30 June
Dasaratha
Today, I looked around to see that I have a large kingdom,
and everything I could ever want. However, I am missing my happiness. Even
though I have conquered many, and ruled for many years, I still desire sons.
Today I told my priest, Vasishtha that I desire a son. I also told my three
wives, and they were all elated to hear the news. Tomorrow, we will perform
sacrifices to the gods, and beg them for strong sons, who can rule this kingdom.
31 June
Kausalya
Yesterday, Dasaratha informed us of his plan to have sons.
We spent the majority of the day pleading to Indra, who heard our prayers.
Indra offered us rice with milk and sugar. Supposedly, this will give us all
sons. I could have made this on my own! I don’t need a god to give me this!
However, to make Dasaratha happy, I consumed the giant portion that he gave me.
I guess he gave me the most because I am his first wife, but still, I hate to
cause dissension between Sumitra, Kaikeyi, and me.
10 December
Sumitra
The day is drawing nearer for the three of us to give birth
to our sons, or so we hope. I have always had a fear of not having a son,
especially with the high expectations of Dasaratha weighing down on me. No
matter, Indra will help us all. I am way too pregnant to be worrying about all
of these details.
31 March
Kaikeyi
Today, I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. He is surely
the fairest of the four of Dasaratha’s sons. I am certain he will grow into a
wonderful ruler of this kingdom. Dasaratha surely has gotten his wish. He has
four beautiful sons to follow in his footsteps, to marry off to larger
kingdoms, and to rule the one he will have to give away soon enough. However, I
have no doubt that my son will win the heart of Dasaratha.
10 April
Dasaratha
Today is the day that I name my four new sons. They are all
beautiful, and fit to rule many kingdoms! I have already decided on their
names, and I cannot wait to reveal them to the whole kingdom of Ayodhya. I
already have an affinity towards the eldest child, whom I will name Rama. I
have no doubt that he will rule the kingdom of Ayodhya with a firm hand, after
my passing in the future. I will not tell them who will rule now, as it will
cause dissension, especially at the hands of Kaikeyi. As for now, I must go
prepare for the ceremony that will take place for the boys tonight. Thank you,
Indra!
Author’s Note:
This is an adaptation of a very small portion of the Ramayana, where Dasaratha confronts his priest, Vasishtha, and tells him of his desire to have sons. The original story that I drew from was about two paragraphs long, and details Dasaratha telling his wives they would soon have sons. I did not alter anything from the original story, however, I did approach the topic from a different perspective. I decided to write a story in diary format, mainly because I find it fun to write from different points of view of different people. I like to develop their sides of the story and their emotions, and I enjoyed this with all three wives, and Dasaratha. Some background information that could help you to understand Kaikeyi, is that in the Ramayana, she ends up taking advantage of Dasaratha. He owed Kaikeyi two wishes, and she decides to use those wishes to banish Rama and have her son, Baharata, take over the kingdom of Ayodhya.The image that I chose for this story portrays all of the sons, wives, and Dasaratha. I chose it because it looks like they are all living in harmony, which is they way I would love to imagine the story actually ends. This story comes from Buck, William (1976). Ramayana: King Rama's Way.
This is an adaptation of a very small portion of the Ramayana, where Dasaratha confronts his priest, Vasishtha, and tells him of his desire to have sons. The original story that I drew from was about two paragraphs long, and details Dasaratha telling his wives they would soon have sons. I did not alter anything from the original story, however, I did approach the topic from a different perspective. I decided to write a story in diary format, mainly because I find it fun to write from different points of view of different people. I like to develop their sides of the story and their emotions, and I enjoyed this with all three wives, and Dasaratha. Some background information that could help you to understand Kaikeyi, is that in the Ramayana, she ends up taking advantage of Dasaratha. He owed Kaikeyi two wishes, and she decides to use those wishes to banish Rama and have her son, Baharata, take over the kingdom of Ayodhya.The image that I chose for this story portrays all of the sons, wives, and Dasaratha. I chose it because it looks like they are all living in harmony, which is they way I would love to imagine the story actually ends. This story comes from Buck, William (1976). Ramayana: King Rama's Way.
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| Dasartha, his wives, and his sons. Source: Krishna's Mercy. |
I love the style you took on to tell this story. I also like that you took such a small part of The Ramayana and expended on the feelings and thoughts of the characters. I feel like you hit Kaikeyi’s character on the head with her thinking that her child is the best and that Dasaratha will make him the king after he passes. It was funny to see his own thoughts at the end, especially about how Kaikeyi would be mad to know her son would not be king. Good job!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed how you did your storytelling in a diary format. It gave more insight on each character and connected me as a reader better to your story. I liked reading your perspective on the Dasaratha telling his wives about the sons. Loved how you portrayed Kaikeyi's diary!! Overall, great story!
ReplyDeleteHey Dakota,
ReplyDeleteI very much enjoyed your week 4 Storytelling. A diary is one of my absolute favorite storytelling styles because it allows you to give a lot of information in a short setting, kind of like little summaries. They are also fun because they allow you to explore emotional descriptions and give a distinct personality to your character that we do not get to see in the original story. It is the little details in the stories that make them so great. I would have to say that you should definitely take out a few of your commas and “dumb down” your use of proper words. I had the same problem at the beginning of this class because you are writing, but think about how you would write in a journal or a diary for yourself. You definitely would continue to use good grammar in these storytelling’s, but you would not use as many commas and “however. ” Otherwise, I thought you did an excellent job!