On day five, Sita walked the ashoka grove peacefully, refusing to spend more time than necessary in the palace of the evil man who had captured her. Her anger and revulsion towards him was unmatched. How could he think she would ever choose him over Rama?
Day 38 came and went. Sita momentarily felt a trace of doubt but crushed it only a second later, thinking of her lover's face. It shone brightly in her mind, a source of light that she would not let go.
Day 97. "He's not coming," Ravana said, smirking smugly. Sita crossed her arms, tilted her chin up, and defiantly looked away from him.
"Silly girl, forget about Rama. I can give you anything you want," Ravana said on day 56.
"Anything I want?" Sita asked, a small, mocking smile forming on her lips. "Give me Rama, then."
Ravana rolled his eyes and decided he would try again tomorrow.
Day 170 was a day of weakness for Sita. The pain of the unknown began to suffocate her. Was Rama still alive? When would he rescue her? She did not know how she would survive another day of imprisonment. She fell asleep that night hoping that tomorrow would bring her the faith that she needed to survive.
Day 252. Sita's heart was stirring with anxious joy. A rumor had been spreading that Rama was desperately attempting to rescue her. There were stories of brave deeds and near-death fights. Sita wasn't sure any of it was real, yet still she held on to each tale for dear life.
Ravana approached her on day 350, as he did most days. She sat in the ashoka grove, staring absently at the ground and not even bothering to look up as Ravana's footsteps grew louder.
"You must be feeling some doubt, hm?" Ravana asked fiercely. "Your lover has yet to come. Maybe he does not love you in the same way I do. Let me make you my queen."
His voice woke Sita from her depressive stupor. Hatred boiled inside her, threatening an explosion. Slowly, she raised her eyes to meet his. "Never. Rama will save me."
Ravana's composure broke for the first time in 350 days. His eyes lit with impatient anger and he raised his sword. "He will not, for you shall die."
"Good!" Sita stood quickly, glaring daggers into Ravana's eyes. Rid me of my sorrow! Kill me!"
They glowered at each other for minutes, until Ravana backed down and turned away, muttering under his breath.
Sita let out a frustrated breath and slumped back down, head in her hands. A moment later, she felt something light bounce off her feet. She looked down, and there sat Rama's ring. Heart beating rapidly, she looked up, only to find a monkey standing in front of her. She yelped with fear.
"It's okay!" he said. "I'm here with a message from Rama. He's coming to rescue you."
On day 364, Rama and Sita embraced, holding more tightly to each other than ever before.
_________
Author's Note:
My story gives snapshots of what Sita might have been doing and feeling during imprisonment. We barely get any information about her actual time spent with Ravana, but for the few scenes we are given, I added them in (e.g. I took the "never", "He will not, for you shall die", and "rid me of my sorrow" lines directly from page 53 of The Divine Archer). Also, I wasn't exactly sure how many days Sita was imprisoned, so I made it a year.
My story gives snapshots of what Sita might have been doing and feeling during imprisonment. We barely get any information about her actual time spent with Ravana, but for the few scenes we are given, I added them in (e.g. I took the "never", "He will not, for you shall die", and "rid me of my sorrow" lines directly from page 53 of The Divine Archer). Also, I wasn't exactly sure how many days Sita was imprisoned, so I made it a year.
Bibliography: The Divine Archer by F. J. Gould.
Image information: Ravana and Sita painting from Wikimedia Commons.
Hi Brooke!
ReplyDeleteLike you, I was also amazed at the beautiful relationship between Rama and Sita in Ramayana. Sita has no doubt or questioning that Rama will help her, and in addition, when Ravana attempts to deceive her, Sita stays faithful to him no matter what. I love how you invoked this in the introduction of this story!
I thought it was interesting how you implemented some of Sita's quotes in the original story to this retelling. I also love how you organized and presented this story as a diary. As the number of days get higher and higher, the reader expects Sita to become more impatient and doubtful. Instead, she is even more strong and never gives up hope in her lover, Rama.
Towards the end, Sita is confirmed of Rama's return with symbols and signs. I would consider elaborating on these symbols in the author's note and the story. This will prevent making the conclusion of your story end abruptly. What is the meaning and origin of the ring that Sita finds? How and why did the monkey come find her?
I loved this story, and I can't wait to read more!
Hi Brooke!I thought your story was really well-written!It flowed with the story and the "snapshot" perspective you went with the story made it more concise, removing any unnecessary story elements from the original. You also did a good job on focusing on Sita's emotions even though the story was told in 3rd person. You used a lot of expressive words, which really conveyed Sita's anger towards Ravana and undying love towards Rama.
ReplyDeleteI like the ending with day 364, but I also wondered about the nature of their reunion since it's supposed to be this highly emotional reunion that they were supposed to be waiting for. The ending was very brief and I was left wanting more. I think it also could've been interesting to explore Sita's emotions in such a highly anticipated moment for her since she's finally seeing her beloved husband at long last. What if you described the moment Sita saw Rama for the first time?
Overall, really great job with the story and I enjoyed reading it!
Hi Brooke,
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I thought that your choice to make the length of time that Sita was imprisoned a year. It was very impactful to see that even though a whole year had past, Sita was just as excited to see Rama when he finally arrived to save her. Though, the ending did leave me with a lot of questions. How did Rama get to Sita? On what day did the monkey surprise Sita with a message from Rama, and what was the length of time that passed between the message and Rama actually showing up?
Also, I wonder how Rama was feeling once he finally got to Sita? Did he fight Ravana to get to her, or did he just sneak past him? In my opinion, a few more details at the end of your story could clear up any questions and tie up the loose ends the audience has.
All in all, I totally enjoyed your story and the perspective you told it from; great work!
Hi Brooke!
ReplyDeleteI really appreciated this story. I feel like this detail was missing from the story. It was very clever to expand on it. It also helped me understand Sita's point of view and mindset even more. My favorite part was how confident and fearless Sita was when Ravana threatened to kill her. I could definitely see her saying and doing all this. You did great at really getting in her head and keeping with the story and character arc. I wonder what would happen if she had decided to be with Ravana in the beginning. Do you think Rama would have come back? What would have happened if Rama never came back? How long would she wait? What if she played Ravana. Maybe she could have built enough trust to leave and the run away. Also, what if you also explained the end from Ravana's perspective. I wonder what he was thinking. Overall, well done.
Hey Brooke!
ReplyDeleteThis story was SO fun to read! To me, it kind of reminded me of the movie Beauty and the Beast except Ravana doesn't end up with Sita, which is kind of sad in its own way but everyone loves Rama more than Ravana. Also, I loved reading it from Sita's point of view because no one really gives her much attention since Rama is the protagonist of the story.
Just like in Beauty and the Beast, did you ever consider Sita warming up to Ravana and having Ravana showing her a different side of her? I think that would be a really interesting plot twist. Also, you could create multiple different endings from there.
Also, I noticed that one of your sentences happened out of chronological order and it created a bit of confusion for me. Maybe try keeping the whole story in chronological order to make it easier to follow along!
Hey Brooke!
ReplyDeleteI loved this story! I’m doing my storybook project over Sita and how she felt during her time in captivity with Rama, so I really enjoyed reading this story. I felt Sita wasn’t focused on enough during the Ramayana, considering the whole battle was for her. I like that you broke the story into different days of her imprisonment, it shows that despite her faith in Rama, she progressively became doubtful and anxieties about being saved. I wonder if Sita would have given up if Rama had taken any longer to save her. Great story!