Ganga
Picture by Raja Ravi Varma
Source: Wikipedia
Shantanu and Ganga were living their married life to the
fullest. They attended lavish parties, ate fancy dinners, drank the most
expensive wine. Ganga had long black hair, blue eyes, and a soft smile.
Shantanu was in love. She was just so elegant and graceful and had something
mysterious about her. He loved that. He couldn’t imagine life without her.
That’s why he was wrapped around her finger. He always listened to her. He did
everything she said, and he even let her drown their seven beautiful babies. Ganga
was pregnant again with a baby girl, but this time Shantanu decided to stop
Ganga from killing his babies.
He never questioned her. She was powerful, and mysterious.
She was magical. He loved her, but enough was enough. He asked his lovely wife
why she drowned his sons. He asked why she was about to drown their baby girl.
Her answer was simply I am not the woman you think I am. Her hair started to
flow into waves. Her arms turned blue. Her face became pale as can be…she
turned into water. Shantanu was shock. Ganga was the Goddess of the river. He
had married the river goddess. She took his baby girl, and turned her into
water. His baby girl was the princess of the water.
Years and years went by without his wife and his daughter.
He waited everyday by the river to see if they would ever return. He started to
question Ganga, and everything about their marriage. She hid such a big part of
her life from him. What else could she be hiding? He wanted answers. He wanted
his sons back. Why did she kill them? It made no sense to him. Why did she
leave him? All the questions in his head took up his entire life.
One day Shantanu’s servant sat down with him at the river.
She knew Shantanu always sat in the same spot, and she knew that. He looked at
his servant. He told her she is never coming back. He will never meet his
daughter. She looked into his eyes. She saw his pain, and her king suffering.
Little did he know, she was in love with him, and she was happy Ganga left him.
However, she was sad he was not happy. She said, “My king, you will fall in
love again.” He just stared at her. He thought, “How dare she speak to me, and
tell me I will love again.” He stared into the empty water. Old and tired,
Shantanu waited everyday.
Bibliography: Narayan's Mahabharata, Reading Guide A
Author's Note: This story was based off the original story, Shantanu and Ganga. Ganga drowns seven of her children, but when the eight son came alone, Shantanu speaks up. However, Ganga drowns her children to send them to heaven. However, she leaves Shantanu. I wrote this story to be a story left unanswered. Ganga was fulfilling her duties. I wanted my story to represent how sometimes some things are left unanswered for a reason.
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I loved this story so much. In the original it seems that Ganga just kind of gets married. The emotion you brought into you version of this story. It makes Ganga seem more human. I liked the character development with Shantanu as well. I liked that he did not learn what was actually going on. That was a great twist from the original story. Great job!
ReplyDeleteDhara,
ReplyDeleteI love that you picked the story of Shantanu and Ganga to write your story over! It was one of my favorite stories I myself thought of writing a story over it. I think you did an incredible job with the twists you included. I think Ganga should have told Shantanu in the original story who she really was and why she drowned all those babies so I'm glad you included part of that in your story!
Hi Dhara! Although this story resembles the original story in the Mahabharata, I love that you make it your own. Your version makes the characters more emotional and I can see feel that as I read through your story. I really like the way you described each of your characters at the first few paragraphs! The words flow so well there. Also, I like that you change the gender of the last baby compare to the original story. It is a surprise to find someone who also loves Shantanu. Overall, I really enjoy reading your story, good job!
ReplyDeleteThis story was very well-written and filled with emotions! I felt so bad for Shantanu the entire time. His undeniable loyalty for Ganga all those years were tear-jerking, even after he questioned his marriage. Regardless of any question he asked, he would never receive any answer, yet he still remained loyal and waited every day for her. Overall, I think you did a great job in representing questions left unanswered.
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