Storytelling Week 12: Kunti

"Dhatri, what am I going to do?" Kunti asked, pacing back in forth in her bedroom. In her hands was a long, thin, white rectangle. Her eyes never left the screen that confirmed her worst fear. 

Pregnancy Test photo found on Wikimedia Commons

"I can't be pregnant, I can't!" she said, nearly screaming at this point. "It's senior year, I'm not even out of high school yet and I am set to go to the school of my dreams in the fall. This will absolutely ruin me!"

Kunti sat down on the bed next to her best friend. Her eyes were wide with shock but when she spoke, her voice was calm and soothing. "Kunti it's okay, let's just think this through," she advised. "Just breathe and calm down. We can fix this."

Leaning her head on Dhatri's shoulder, she began sobbing. Her parents would never forgive her and if she did not have their support, there was no way she could get through college with a newborn child dependent on her. 

"How? How can we fix this?" Kunti demanded. "You know I'd trust you with my life, but I don't think this situation is fixable."

Dhatri opened her mouth to speak, but before she could say anything, Kunti continued, "You know how traditional my parents are! If they found out, they'd disown me!"

Dhatri's eyes were brimming with tears, but her voice was still calm as she spoke. Placing her chin on the crown of Kunti's head, she confessed, "I know what your parents are like and you're right, they would disown you if they found out."

Kunti leaned back and looked at Dhatri incredulously. "But I would never abandon you," she continued. "I will help you through this, no matter what."

Before Dhatri finished her sentence, Kunti was leaping towards her, hugging her tightly. Dhatri hugged her back fiercely and, as she did, she was already coming up with a plan.

****

"Okay, so let's go over the plan again," Kunti said. 

Dhatri nodded, reading over their plan to make sure she had every detail embedded in her memory. 

"My great aunt had an internship available for two high school graduates. I volunteered us both to work for her over the summer and into the fall semester," Dhatri started. She looked up at her pacing friend who motioned for her to continue. "The work experience will more than make up for starting a semester late and she told us that it will open up many connections and career opportunities for us in the future."

Kunti nodded, thinking. Any holes in their plan, and her parents could find out; her life would be ruined. "Are you sure your grandmother is okay with us staying with her until I have the baby?" she worried. "I don't want to be a burden. I feel so terrible already."

Dhatri stood up and walked over to her friend. "You know how much my family loves you! My grandmother always says you're welcome any time and she's happy to help."

Kunti smiled. "What would I do without you?"

Author's Notes

In the book Karna: The Unsung Hero of the Mahabharata by  Umesh Kotru and Shutosh Zutshi I was really interested in the friendship between Kunti and Dhatri. They shared everything and it was such a strong and caring relationship that I wanted to explore it in a more modern setting. This story is fairly similar to the original, except in the original, Kunti tells her father that she is to live in isolation and fast in order to become successful. It is a way to distance herself so that no one finds out about the pregnancy. In my story, I decided that she would go stay with Dhatri's grandmother and come up with an excuse for her extended absence that would equate to success in more modern times.

Week 12 Reading Diary A: Karna: The Unsung Hero of the Mahabarata

I decided to read Karna: The Unsung Hero of the Mahabharata by Umesh Kotru and Shutosh Zutshi for the next few weeks. A lot of this story is already familiar to me, so these reading diaries are going to be a little different and a little shorter. I'm just going to focus on small aspects of the stories that are different and that I like. These are going to be used for my final story on Karna for my storybook and also for the storytelling posts of the next few weeks. 

So far, I've read the sections on Kunti receiving the mantra and on Karna's birth and early childhood.

1. Durvasa gave Kunti the mantra because he could see her potential. 

2. Kunti was admiring the sunset when she decided to try the mantra. It says she fell in love with him then and that is why he was summoned by the mantra.

3. In this story, Kunti is pregnant for the full nine months. She says that Durvasa said she would be blessed if she fasted and avoided people for a year as an excuse to keep to herself. She only conversed with Dhatri who was her dearest friend and servant. Dhatri smuggled in a midwife and also smuggled Karna out of the castle. 

4. Karna was described as princely and supernaturally beautiful. His mother loved him very much. He had natural armor and earrings and the midwife noticed that he was divinely beautiful. Kunti adored him from the beginning. Dhatri allowed her to be content with her child for a while, but eventually she had him smuggled out of the castle and sent down the river in a small boat. She cried as he left.

5. Kunti wished she had been cursed by Durvasa and not blessed because losing her son was very upsetting for her. In the other stories, her love for Karna was not emphasized as much. This was heartbreaking.

6. On the Ganga, people were worshiping Surya as the sun rose and Adhirata was out on the river. He saw the boat and took Karna home because him and his wife Radha could not have children. 

Photo of the Ganges River found on Wikimedia Commons

7. Radha performed rituals every day to ward off evil eye. His parents loved him very much and, although they did not have much, they gave him a lot of love and affection. Adhirata was Dhritarashtra's charioteer. They had other children, which I did not know, but they continued to love Vasushena the most.