(Ravana)
He approached Sita, wearing a plain robe of a priest. Sita acknowledged him with a bow of her head and he spoke to her, “Young woman, why are you, such a pretty thing, sitting on this park bench alone? You seem more suited to be sitting upon a throne awaited on by an entire kingdom, than alone on this rough park bench!”
Trusting the priest she told him how she, her husband Rama, and her brother-in-law Lakshmana had taken refuge in Central Park after Rama’s father, Dasharatha, had kicked them out of his luxurious apartment, and now they had no shelter, no food, and scarce water. Then she asked, “Will you wait here with me until my family returns to me, father?”
It was then the man cast off his robe to reveal a very sharp, black suit with a silk red tie, which he adjusted smartly. “I am no priest! I am Ravana, I command the Rakshasa gang, I rule over the Lanka underground, even the CIA fears my power! However, you my dear have captured my cold heart, I will make you my queen, I will give you all that you have ever wanted!
Sita, shocked, replied angrily leaping up from the bench, “Don’t you know who my husband is? I am a married woman! Don’t you know what Rama will do to you? How dare you think that you can steal me from him? What lets you think so highly of yourself? You’re more likely to take the sun from the sky than to win me!”
Ravana drew himself up and put his chest forward, “You do not know of the power I hold! I have the technology beyond your wildest dreams; I can do more than you have ever dreamed!” With that final word two Rakshasa members came out from behind Sita and took hold of her and despite her struggling, Ravana and his two Rakshasas forced her into a nearby sleek black BMW and sped away Sita towards the Lanka underground.
Authors Note: For my inspiration I chose the scene called "Ravana and Sita" where Ravana catches Sita alone and steals her from Rama and Lakshmana. I chose this style of storytelling because when I envisioned Ravana, I see him as the stereotypical mob boss, Kingpin of the Rakshasa gang, everyone fears him, and he possesses way more power than he should. So the mob boss in the snazzy suit and fedora hat, was how I truly saw Ravana. In order to achieve this I merely changed the time period and setting from ancient India to modern day New York City and Central park as the Jungle. I updated the language so that it was more modern as well.
Bibliography
"Havana and Sita", by Donald A. Mackenzie, from Indian Myth and Legend (1913). Web Source: PDE Ramayana
Hi Briana! This was an awesome twist to the story! I loved how you envisioned Ravana as a mob boss. It reminded me of the 1920’s mafia stereotype with all the flapper girls. I laughed out loud when I read the part about the BMW! I thought that was a very creative touch to your story. I really enjoy reading about the trio (Rama, Lakshmana, and Sita) because they maintain such a close relationship with one another which I really admire. With that being said, I loved reading your storytelling post! I can’t wait to read more!
ReplyDeleteI liked the modern retelling of the story of Sita’s kidnapping you did. I think it was clever to disguise Ravana as a priest, but secretly in a 3-piece mob suit underneath. It’s an original way to reinterpret the whole “wolf in sheep’s clothing.” New York is also a great alternate setting too. There are so many places there that could translate to different places in the Ramayana. Hopefully, you’ll use it as a setting again for future stories.
ReplyDeleteWhat a creative story! I really enjoyed this. It stayed very true to the original, but I love the modern twist. Let's see, your use of dialogue was great. I think you could have added more depth to the story by describing the environment in more detail, or describing how she felt in more detail. Your first sentence was phenomenal, it did a great job of grabbing my attention. But I wish you would have had a more creative story to draw me further into your story. As I previously hinted at, I want more detail. I think that would have helped leave a stronger emotional connection. I wanted to feel Sita's fear. I can't think of anything more terrifying than what she went through and I want to feel that. You're sentence structure was strong and I thought your transitions to the different paragraphs was very effective. But great job I really enjoyed your story.
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