Week 4 Storytelling: I'm Better Than That

Sita felt so light, so free! She twirled through the hallways of the castle, a smile brightening her face. After being held prisoner for so long, kept from her beloved Rama, she had finally returned to him. Thinking back on their first interaction, she paused. 

Before she was allowed to return to him, she had been rigorously questioned to ensure her loyalties had not turned while she was being held captive by the neighboring kingdom. King Ravana was known to play tricks, to turn people against their loved ones and use them as spies to further his own cause and to gain more power. Sita knew Rama was just being sensible, she knew he trusted her!

After pondering such sad events, Sita decided she wanted to go to the garden to cheer herself up.  She wove her way through the halls, saying hello to everyone she saw, but the air felt heavy. The people were not smiling back, if they looked at her at all. Several people avoided her eyes altogether. 

Shaking it off as a side effect of her negative thoughts, she wandered into the garden and sat on her favorite bench. Resting her hand on her swollen belly, Sita sat in silence for several minutes, appreciating the flowers and the wildlife around her.

Her meditation was interrupted, however, when Lakshmana came to the garden to visit her.

"Hello, Sita," Lakshmana said. Sita noticed he was avoiding her eyes as well, but before she could ask what was going on, he continued, "You must come with me at once. We have an urgent trip to make."

"Of course, Lakshmana," she replied. She had no reason to distrust Lakshmana, he had been nothing but kind to her, he was the brother of her beloved.

As they were loaded into the carriage, she knew something was wrong. There was not enough baggage for a long trip and there was no one to see them off. Rama did not even come to bid her goodbye.

When the gates closed behind them, Sita turned to Lakshmana, "Where are we going? And why? Please tell me frankly."

At her words, Lakshmana's face hardened. He turned to her with tears in his eyes, "Rama has ordered you to be banished. His people do not trust that you have not turned against the kingdom and he must put his people first."

"Oh," Sita breathed, a tear rolling down her cheek.

***

After three years, alone in the forest with her two children, Sita had grown comfortable in this life. She knew her life as a queen in the palace would have been easier, but out here she could focus on family. It was just her, her two sons, and the nice man who had taken them in. It was a simple life, a life surrounded by people who cared for her. More importantly, those who believed her.

Sita went outside to call her sons for dinner. As they came crashing through the brush, Sita noticed another person with them. Was that who she thought it was?

"Rama?" she asked, squinting her eyes in confusion.

"It is I, Sita," he said. "I saw these two children, my spitting image, running through the forest and I knew they must be my sons. I've come to give you another chance to prove your loyalty, to rejoin me in our kingdom."

At this, Sita almost laughed. He expected her to prove herself yet again? He'd banished her, without a goodbye and he wanted her to prove her loyalty once more. She loved him once, and she still did, but she deserved more. She deserved someone who trusted her, someone who treated her well, someone who did not reject her. 

"Okay, Rama. If I am loyal, and have always been loyal to you, then may I be lifted high and returned to a kingdom in the sky. A kingdom where I will rule and care for all those women who were wrongfully cast out or mistreated."

As soon as the words left her mouth, Sita was enveloped in a cloud and lifted high into the sky and out of sight. 

Cloud Castle found on Pixabay

Author's Notes

This story was based on the story of Sita being abandoned in the forest by Rama because his people did not accept that she was still pure. In that story, Lakshmana abandoned her in the forest and she lived with Lakshmi and her two twin sons. When Rama found them, he asked Sita to once again prove her purity and she said that if she was pure, that Mother Earth would take her back into her womb. She was taken back and left them all behind. This particular story was also inspired by some of the commentary by the narrators for the Sita Sings the Blues by Nina Paley animated story. They talked about how Sita should not stay with Rama because he did not treat her well, and I kind of agreed. So, I decided to write a story where Sita continues to live her life and to help other women who were perhaps treated unfairly in a kingdom in which she is the ruler. In this story, she recognized the unfairness of the situation and realized that maybe Rama was not the perfect man for her. I gave her a little bit more of a happy ending. This story setting was kind of fairytale-esque, but I tried to keep a similar vibe and I decided to keep the characters' names the same for this one. I also changed it to them being worried that Sita had been turned into a spy for the enemy kingdom as well as sleeping with Ravana. I thought it added an interesting twist to the story. 

Reading Diary B: Week 4 Sita Sings the Blues

1. Sita is banished to the forest even though she is pregnant with Rama's sons. Although he accepted her at first, his people doubted her so he sent Lakshmana into the forest to abandon her. I liked the song they sang about Rama in part of this section. 

2. Dave breaks up with Nina and tells her not to come back to India. Sita prays for Rama everyday because she loves him so much, but she shouldn't because he doesn't treat her right (according to the narrators). 

3. Rama hears two boys singing in the forest and he learns that they are his sons. He asks Sita to prove her purity again. She calls on mother earth to take her back into her womb if she is pure, this proves that she is pure. Sita goes away into the earth.

Sita returns to Mother Earth's womb
Found on Wikimedia Commons

4. Nina is shown reading the Ramayana and the credits roll.

This was a really interesting interpretation of the Ramayana. I loved the style of the artwork and the narration added a lot of character to the story. Overall, I loved Nina Paley's Sita Sings the Blues.

Reading Diary A: Week 4 Sita Sings the Blues

1. Surya the sun god shows up in the first few minutes and he is part of my storybook project.

2. The beginning gives a good, clear outline of the relationships between all of the characters. 

3. I like the comedy in the scene where Dasartha must banish Rama because Kaikeyi was owed one promise by Dasartha for taking care of him when he was very sick. I also think the narration style is interesting, where the characters are comically arguing over the events of the Ramayana.

4. The incorporation of the music when Sita and Rama are in the forest and it is showing all the other characters in the forest is interesting. I like the scene where Rama kills the rakshasa with his bow. 

5. I also like the different styles between the different character settings. It adds a divide between the two different types of stories and adds character to each side.

6. The characterization of Ravana as a guy who isn't that bad was interesting and not something I considered. Ravana's story with his sister where she convinces him to take Sita for his own wife was interesting. The animation for the scene with the golden deer was beautiful. It developed the love between Rama and Sita better than the book did with the dialogue and music between the two.

Scene from Nina Paley's Sita Sings the Blues

7. I also really like the difference between the musical numbers and the Ramayana animations. They also make a good point that she did not have on any jewelry because she left everything behind when they went into the forest. It's funny when the other narrator says something along the lines of 'don't challenge the story' or something like that.

8. Although at this point, I don't understand the connection between Nina and David's relationship and the Ramayana, I like it and think it's pretty interesting.

9. I like the conversation about Sita's devotion to Rama between her and Ravana. It really demonstrates how much she loves him. 

10. I also liked how it illustrated Hanuman's setting the city on fire because it was so immediate. The rakshasa set his tail on fire and then he immediately ran around setting the place on fire.

11. They make a good point that Sita could have just gone with Hanuman, but maybe she just wanted Rama to save her. She also wanted Rama to kill Ravana. 

12. I like the scene when Sita decides to throw herself on the funeral pyre and the discussion of Sita's purity with the narrators after Rama rejects her. It's a very comic version of the Ramayana while still staying true to the story and being a quality version of the story. I also like the blues song where she is saved from the funeral pyre. 

This reading diary came from Nina Daley's animated version Sita Sings the Blues. It was really interesting and I loved the animation style!