Storytelling Week 7: Hidimbi and Bhima

"Sister, do you see those brothers living in the forest," Hidimba said, indicating towards the viewfinder. "They are living alone and would be perfect for our research on the human species!"

Hidimbi looked through the telescope, spotting the people her brother referenced almost immediately. There were five brothers grouped around a campfire and they were in the middle of nowhere, the perfect place for an abduction without witnesses.

"Send me down, send me down!" Hidimbi shouted enthusiastically. "It's my turn to do the abducting, you know that's my favorite job."

Hidimba smiled, gesturing to the teleportation pad in the middle of the room. Hidimbi hopped on the teleportation pad and disappeared immediately.

****

She hid in the bushes, watching as four of the brothers left the campfire, presumably to find some food, and left the last brother behind. His back was towards her, perfect for an abduction without incident. With four of them gone, hopefully she could pick them off individually.

As she planned her attack, the last brother turned, revealing his face to her. Her thoughts instantly left her, for she had never seen anything more beautiful in her life. Forgetting her plans, she emerged from the bushes, startling the man. 

"Who-what are you? And what are you doing here?" he demanded.

"I am Hidimbi," she said, squaring her shoulders. "My brother sent me to abduct you for our research on your species, but I cannot. I saw your face and now I could never hurt you! Come with me and I will keep you safe from him."

As Hidimbi spoke, her blue skin faded to a dark brown, her single eye split and grew into two, and her hair grew long and curly. 

The man's eyes grew wide. "I am Bhima, but I could never leave my brothers. I want to be with you, but I cannot leave with you. I cannot leave my family!"

At this, Hidimbi enthusiastically claimed, "Well, they can come with us. We can all go together! But we must go now or my brother will come-"

Before she could finish her sentence, a flash of light appeared behind Bhima. Her brother appeared from the light and, before she could warn him, attacked Bhima. Hidimba was trying to abduct him where his sister had failed, so he had not brought any of their sophisticated weaponry. Bhima bested him almost immediately.

"Hidimba, Bhima stop!" Hidimbi shouted. "Hidimba, I love Bhima and Bhima that is my brother. Please stop fighting each other."

At her words, the two slowly drifted apart, both bruised and bloody. 

"You love him?" Hidimba asked. 

"I do," Hidimbi said. 

"I love her as well," Bhima added. "I would like to marry her, if my mother will approve of it."

"Well, it's settled then," Hidimba said. "I will return to our home planet, and you will stay here. I wish you every happiness."

Alien Abduction found on Wikimedia Commons

Author's Notes

For this story, I kind of wanted to make another sci-fi story so I picked Hidimbi and Bhima's story so I could include aliens. I made Hidimbi an alien instead of a rakshasa, but I also made it where Hidimba was not killed by Bhima. Hidimbi and Hidimba seemed to have a good relationship before all this, so I did not want him to die for some guy she just met. They won't see each other again for a long time, or possibly ever again, but at least he isn't dead. The version of the story that I used was the one from Peter Brook's The Mahabharata. 

Week 7 Reading Diary B: Peter Brook's The Mahabharata

1. Yudishthira gambles again after gaining his and his brother's freedom and they are forced into exile.

2. I like the scene where Vyasa describes the Pandavas exiting the city to Dhritarashtra. I think it's a very interesting scene because it did not show the Pandavas, but allowed Vyasa to just describe them . 

3. Amba asks Bhima to kill Bhishma but he refuses because he loves and respects Bhishma. She says that he is responsible for her ruin and that she only wishes to kill him.

4. I like when Draupadi asks Yudishthira why he gambled away everything. It was a good speech and I would like an answer as well. 

5. The story of Hidimbi was interesting to watch. I love the costuming and the lighting they used because it was very interesting. The relationship between Bhima and Hidimbi was very interesting and I liked her character. I thought it was interesting when they began narrating their own story about Ghatotkacha.

Image of Hidimbi found on Wikimedia Commons

6. I liked what Vyasa said about some things being able to be stopped with a word, but some things are going to happen no matter what.

7. I liked the scene where Arjuna shot arrows at the hunter he meets in the forest and the man catches one of the arrows in his teeth. I loved the part where he reveals himself to be Shiva as well.

8. Urvashi curses Arjuna for rejecting her, forcing him to live as a woman and to lose his virility.

9. I liked the scene with Dharma and Yudishthira at the pool. It clarified some things because I was unsure why they did not answer the questions first, but now I understand that they were given an extreme thirst.

I enjoyed watching this version of the Mahabharata by Peter Brook. It cleared the story up for me and it was a very interesting and enjoyable film. Even though this is only the one week version, I think I am going to finish watching the film because I really like it!

Week 7 Reading Diary A: Peter Brook's The Mahabharata

1. I liked the mask they used to characterize Ganesha. It was beautiful and I loved the soundtrack that played in the background. The tinkling from the headdress on the mask added to the music. I really liked the scene where Vyasa began to dictate the Mahabharata to Ganesha.

The Mahabharata play by Peter Brook: image from Wikimedia Commons

2. I liked the story of Satyavati again. I did not realize in my first read through that Vyasa was Satyavati's son, so that clarification was helpful to me.

3. I like the way the narrators are characterized. Their explanations are helping me to understand the story more. 

4. I like the scene where the Pandavas are born. The narrations and the dialogue are helping me make connections in the story that I did not make before. I like how some of the traits of the Pandavas mirror the traits of their parent gods. I did not really think of that before.

5. I like the diversity in the cast. Even though it's set in India, their is a lot of ethnic diversity in the cast and I think that adds a universality to the story that I think is cool.

6. I thought the story of Gandhari wearing a veil because her husband, Dhritarashtra, is blind. I didn't remember that aspect of the Mahabharata and the rest of her story was also interesting. The birth of Duryodhana is such an interesting story! The 'ball of flesh' scene kind of freaked me out, but it was so cool. Gandhari and Dhritarashtra refuse to kill their first-born, even though they are told that sacrificing him will allow their line to continue.

7. Drona makes Arjuna promise that if they ever meet on the battlefield, Arjuna must fight to kill him.

8. Karna comes to Drona's lessons and he seems to shoot just as well as Arjuna. Karna is Kunti's son, too, and Karna confronts Arjuna, saying that they are going to fight. Karna cannot tell them his mother or his fathers name and so he is told to leave. 

9. Duryodhana makes Karna the king of Anga and they decide to be friends forever. Karna swears that he will kill Arjuna one day.

10. Draupadi becomes the wife of all five of the Pandavas.

11. Ganesha makes a speech about the gods. He talks about Vishnu coming down as a human named Krishna and then he removes his mask, revealing that he is Krishna. 

12. Duryodhana gambles with Yudishthira and he loses.

I enjoyed this version of the Mahabharata. It really helped me straighten out who the characters were and what they did. I had kind of a hard time keeping them straight when I was reading the PDE version of the Mahabharata, but being able to see their faces really helped me understand the story and hammer out some of the details I missed the first time around. I got this from Peter Brook's Mahabharata film.