Epics of India - Vinay Kalvacherla

Sita's Injustice The trek from the hermitage to the well was about half a mile - which wasn't very far in actuality, but in the sweltering heat of the sun, even a single step seemed like a marathon. Sita pulled the hem of her headscarf over her eyes to block the harsh rays of the sun. "Although," she said to herself, "this is but a drop in the ocean of despair that I've endured in my life." Sita knew that she would never hurt even an ant. She was the gentlest, kindest soul one could know - and, to her, so was Rama. The handsome, valiant king of Ayodhya who won her over by lifting Shiva's holy bow. The one with whom she was prepared to spend fourteen years in exile for a cause unrelated to herself. And, the one who saved her from the clutches of Ravana.  But, in the back of her head, Sita had unanswered questions. People had always exalted Rama for his ability to not only pick up and string Shiva's bow, but to break it by brandishing it...

Interestingly, begins with a comparison of a cheating laundry man's wife and Sita - implying a comparison of Rama with the laundry man  Rama, while he does not beat his wife, does banish her  Sita blames it on her karma - interesting, considering that she is also considered an incarnation of the Goddess Her twins, Lava and Kusha, learn the songs of Rama from sage Valmiki - the same Rama that did injustice to their mother, although they don't know that  On the side story, Nina's boyfriend breaks up with her, and Nina is very sad and begs him to have her back  In a way, parallel to Sita's story; she is playing the subjugated one here When Rama hears Lava and Kusha singing his praise one day, he realizes they are his sons; he invites Sita back to Ayodhya, contingent that she does another trial by fire  Sita takes this as too much, and decides to prove her purity another way: by calling upon Mother Earth to take her back into her womb And thus, Sita f...

A goddess (seemingly Lakshmi) emerges from the waters and plays a blues record from a record player made out of a peacock  Symbolic, since the symbol of Krishna is a peacock  Has a very interesting, modern take on the Ramayana Details King Dasharatha's wifes (Kausalya, Sumitra, Kaikeyi) and sons (Rama, Lakshma, Bharatha, and Shatraghuna)  Kaikeyi asks Dasharatha to banish Rama for 14 years to exile; Dasharatha has to agree, because he gave her a boon earlier when she cared for him when he was injured Refers to Kaikeyi as "evil and scheming," although in other versions she is under the influence of an evil maid  Emphasizes Sita's statement that she "cannot live without" Rama Conflicting reports about Ravana - one lady says he is evil, although it says elsewhere that he was actually a learned, scholarly man whose main fault was capturing Sita He worships Shiva and gets a boon for his piety Interestingly, such a learned man has an "ugly...