Sita and Rama
Picture by Ayan Gupta
Soure: Wikipedia
Dressed in crimson, hair pulled back, big eyes, and a soft smile—Sita looked flawless. Every man looked. Some tried to talk to her, but she was not interested. There was a dance floor and wonderful music, but Sita didn’t want to dance because she was there at this ball to get married. She didn’t want to get married. She twirled her hair in boredom when she finally decided to take a look around the wonderful temple everyone was in. There were flowers hung everywhere, and the architecture was mind-blowing. She ran her fingers across the wall in awe, when suddenly her eyes set on someone.
It was Rama—the greatest god of them all. Although Sita was not aware of this, she looked at him in more amazement than the walls of the temple. Rama was staring at her. He asked his servant, “Amar, who is that beautiful, magical woman standing there?”
Amar replied, “Dear god Rama, that is Sita—the most beautiful goddess to have ever existed.”
Rama felt his stomach drop, his eyes glaring, his head spinning—it was love at first sight. Something Rama never believed in. He already knew what he had to do from there—ask Sita to marry him.
Little did Sita and Rama know that another goddess was following Rama’s every move—Ria. Ria was in love with the greatest god to be since she saw him years ago at another temple. Ria followed Rama, and wondered what he was looking at. She asked herself, “Rama my love, where are you looking?” She followed his gaze, and saw Sita. Her hair started growing in flames, her eyes gleamed red, her chest stuck out broader, her lips straightened, and her sanity was gone.
Ria calmed her burst of jealousy and rage. With a crooked smile, she asked Sita, “Will you accompany for a walk in the garden, Sita?” Sita followed Ria to the garden because she was surprised that a girl that she did not grow up with wanted to converse with her at a party. Ria screamed, “Be gone from my love, or I will have to banish you from the existence of our world, and you will die in pain.” Sita cried for help because Ria was glaring her eyes with magic to cause Sita pain in her every muscle.
Sita was confused and scared. She finally said, “Ria, we can make Rama a meal, and win his love.”
Ria laughed. She said, “You are such a naïve goddess, my dear.” She walked off in assurance that she will win this cooking contest. Ria went to her home in the dark forest. She used all her magical powers, and created the most wonderful meal to have ever been placed in the temple. There was palak paneer, naan, and rasmalai. She came back to the temple, and found Rama. Rama ate her food, and it was delicious. Ria knew she had won.
Sita came running back to the love her life. She said, “Rama, she is no good, and she will kill you.” Sita brought him the only thing she knew how to make, gulab jamun—a fried round ball of dough drizzled in syrup, and she added a rose petal to show she was a goddess, and Ria was a monster.
Ria fell to the ground. He said, “Sita, I do not care for your food. I cared for you the second I saw you roaming this temple.” They left hand in hand with Ria trying to burn them to death, but little did she know—Sita and Rama could stop anything from killing them or others because together they were the most powerful god and goddess, and nothing could ever break this bond of power because it was true love.
Author's Note: My story was based on the concept of love at first sight, which happened between Rama and Sita in the original story. However, in my story I brought in a new character to show how strong love at first sight can be. The plot of the original story consisted of Rama being a hero by using a big bow from God Shiva, and then asking for Sita's hand in marriage. I twisted my plot to be about Sita winning Rama over, but primarily their love being stronger than all magical forces when together. Instead of the bow, I used an Indian dish. I made the Indian dish to actually be one of my personal favorite main courses—palak paneer. Palak paneer is is a dish made out of spinach, tomatoes, and onions. Everything is sautéed with Indian spices, and cheese cubes are added to the palak, also known as spinach. The texture is supposed to be rich and creamy. Naan is a type of bread used to eat the palak paneer with. Rasmalai is a type of sweet. It’s cheese balls soaked in sweet milk. It doesn’t sound very good, but it is delicious. Gulab Jamun is pretty much a doughnut with syrup. These are some of my favorite Indian foods.
Bibliography: Narayan's Ramayana, Reading Guide A
Creative retelling of this story with your own twist to it. I am a dude so I am not really into those love at first sight things but this story was actually interesting to me. It was genius to add another evil character just to show how strong of a bond that exists between Rama and Sita. For the next story if you add a Indian dish into your story could you add what it is in the author's notes? Other than that everything else is clear and it was an interesting story.
ReplyDeleteYour story was so extremely interesting and easy to read for me. I really liked your twist on the traditional story of Sita and Rama. You incorporated a lot of dialogue which I really thought added depth to the story and made it easier as a reader to understand what was going on. I liked your description of the dish that you used in the story as well, "a fried ball of dough drizzled in syrup", it really provided a visual to your story. I can't wait to read more from you throughout the semester!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting take on the story, Dhara. What made you think of using an Indian dish instead of a bow? It reminds me of some kind of Disney-like movie / story. Well done! I like your writing style and how you decided to add another character to the plot.
ReplyDeleteHey Dhara, nice retelling of this classic story! I liked the detail you provided in this story and the vocabulary you used. I also liked the fact that they had to win his love by making Indian food. Incorporating a new character was also a cool twist that added another dimension to the story. What made you think of adding such a character to your story?
ReplyDeleteWow! Your story was absolutely amazing. I liked the detail you put into describing Sita and the setting that they were in. I also thought the plot twist right at the beginning was really interesting. The fact that Rama wanted to marry Sita but they were at Sita's wedding! Also, I liked that you brought Ria into it. The cooking contest was also a good idea, instead of actually fighting or killing each other off. I do think the introduction could be stronger though. The fact that it was Sita’s wedding but who she was getting married to was never mentioned or why she did not want to get married? Maybe add a little back story there. Also the wedding was not mentioned after Sita and Ria spoke. What happened with that? How did she get out of it? Maybe instead of a wedding you could just use a ball or someone else’s wedding. In the end, instead of Sita telling Rama that Ria is evil, maybe she could just have him taste the food and she wins? Overall, really great job!
ReplyDeleteDhara, I read your week 2 story “Sita” for the portfolio feedback. The story was good and I loved how many adjectives you used to really explain the setting and some of the other details in the story. You put a twist on the story between Rama and Sita in the Ramayana and I believe that you did an excellent job doing this. You made it kind of a classical love story and I am usually not one to read or watch too many romantic things but this story was able to keep my attention throughout. The only thing that I would suggest for this story is maybe add more to the introduction to really set the theme or add some background for someone who is not too familiar with the Ramayana. However, I do love how much detail you put in your writing and believe that you have an excellent writing style. Great job!
ReplyDeleteDhara, I really like how you embraced the concept of love. They were all exhibited in different contexts, but they illustrated the idea of being satisfied with what you have, while also being willing to sacrifice for something or someone else. The level of description and detail that you utilized in your portfolio really helped the reader see the details of the original stories described in the author's note. Specifically, I like that you were able to incorporate really minute details, such as the palak dish and gulab jamun. I'm glad that you decided to include a definition and "recipe" for the dish. This is a very unique aspect that I appreciate. One possible thing that you might incorporate with your portfolio is a link to this dish for those readers who may want to try and re-create this scene. The stories about Sita and the river goddess were my favorite. You're doing great.
ReplyDeleteDhara, I loved this story. Your writing style here was so detailed! I loved at the beginning how you described Sita. I think you did a great job of demonstrating love at first sight, and your author's note really brought that all together at the end. I am glad you described what all of the different foods were because I had no idea!!! Haha. I think the addition of the their character, Ria, was a smart move! It shows how strong Rama and Sita's love was and highlights your main point of love at first sight. I can't even think of anything I would change or do different in this story, you wrapped it up nicely. Awesome job, can't wait to see what you do next!
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