Week 7 Story: Brihannala's Eyes

     NOTE: Please read the updated version of this story is located in my short story Portfolio Website

Ladies of the Zenana on a Roof Terrace

Arjuna walked into the zenana. The softness and splendor of the women’s area of the palace shocked him into a near stumble. The zenana was always a restricted section of a palace, limited to women and eunuchs, so this was his first time to enter one. He breathed in the heady, foreign smell of pure femininity and efflorescent incense. Closing his eyes, Arjuna centered himself. He was someone else now, he must not forget that. Shunting aside the personality, ambitions, and history of the man he had always been, he felt the curse settle more firmly on his shoulders. When his lashes fluttered gently up from his cheeks, it was the eunuch Brihannala who looked out of his eyes.

Brihannala

“Please, Brihannala, I don’t wish to practice anymore.” The princess Uttara looked pleadingly at her dancing instructor, with tears beginning to pool in the corners of her eyes. The princess sat curled on a brightly colored cushion, arms wrapped around her up drawn knees, radiating a sense of hopelessness.

Unable to resist the young woman’s forlorn entreaty, Brihannala settled himself comfortably on another silk-covered cushion. “Uttara, I have been been your teacher for these last nine months. Never before have you shirked your duties. Under my tutelage, you have learned to sing like a nightingale and dance with grace and beauty. Why now do you wish to eschew your lessons? You seem so sad. What is wrong?”

“You wouldn’t understand.” Uttara wiped the stray tear that trickled down her cheek, then began to pluck disconsolately at a loose thread on her cushion. “You’re not a woman. You could never understand.”

Brihannala nodded in concession at her words. “Perhaps not, but I can listen if you will explain. You are like a daughter to me. If there is a way that I can ease your pain, I would like the chance to try.”

The princess began to haltingly explain her predicament, while keeping her eyes glued to the carpet. She felt that if she looked into Brihannala’s eyes, her tongue might shrivel in embarrassment. “My father summoned me today. He wanted to discuss my future. I have now reached marriageable age, and he has decided to seek a husband for me. I know it is silly, but I had hoped that when the time came for me to marry that I might have some say in it. I had convinced myself that father would ask my opinion. He didn’t. He told me that there are two men he is considering. They are both very old and very ugly. I realized that I would have to let these men touch me. I stood in my father’s office and saw my life spread out before me. There was nothing but service, silence, and duty. Service to a man who would lay his hands upon my cringing flesh, whether I willed it or not. There was the silence of having to swallow my disgust and my fear while I endure it.. There will be no hope, no joy, and no love in my life. I wish that there was something you could do to help, but there is nothing anyone can do. It is the curse of being a woman. It is my duty.”

Arjuna

Months later, after becoming Arjuna again, he thought back on this conversation. Before that moment, he had never really considered what women must feel about their lot in life. They were subservient, it was their place and the way things must be. He’d never taken into account the pain, fear, and helplessness that they must so often feel. After Uttara laid bare her anguish and fear to him, it was something that he’d never forget.

Arjuna bowed respectfully. “King Virata, while I am honored at your offer to take Uttara as my wife, I must decline. She is like a daughter to me. However, I would like to offer my son, Abhimanyu as a husband for her. He is young, strong, kind, and handsome. I believe that he would make her happy.”

Author's Note: In the Mahabharata, the Pandava brothers have to spend the last year of their exile incognito. They cannot be recognized, and if they are, it will add twelve years to their sentence. They choose to go under cover in Matsya, in the court of King Virata. Arjuna chooses to pretend to be a eunuch named Brihannala and serve in the women's quarters. He does this in order to wear bracelets that will cover the scars on his arms from his bow and to fulfill the curse of Urvashi that was made in Indra's palace. Urvashi had been insulted by Arjuna's refusal to sleep with her, so she cursed him to be a eunuch who could only sing and dance with women. Indra requested that she confine the curse to a single year, with a year being the same amount of time that Arjuna had to stay incognito. Little is said within the Mahabharata about Arjuna's experiences in the women's quarters of the palace. He became a dance teacher to the princess Uttara, who he viewed as a daughter, and made friends with many of the women. I wanted to look at what Arjuna might have experienced and learned while living so close to women. My story has several breaks in time, it starts out as he first begins his service with the women. Later, he gets to hear what a woman might feel about marriage and duty. I wanted this to change Arjuna in some way by providing a wider perspective.

Bibliography: Mahabharata by Narayan. Web Source.

Images: 

• Ladies of the Zenana on a Roof Terrace by Ruknuddin, 1666.
• Brihannala
• Arjuna

Reading Notes: Narayan's Mahabharata, Section C

Arjuna (Wikimedia)

- In the Mahabharata, the Pandava brothers have to spend the last year of their exile incognito. They cannot be recognized, and if they are, it will add twelve years to their exile. They choose to go under cover in Matsya in the court of King Virata.
- Arjuna chooses to pretend to be a eunuch named Brihannala and serve in the women's quarters. He does this in order to wear bracelets that will cover the scars on his arms from his bow and to fulfill the curse of Urvashi that was made in Indra's palace.
- Urvashi had been insulted by Arjuna's refusal to sleep with her, so she cursed him to be a eunuch who could only sing and dance with women. Indra requested that she confine the curse to a single year, with a year being the same amount of time that Arjuna had to stay incognito.
- Little is said within the Mahabharata about Arjuna's experiences in the women's quarters of the palace. He became a dance teacher to the princess Uttara, who he viewed as a daughter, and made friends with many of the women.
- It would be interesting to tell a story about Arjuna's experience with the women. What did he learn about women that he may not have known? Did he develop a deeper understanding about what their life is like or the different way in which they perceive the world? Did he develop a greater sense of empathy for women's lot in life in a patriarchal world?
- The story could be told of any man who is put in a similar situation and the deeper understanding that comes from living in the world of the other gender.


Bibliography: Mahabharata by Narayan. Web Source.

Week 6 Story: I Need Some Advice

Bhima and Duryodhana (Wikimedia)

DEAR ABBY:

     I have a problem with my cousins. I am the son of a king, the eldest of one hundred. I should be the heir to the throne, but my father has named my oldest cousin his heir instead. It's not fair. My cousin doesn't deserve to be the king and neither do any of his brothers. They are the sons of gods, for one thing, not the sons of kings. Besides, even though their father used to be king, my father is older. By all rights, the kingdom should be mine! Also, all of my cousins are jerks, especially Bhima. When we were children, he would torment me and my brothers mercilessly. It was cruel. He's incredibly strong, so it was difficult to fight back. He would mock us, kick us, and laugh at us. Once, while we were training as warriors, one of his 'practical jokes' ended with the death of my best friend. Bhima never even apologized! He claims that the death wasn't his fault, even though it wouldn't have happened if Bhima hadn't been playing such a mean spirited prank. Everyone acts like my cousins are the most wonderful people, but they're cruel and selfish. I keep getting conflicting advice about what I should do, so I'm asking you. Would it be right for me to kill my cousins? They don't deserve the kingdom, and they don't deserve to live.

HOPPING MAD IN HASTINPURA

Dear HOPPING MAD:

     No, it is right for you to murder your cousins. I'm very sorry that they were cruel to you when you were children. Perhaps if you talked to them you would be able to work out your issues. Does Bhima know how much pain you felt when your friend died? You should try to work out your issues with your cousins peacefully. You may not feel that your cousin deserves to be king, but killing him wouldn't make you deserve to be king more. You should sit down and have an open and honest conversation with your family. If you show yourself to be a good man, maybe you can show your cousins how to better themselves.



Author's Note: In the Mahabharata, Duryodhana is the eldest of the Kauravas. He is the instigator in the conflict between the Kauravas and their cousins, the Pandavas. Duryodhana hates the Pandavas, especially Bhima, with a passion. He strongly believes the he should be the heir to the throne for many reasons, and is angry about the pranks that the Pandavas, especially Bhima, played on he and his brothers throughout their childhood. I wanted to express Duryodhana's point of view a little bit and try to explain some of his hatred. I created an incident in which a friend of Duryodhana's is killed during one of Bhima's childhood pranks. I thought this would help to explain the strength of Duryodhana's hatred. While reading the Mahabharata, I didn't feel that Duryodhana's hatred was sufficiently justified. I had Abby give the advice that should have been given in that situation. If the Kauravas and the Pandavas had respected each other, talked to each other, and been open with each other they might have been able to settle their differences.


Bibliography: Mahabharata by Narayan. Web Source.

Reading Notes: Narayan's Mahabharata, Section B

Disrobing of Draupadi (Wikimedia)

- After Yudhishthira loses all of the dice games to Sakuni, and has bet his brothers, himself, and their wife, Draupadi is dragged into the room by a Kaurava brother named Duhshasana. She resists due to the fact that it is her time of the month, and therefore cannot be around people. Also, she argues that since Yudhishthira had bet himself before betting her, that he no longer retained the right to use her as a wager. The Kauravas don't care, and proceed to humiliate and mock her.
- At one point, one of the Kauravas attempts to strip Draupadi's sari off of her. She prays for protection to Krishna. When the sari is ripped away, she remains clothed. No matter how much clothing that is pulled off of her, her original sari remains in place.
- I would like to tell the story of this incident from Draupadi's point of view. She expresses her thoughts several time, but what else is she thinking and feeling? When she was originally accosted, and dragged off by her hair, what was running through her mind? What does she think about how Krishna chooses to answer her prayer? What is she thinking about the reactions of the Pandava brothers to her predicament? What expressions does she see on their faces? All of this would be interesting to determine how she is perceiving the events, and how she expects it all to end.



Bibliography: Mahabharata by Narayan. Web Source.

Reading Notes: Narayan's Mahabharata, Section A

(Wikipedia)

- While reading the Mahabharata, I felt that there wasn't a good enough reason for Duryodhana and his brothers to hate the Pandava brothers so much. They are cousins, they were raised together, and the Pandava's aren't particularly cruel or lacking in virtue. The story states in various places that the Pandavas play tricks on their cousins, that the cousins are jealous of the abilities of the Pandavas, and that the Kauravas are the incarnation of pure evil. The tricks aren't reason enough for the overwhelming hatred and if jealousy alone is enough to make you murder your own cousins, then you have to be very bad people. However, there is no support for the claim that the Kauravas are evil. How and why are they evil? Their heritage and family was good, so where exactly did this evil come from? There is no reasonable explanation for it.
- Since the idea of the Kauravas being evil just to be evil doesn't have any supporting evidence, then the best possible explanation is that the "tricks" that the Pandavas played on their cousin were far more harsh and unkind than simple children's tricks would imply. Another possibility is that Duryodhana believes that one of their "tricks" resulted in a tragedy that wasn't really caused by the prank that the Pandava's played. That would be a more logical explanation for the abiding hatred.
- A story about the boy's childhoods, detailing some of the tricks and the trick that had the supposed tragic ending would flesh out the conflict between the two sets of brothers.



Bibliography: Mahabharata by Narayan. Web Source.

Week 5 Story: Being No One

(Pixabay)

My name is Aimee. I realized today that my name is the only thing I still have of my own, and the only part of myself that I know. I had a husband, Barin. He was a soldier, strong and brave. I loved him desperately and completely. Every piece of myself was wrapped up in him, in his happiness, and in our shared love. I existed only to be his wife. It is what I was taught, and it is what I thought was right. Women were created to obey their husband’s authority in all things; their loyalty and service to their husbands is how they show their loyalty and service to God. A woman’s husband is her everything. That is the lie that I bought, that is the lie that I believed. 

I married young, in accordance with the teachings of my faith. I loved, I smiled, and I submitted to my husband’s will. I thought I was happy. Then, I lost my husband. Barin died fighting, as a warrior should, strong and brave to the end. That is what they told me, as though it matters how he died. The only thing that matters is that he left me. He left me to be alone, to be no one. Who am I without a husband to define me? I have sat in this same chair since I was told of Barin’s death. I have nowhere to go. I have nothing to do. I have no purpose. I have no identity. Did my parents, my family, my community know that this is what their faith and their lessons were dooming me to? Would it matter to them if they did? 

There are pills in the bedside table, pills that will put me to sleep, a sleep that will never end. The first choice that I make for my life will be how my life will end. Perhaps that choice is a mistake, but it is my mistake to make. I just hope that other women will read this and make a different choice. I hope that they will choose to be a person, to know themselves, to refuse to define themselves by a man. I hope they will show that it is not only men who can be strong and brave. 

As I have sat here writing these words, the only words of mine that the world will ever see, I have learned something. There are two parts of myself that I know. I know that my name is Aimee. I know that all I feel is rage.

Author's Note: Promila was Indrajit's wife in the Ramayana. Sunity Devee's story tells of the events surrounding Indrajits death from Promila's point of view. Indrajit was Ravana's son, the crown prince of Lanka. He and Promila were deeply in love with one another. When Rama, Lakshmana, and their army come to Lanka seeking to rescue Rama's wife, Sita, from Ravana, Indrajit is asked to come fight. He was an incredibly strong warrior, and he got his name from having defeated the god Indra in battle. He agrees to fight, which he sees as his duty. After he dies, Promila chooses to kill herself by burning on Indrajit's funeral pyre. She loves him so much that she refuses to be separated from him, believing that life is not worth living without him. Profile's identity revolved solely around being Indrajit's wife. Promila's suicide was treated as a normal, if sad, response to the death of her spouse. While such a thing might have been normal for that place and that time, I wanted to address it in my story from a more modern perspective. It is not completely unheard of for women now to define themselves through a man, and to see being merely a wife as a woman's place. It is especially common in certain religious groups, so I gave Promila/Aimee that background. I updated Promila's name to Aimee and Indrajit's name to Barin to make them more contemporary, but kept some of the context the same. I wanted to show Aimee felt the way Promila did after her husband's death, as though she had no identity without him, but I also wanted her to be angry about it. I wanted her to feel that she shouldn't be empty/nothing without a man, but that she now feels powerless to change it. So, I wrote the story as a sort of suicide note.

Bibliography: "Promila," Nine Ideal Indian Women by Sunity Devee. Web Source.

Reading Notes: Sita, Promila, and Shakuntala, Part B Promila's Story

(Wikimedia)

- I found Promila's story to be particularly disturbing. I understood the context, and that her suicide was culturally acceptable, and shouldn't be judged by modern mores. However, I couldn't help doing so. Therefore, I decided to embrace that, and use it to tell my story.
- Promila felt as though she had nothing to live for after Indrajit died, he was literally her entire world. That was treated as normal, and even the way it should be in the story. It supposedly illustrated the depth of the love and loyalty that she felt towards her husband. However, in the time that has passed since the writing of the Ramayana, we have discovered that isn't love and it isn't loyalty. It's dependency, and a complete absence of any sense of self.
- I'd like to write a variation of Promila's story, written from her point of view as though in a suicide note or diary entry. She might have been raised in a very religious culture, which religion is irrelevant, but one that teaches a woman's place as being only an extension of her husband. Her note could detail that her suicide is considered normal, and that she does feel she has to do it, because she is no one without him. However, I also think that she should point out how much she regrets that fact. At the end, she is realizing that never getting a chance to understand who she is as a person, or even knowing that being her own person was a possibility, is a great crime committed against her.


Bibliography: Nine Ideal Indian Women by Sunity Devee. Web Source.