Week 9 Story Planning: Hidden Treasure

Subhadra announced she was going to have Arjun’s baby named Abhimanyu. Arjun told Subhadra how to escape chakravyuh and the baby learned every word but because Subhadra fell asleep Arjun didn’t complete the story and Abhimanyu didn’t hear the end of the story. I think this is a really interesting concept that the baby absorbed all the information Arjun was telling Subhadra even though Abhimanyu wasn’t born yet. This reminded me of some things I’ve heard people do like playing certain types of music or reading stories to unborn babies.

For my story I would like to use this concept but elaborate a little further. I think it would be interesting to have Arjun tell step by step instructions to the baby about where he has hidden treasure. Instead of Subhadra falling asleep I want the baby to hear everything and then when she is older to follow those instructions on a journey to the hidden treasure.

Plot Outline:

• Arjun is nervous because he is at war and decided to hide his fortune far away. His wife Subhadra is pregnant with Abhimanyu and Arjun speaks to her and the baby describing where the treasure is.
• Abhimanyu is born and remembers everything her father told her about the treasure
• When she grow up she sets out on a journey to find the treasure.
• She travels through the mountains, across the ganges and meets Shrek and Karna in the cave.
• She eventually finds the treasure and brings it back to her family.

Characters:

Arjun is a father who hides the treasure and explains how his daughter can find it. He loves his family and is very protective of them.

Abhimanyu is the daughter of Arjun. She hears his story before she is born and when she is old enough she sets out to find what Arjun has left for her. She is strong warrior like her father and is able to complete the journey.

Abhimanyu Traveling
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Bibliography: The Mahabharata: Karmic Revolution, Epified TV (India), 2015-2016

Week 7 Story: The Beginning of Karna and Shrek

Little baby Karna screamed and reached out his arms towards his mother as she placed the basket he was in into the river. Though he was merely an infant when he was placed into the river, his mind and body were growing at a rapid pace. As he grew, the basket and clothes he was wearing grew with him.

He watched the sun fall and rise up again and the birds fly overhead softly singing to him as he drifted into the unknown. Suddenly, he felt a thud and realized he was no longer moving. He sat up in the basket, looked around and realized his basket had washed up on to shore.

"Is this where my mother had intended to send me?" Karna wondered. Feeling hopeful that it was, he climbed out of the basket and wandered into the forest before him having suddenly aged into a young man. He was a little clumsy at first learning to walk in his outstretched legs but was quickly able to gain control and proceed to the forest like a regular 7 year old boy.

He wasn’t sure where he was headed or what he was looking for until he stumbled upon a rock cave covered in moss and leaves. His stomach was making loud grumbling noises and he was beginning to feel light-headed from lack of food and water. He had become exhausted from walking and thought the cave appeared to be a suitable location to rest.

He walked inside the shelter and found a fluffy-looking bed tucked away in the corner. He looked around to see if anyone was there but concluded that it was vacant. He walked over to the bed and laid his head on the pillow. He had never been so comfortable. His eye fluttered shut and he drifted to sleep in the peaceful home.

His sleep was abruptly interrupted as the ground began to shake and a thumping sound grew closer and closer. His eyes shot open and he shuffled into the corner to hide from what was approaching him.

“Who goes there!” roared a deep, angry voice. “I demand you show yourself!”

 “My name is Karna,” he squeaked, his voice trembling with fear. “I was just looking for a place to rest,” he explained as he made himself visible to the beast.  

“Where do you come from, young man? You must be far from home as there is not a village for hundreds of miles.”

“I came from the river,” Karna said hesitantly, knowing that wasn’t the answer he was looking for. “My mother placed me in a basket and sent me into the river. I floated until I reached the shore just over there and walked to this cave,” he said gesturing to the direction he had come from.

The air was still and silence lingered as the beast looked Karna up and down. Karna was unsure how this beast was going to react to what he had told him or if he would believe his story at all.

“My child,” he said with sincerity in his voice, “I have prayed for a son and my prayers have been answered. I shall raise you as my own.”

The beast, who went by the name of Shrek, was cursed with green skin, enormous size, and an appearance that sent woman and men alike running away in fear at the sight of him. He had dreamed of having a child of his own but because of this curse, no woman would even look at him. Having spent that so many years alone, hiding in his cave and only leaving to retrieve food and water, he was overjoyed to have someone enter his life.

Karna’s fear had only stemmed from the anger in Shrek’s voice and not in his appearance. Upon hearing Shrek say he would take him in as his own, Karna’s fear vanished and a smile spread across his face. Since the curse, Shrek had never been in the presence of someone who wasn’t scared of him until he met Karna.

Shrek took Karna into his home and kept his word to raise him as his own child. Because of the generosity and love Shrek showed to Karna, the gods lifted the curse they had placed on him and he returned to his normal form.

Shrek
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Author's Note: In the Mahabharata, Kunti has a secret son from Surya, the sun god. Because she is unmarried, she sends this son in a basket into the river. He was born with celestial earrings and an invulnerable coat of arms that grew with him as he grew. I began my story using this concept that Karna’s mother sent him into the river in a basket.

Instead of his earrings and coat of arms I had the basket he was floating in and the clothes he was wearing grow as he grew. He then stumbles upon a beast named Shrek who takes him in as his own son. For this story I attempted to include more dialogue than I usually include in my stories. The main interaction is between Shrek and Karna when they meet in the cave.

While the previous additions to my portfolio have been focused on romantic relationships, I felt this story was a fitting addition because it tells the story of the beginning of a father-son relationship. I think this is a new dynamic of a relationship and with this addition my portfolio now consists of a failing relationship, a thriving relationship and the budding of a new relationship. 

Bibliography: 
The Mahabharata: Karmic Revolution, Epified TV (India), 2015-2016
Shrek, Wikipedia, 2001. 

Week 6 Story: The Elephant Dreams

 For Draupadi’s 6^th birthday, her parents surprised her with a trip to the circus. She had never been to a circus before and it was a memory she would never forget.

“Mom,” she exclaimed on the car ride home, “did you see those lions with paws the size of my head??”

She was still shaking in amazement of the acts she had just seen and was trying to comprehend how everything was possible. Her parents, in the front seat trying to tune her out, just kept saying, “Yes Sweetie, we saw them,” and “Uh huh yeah that was cool too.” However, nothing, including their lack of enthusiasm, could spoil young Draupadi’s excitement.

“Remember the elephants?!” “Wow,” she said as she sat back in her seat dreaming about them walking in the circle and the tricks they performed.

By the time the car pulled into the drive way it was past Draupadi’s bedtime. She ran into the house and up to her room but when she lay in bed, she was too excited from the day she had had to be able to fall asleep. She kept replaying each act in her head and dreaming about being apart of the circus. She could picture herself dressed up in the sparkling outfit and getting to ride the elephants. The thought of it brought a smile to her face. She leaped out of bed, got down on her knees and folded her small hand over the bed.

“God Shankara,” her innocent voice said with a slight quiver as she had only ever prayed with her parents and didn’t want to mess up. “I went to the circus today with my mom and dad and while I was there I saw the most beautiful creatures. So I was wondering if you could give me an elephant of my own. I promise to take really good care of it and be her best friend!”

She meant every word she said and spoke as if she was convincing Shankara that she was worthy of receiving this animal. Draupadi crawled back into bed and feeling as though her voice had been heard she peacefully drifted to sleep.

When she woke the next morning she ran downstairs and straight to the backyard hoping to see an elephant. To her disappointment, there was nothing but trees filling the back yard. Though she was disappointed, she hoped that if she kept praying each night, Shankara wouldn’t ignore her forever.

So she did. Night after night she knelt by her bed and with her hands folded and her voice serious, she prayed for an elephant of her own. She explained how responsible she would be and how much she would love the sweet animal.

After 7 nights of praying these prayers, she began to get discouraged.  She had been taught that the gods would answer her prayer but on her first attempt she was coming up with nothing to show for it. Just as she began to question the existence of the god, Shankara appeared in her dream.

“Draupadi,” he spoke tenderly, “You have asked for an elephant and I shall grant this boon. Because you have asked me seven times, you will receive seven elephants. You must treat them with respect and care for them in the ways you have described in your prayers.”

Draupadi was stunned. “Seven?” she thought. She had only desired just the one but the fact that her prayers were being answered allowed her to overlook this small detail and maintain her excitement.

When she awoke the next morning she wasn’t sure whether the dream was truly Shankara speaking to her or if it was simply a dream. For the seventh day in a row, she jumped out of bed and sprinted to the backyard.

Her eyes widened in amazement and she was left speechless. It was true. Shankara was real and he had answered her request and had not exaggerated how he would do so. Her eyes darted back and forth from elephant to elephant unsure of how to handle the situation of how her parents would react.

She decided that any gift from god should be appreciated so she eagerly approached each and every elephant and welcomed him or her to their new home with a kiss on the cheek.

Draupadi's Seven Elephants
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Authors Note: In a previous life, Draupadi had begged Shankara to give her a husband. Because she had asked him five times for a husband, Shankara granted her boons and told her when she was born again she would have five husbands. The gods declared that she would become the wife to all five of the Pandava brethren. I used this concept and the character of Draupadi to create a more modern and fairy tale-like approach.

For this story Draupadi is a young girl who dreams of having an elephant of her own after seeing them in the circus. She prays to Shankara who grants her boon and like in the Mahabharata, gives her an elephant for each time she had prayed. Having prayed for an entire week, she received seven elephants.

In this story I tried to incorporate more dialogue than I have in the past. With Draupadi as the center focus of this story, I had dialogue between her and her parents and Shankara.

Bibliography: PDE Mahabharata, Arnold, Besant, Devee, Dutt, Ganguli, Kincaid, Macfie, Mackenzie, Nivedita, Seeger, and Tagore.

Week 5 Story Planning: Elephant Dreams

In a previous life, Draupadi had begged Shankara to give her a husband. Because she asked him five times for a husband, Shankara granted her boons and told her when she was born again she would have five husbands. The gods declared that she would become the wife to all five of the Pandava brethren. I think this is an interesting concept of the god granting her the five husbands because she asked for one five times. I would like to write a story that takes a similar approach but asks the gods for something different.

In this story I hope to incorporate more dialogue than in my past stories. I think good dialogue between characters adds a special spark to the story and makes it more enjoyable to read. I plan to have dialogue between Draupadi and Shankara in her dream as well as internal dialogue for Draupadi. 

Plot Outline:

• After hearing a bedtime story that involved an elephant, a young Draupadi prayed to the gods to give her a pet elephant.
• After praying for an elephant for a week, Draupadi was told by Shankara in her dream that night that her boon would be granted and she would receive an elephant for each time she had asked for one.
• Draupadi woke up excited and nervous the next morning to find 7 full grown elephants in her back yard.
• She is excited at first but quickly learns that are a lot of work.

Characters:

Draupadi is the main character of this story. She is a young girl 5-8 years old with a big imagination. After reading her story, she is determined that she must own an elephant to be like the character in her book. She is strong willed and refuses to take no as an answer. She is optimistic about receiving more than just one elephant but comes to realize it isn’t as glamorous and she thought.

Elephants
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Bibliography: PDE Mahabharata, Arnold, Besant, Devee, Dutt, Ganguli, Kincaid, Macfie, Mackenzie, Nivedita, Seeger, and Tagore.