Lakshmana chooses to stay by Rama's side during his banishment from Ayodhya. After diligent consideration, Rama decides that Sita is able to go with them. However, Laksmana's wife, Urmila, was instructed to stay in the Kingdom and take care of the in-laws. He reasons with his new wife that he does not want anything to happen to her for he would be too busy taking care of Rama and Sita. Upset, Urmila goes back to her chambers to vent....
Day One: A Day of Unrest
I
have only been married for a blink of an eye before my dear husband, Lakshmana,
has been taken away from me. Oh my, oh my. Such trouble that Manthara and
Keikeyi have been. If it had not been for those wretched women, Rama would be
the Maharaja and my beloved would be sleeping beside me. Instead, I am restless
with our unborn child inside of me. The only solace I have now is not letting
this time apart go in vain. I will start this journal as a way to keep the
memory of Lakshmana, at least until he comes back home. This not only benefits myself, but our
unborn child as well.
Month Two: Haywire Hormones
I
have been eating EVERYTHING. My mother says that it is because of the pregnancy
but I feel as though I have been eating my feelings. I feel terrible that my
husband will miss out on his first-born’s birth. His childhood? Could it be
possible that he will grow into adulthood without ever setting eyes on his own
father? My heart is heavy with all of these unanswered questions.
Month Seven: An Idea
I
want to help out my husband as much as I can sitting in this dreadful palace.
Oh, how I wish he took me with him on his journey! However, my wifely duties
will not go unattended just because he is not here in the physical sense. I
went to Nidra, the goddess of sleep, to ask to take away Lakshmana’s need for
sleep. I have devised a plan to sleep sixteen hours a day: eight for me
and eight for my husband. She agreed and I am delighted.
Month Eight, Day Eleven: Happy Birthday, Angada!
The
time has come and Angada has been born. I only slept for seven hours so I hope
my dear Lakshmana does not feel fatigued. I have been in labor for many hours
and the wet nurse and my mother have agreed to help me take care of my son.
Don't worry, my love, I will not have any trouble sleeping tonight.
Year Two, Month Nine, Day Seventeen: Visions
I
have been watching my dear son grow up without his father for nearly three
years now. His father has missed his first steps, his first words, his first
everything at this age. My heart aches for my dear child but he will grow up
knowing that his father is only doing his duty. I sometimes have dreams about
Lakshmana’s journey. I feel as though it is the gods telling me that he is
alright. My stomach aches in yearning for this is the only time I get to see
his handsome face.
Year Four, Month Eleven,
Day Seventeen:
These
visions are a blessings and a curse. I had such a strong one tonight about a
woman, no-a Rakshasha, trying to seduce my husband. Of course, he denied her.
That, I was not worried about. I was more worried about the attack she unleashed on
him. Luckily, Lakshmana came out unscathed but I could not help but get sick with worry.
Year Six, Month Four, Day
Thirty:
I
much prefer being asleep than awake. From my window I see the grade school children acting upon young love or the older couples who still
clasp hand in hand walking the streets of Ayodhya. Don’t ever take love for
granted.
Year Eight, Month One, Day One: Sita in Peril
I had a dream that my poor sister Sita is in trouble. I hope she is O.K. I keep seeing her with a demon with nine heads. Oh Sita, she always needs saving. So vividly do I remember asking to join Lakshmana and being bitter about him refusing me. At the time, my pregnant self so selfishly believed he preferred to leave me. It is now I realize the dangers of the forests. Words do not describe how thankful I am for my husband's refusal. I truly believe that he was looking out for his family. I have been sleeping for longer periods of time for I am sure Lakshmana will need it.
Year Ten, Month Six, Say
Five:
Very
rarely do I have visions of my husband anymore. The last few months have been nothing
but my sister’s face. Such sorrow I feel for her. How hard it must be to not only be enslaved but
to be away from the love of your life. I know all too well about your infinite
sadness, my dear Sita.
Year 13, Month Eleven, Day Twenty Nine:
I
woke up in a jolt. There seems to be much excitement on the streets today.
Could it be….? He is! He is here! He is back! I am so happy!
 |
| zzzZZZZzzzz |
Author's Note:
I
wanted to do a story on Lakshmana's wife for I wondered what happened to her
during Ramayana Reading Diary A. It sort of irked me that the pair who just recently
found each other had to spend so many years apart. Legend has it that Urmila
asked the goddess of sleep to sleep for her husband so he could stay awake during
his journey with Rama and be the best dauntless protector he could be. On Wikipedia, it said that Urmila
had two sons with Lakshmana. I thought it would be interesting to make it so
she was pregnant with his firstborn before he left. I also thought it would
be fun to add her little visions of Rama, Lakshmana, and Sita for it would be
kind of boring if all she did was actually sleep. I also wanted to incorporate
it to kind of justify that being told to stay back in Ayodhya was the right
choice and she had a purpose. For Lakshmana to have to choose his pregnant wife
or his brother during a fight in the forest would have been very stressful for
him and in the end, she understood that. I wanted to do a journal style story
because I have never done one before.
Here are a few more links on Urmila:
I have never read a journal story in this class, so this was definitely a fun read! I really enjoyed getting to know Urmila. I find it funny, while reading the Ramayana I, too, wondered how his wife felt about him leaving for 14 years, so I am so glad you creatively came up with what happened!
ReplyDeleteDuring the read, I wondered what happens to the son when the mother is asleep two-thirds of the day? Did she choose not to be a part of his life solely because her husband was away?
I also was curious as to why the posts became exponentially further apart. One suggestion is you could have has Urmila state in a post that she knew it had been too long, but that it was because of (insert blank).
I will have to keep in mind the idea of a journal for storytelling. It was a pleasure to read, thank you!
This was an interesting style you chose for your story. I like how you chose to have Urmila have a child while Lakshmana was in exile with Rama and Sita. I felt that it adds another layer of drama. I was wondering if you read the PDE version of the Ramayana, because there was a story were Rama, during their exile, tells Shurpanakha that Lakshmana has no consort and would be a fit husband for her. This seems to not fit with the previous stories because I remember that all of the brothers were married when Rama was married to Sita. Just wondering if you caught that too. I also like that you did even more research into what happened back in Ayodhya during all of the adventures. I thought this was a very creative work and it was a great read.
ReplyDeleteThat was a really cool thought process here. I really like stories that run parallel to famous ones. Kind of a reimagining of what could have happened. The move Rosencrantz and Guildenstern is like that, it follows Hamlets two Danish friends while everything in Hamlet is occurring.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I would be conscious of though, the story had an inciting incident, It had a conclusion (final turning point) but the middle didn’t really have much conflict. It might be a good idea develop some type of conflict for that interim time as well, to keep the audience hooked.
The wow for me is someone else was genuinely interested in what happened to Urmila. After the wedding, she just kind of dropped out of sight. I didn’t understand why Lakshmara would decide to leave with Rama and Sita for 14 years without his own wife. I think a good spin on this story would have been what if Urmila would have joined the others on this journey. Would this have changed certain events that happened throughout the story? I like the way you gave the reader an update on Urmila and her children. This gives us hope that some day Lakshmara and the others do return home. I like the way you designed your blog. The link gave the reader additional information about Urmila. It let the reader know that she loved her husband just as Sita loved Rama. Maybe she remained behind because she had too not by choice.
ReplyDeleteMary, I really like the picture you decided to use. I think it breaks the usually concept of the Ramayana and makes the rest of the story seem to be more modern. I also think it was a cool idea to break up the paragraphs with entries. I very neat story in general.
ReplyDeleteLook forward to reading more from you!
-Sara
What a wonderful storytelling post. The journal style worked out very nicely for the character you chose. I am surprised to learn so much about Urmila because she was only an extra character in the version that I read. The way you built this character and gave her a distinct personality was awesome, and I feel like you did justice to her role. I also liked how you included brief allusions to the original story in the Ramayana.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to formatting, the way you divided each journal entry was clear. Also, the specific titles of each journal entry was helpful for me to keep track of the time span and topic. There is a space missing between Year Eight and Year Ten, but that is a quick and simply fix. Overall, you did an excellent job. I truly look forward to reading more of your work later on in the semester.
Mary,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the journal style story with the days, months, and years to serve as a mental timeline for the reader. You put the story in such realistic terms; I feel that was common back then to go years with your spouse out at battle and not know if they were dead or alive. Luckily the times have changed with technology, but you did a great job of capturing what the essence of the long wait would have been like. The details of the pregnancy and after-birth were able to paint a vivid picture of how the passage of time was unbearable without her husband. I found it sad when she stopped having visions of her husband as much, but she never gave up her love or faith that he would return. I am wondering if their son will grow fond of Lakshmana quickly or if it will take time since he has been absent all of his life; however, I still enjoyed the ending! Great job!
Mary, I am glad I had a chance to take a second look at your portfolio entry. I did like the fact that you researched Umila. She was the forgotten character. I think a lot of readers probably wondered what happened to her. The day by day events made the story easy to read. The font size was appropriate. If you write another portfolio entry, what if you add her to the group of travelers? It would be interesting to see how the events would have played out if Rama, Sita, Lakshmara and Urmila would have traveled together during the exiled years. You could even add other stories of just Sita and Urmila. I’m sure you could come up with some creative adventures for them. I thought it was kind of odd that only Rama had companionship throughout the readings. The way you have set up your portfolio leaves endless possibilities of different things you could do. Excellent work!
ReplyDeleteMary this was a very interesting and different approach to storytelling. I have not encountered anyone who has done a journaling style story (not that I can recall). This was very refreshing. I like that you told the story from Urmila’s point of view. This semester, I have only seen stories from the point of view of Sita, Rama, and Lakshmana. I am guilty of this. Majority of my stories have either been told by Sita, or have been about Sita in some sort of fashion. You really humanized Urmilia. You expressed her feeling of not having Lakshmana being there with her for the birth of their child and the first day of school. I was surprised when Lakshmana went into exile with Sita and Rama without his wife. True be told, I felt that she (Urmila) was done wrong. She should have been given the same consideration as Sita to go into exile. Great Job!
ReplyDeleteMary, this was a very interesting and entertaining story to read. I definitely saw the parallels between your story and the Ramayana. I also liked the additions that your story had to offer. For one making Umilla pregnant was an interesting addition to the story. Also I found it neat how she had visions of what was happening to Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana. I always love seeing a story told from a different point of view as it adds another dimension of interpretation to the characters you already knew about. I myself have done a similar approach when retelling a story for this class. I also thought your picture was very fitting for your story. The fact that Umilla sleeps for both her and her husband is a cool addition. It reinforces her love and want for Lakshmana to be safe on his journey. All in all, this was a very good read and I look forward to more of your stories that hit your portfolio. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteMary,
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, I loved your story!!! I may be a bit biased because my storybook has a part about Urmila and Lakshmana and I love that we both decided to tell their story in more detail than what the epic depicted. I love the idea of a journal storytelling style. You made the entries short and sweet. I loved the entry where you talk about her pregnancy hormones. It also made me laugh that you make her seem like just another one of our girlfriends talking about how she’s eating her feelings. Poor Urmila. I’m so glad you mentioned Nidra and the part of 14 years of sleep being ‘switched’ between the two. When I got to the end…..I need more!! I really hope you or someone else decides to write a detailed story the couple reuniting and living happily ever after. Once again, I’m so glad you decided to tell a story about the forgotten couple of the epic!
Mary, you do bring up a good point. What draws the reader to this story is that you have attempted to portray a character that is not fully explored during the Ramayana that we have read for this class.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what made you focus on this character in particular when so many others in our class paid closer attention to the romance and tribulations between Rama and Sita. Also, I did not remember that story about Lakshmana's wife sleeping for the two of them so that was interesting to read. Showing her thoughts and experiences throughout time was effective in juxtaposing the chapters of her life with those of our heroes and their eventual return to the palace.
I look forward to reading more stories from your portfolio. I wonder if you will continue to surprise the reader with more stories that dive into the lives of some of our minor characters.