wanted to tell the story of her emotions as she waited for Ravana to return from war. I feel that she should have believed that he would come back for her, but at the same time she had to have know that he would lose. I wanted to tell the story through a diary entry so that I could really capture her thoughts.

Bibliography:

• Buck, William (1976). Ramayana: King Rama's Way. 
• Image from Wikimedia Commons

Week 7 Reading Diary B: The End of "The Ramayana"

•  I am glad that in this version, Bharata was not suicidal when Hanuman reached him to tell him the news about Rama’s success and return (page 379).
• Buck really gets into describing Ayodhya when it is full of festivities. Didn’t he go into an elaborate description of it when Sita and Rama married? (Pages 380-381).
• “Vasishtha cam in. He said to Kaikeyi the youngest Queen, “By your doing were the worlds saved from tyranny”” (Page 384). So, the selfishness that Kaikeyi portrayed due to Kooni’s insistence led to the world being saved? That’s a ringer.
• I really do like how Buck, in his version, gives the characters more natural dialogue and even funny lines. There were many parts that I found myself chuckling at in Buck’s book due to the lines said, which was something that didn’t happen in the other version.
• I was happy that Sita did not have to go through her trial by fire in this version. But of course, during Rama’s long reign, many question her loyalty and they think poorly of Rama for taking her back (page 390).
• So Rama cast Sita out because the people thought ill of him for taking her back, although doing so hurt him badly. Can he just never be selfish?
• And of course Rama knew that those two boys were his sons, and wants Sita back now!
• Sita is part of the Earth now, what in the world? (Page 415).
• Lakshmana had to die because the recluse could not wait his turn and threatened to curse people, Lakshmana chose his own death over the death of others (page 422).
• And of course, this version had to end with the valiant death of Rama himself.

Image Information: Rama with Those He Loves Most; Image Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Week 7 Reading Diary A: Winning the War

• I enjoyed that when describing Shiva, Buck said “the new moon hung in his hair” because it really gave Shiva the feel of such a large, celestial being (page 327).
• The line “A hundred thousand tiny silver bells were ringing and ringing, and all this beautiful world dissolved” also appealed to me. It just gave the story such an ephemeral feeling (page 328).
•  I like how the war became what was basically a battle of spells at one point. Rama was calling forth his celestial objects and using them, while Ravana was using mantras to dismantle those weapons (page 343).
• And this line, haha, this line killed me: “”Enough of this,” said Rama, “there’s work to do! Now I take off my fancy rings!” Matali looked over his shoulder. “But you aren’t wearing…”” (Page 344).
• I am happy that Vibhishana is the new king of Lanka. He is peaceful, and actually thinks situations through, unlike Ravana (page 357).
• Poor Mandodari actually loved Ravana, and she is so sad to see that he has been slain in battle (page 358).
• It is nice that in this version, Rama does not immediately distrust Sita enough to toss her aside because he believes she has not been loyal. I liked that Agni himself gave Sita to Rama and avowed her loyalty and purity (page 365).
• Awww, Hanuman and Vibhishana are now good friends! (Page 368)
• So with Sita, and the animals in tow, they will return to their kingdom so that Rama can take the throne as he should. It’s quite nice that the war for Sita ended right before that is supposed to happen.

Image Information: Vibhishana as Lanka King; Web Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Famous Last Words for Week 6

This week was an exhausting week. I had an exam on Tuesday morning after I had been on campus for three days straight from running a speech tournament. However, it is Friday and I have made it through, so far. It was nice to be able to get some extra sleep on Monday too, because my only class is at 9:30, so I didn’t have to go in thanks to the ice.

In this class, I enjoyed writing my Storytelling post for the week. I didn’t write one last week because I got too busy, and I felt like I had missed out. I still need to write my Storybook story for the week, but I do have plenty of great ideas in my head about it, so I am confident it will go well.

In Japanese, I had an exam on Tuesday (it was supposed to have been Monday), which went pretty well. However, since we are a day behind now we have to really rush through the material for the class, which is kind of hard. And in Intercultural communication we chose our topics for a big group project. My group is doing traditional funerals in Japan. So I get to do a lot with Asian countries this semester!

Last weekend at my speech tournament, I did pretty well. I went toe to toe with national competitors, and one of the most respected coaches in the country told me that I had a lot of talent. I was so nervous when I learned that he was judging that round. I have another tournament this weekend, which is the state tournament. I am hoping to do well, especially because if I do then I can qualify to go to a very exclusive national tournament. I went to this tournament last year and ranked among the top forty in the nation, so I am hoping to do even better this time if I get to go!

I love cooking, so look at this awesome chicken marsala that I made this week!

Image Information: Personal Photo of My Cooking; Taken: February 2015.