Week 6 Storytelling: Shantanu and Ganga

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 was confused, angry, amazed, and sad. The emotions took over, but he was still hesitant. What was holding him back for so long?
 

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. He looked at what was her wife in amazement. He thought it was a dream. He thought this was not true. 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 every day 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. His emotions turned into one emotion—anger. That was all he felt, and that was all he wanted to feel. He knew he was never going to be the same again because he was traumatized.

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. She served him every day. She knew his likes, and dislikes…more than Ganga would ever know. She prayed for his happiness even though she knew that he would never love her the way he loved his first wife—Ganga. Satyavati dreamed this day would come. Satyavati knew he did not love her. He barely looked at her, or noticed her in the years she’s been serving him in his palace. That palace was her home. She knew every little detail, and every little corner as if she created that palace. When everyone was out on dinners and events, she would twirl in the palace as if it were hers. She never lost faith in her love, and she continued to serve her king with an empty hole in her heart that would take years to fill.

He looked at his servant. “She is never coming back, and I will never meet my daughter,” Shantanu said in a low tone.

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 every day.

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 baby came along, Shantanu speaks up. However, Ganga drowns her children to send them to heaven. Her intentions seem good, but the acts behind her intentions are seen as horrifying. I did not want to escape from what actually happened in the story—the babies were drowned. I wanted to include the consequences of that, and I did not want Ganga to be seen as the bad person. 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. I used Shantanu’s character to display this event that I feel like everyone goes through at one point or another. When this type of betrayal happens, people tend to change. Shantanu changed from many emotions to just one. The original story is a bit confusing to understand, but I tried to make mine a little more relatable by adding in emotions. I’m all about happy ending, but I did not think there was a happy ending possible with this type of tragedy. However, there is always something good after something bad. For Shantanu, this was being able to love again, and share this love with Satyavati, which he marries in the original story.