Reading Notes: The Five Tall Sons of Pandu (Parts A & B)

This week, I read The Five Tall Sons of Pandu, which is Richard Wilson's version of the Mahabharata, and I'm combining the reading notes from parts A and B into one blog post since this version is fairly short. Part A consisted of the introduction of the give Pandava brothers, Arjuna winning Draupadi as his wife in a contest, Yudhisthira's gambling match, and the exile of the brothers and Draupadi from beginning to end. Part B consisted of the war between Duryodhana and the Pandavas and the battles won and lost by each character.

What I thought was interesting in Wilson's story is his style of writing and his changes from the original story. The writing style was more like a SparkNotes summary where each sentence was concise and only dealt with the direct storyline plots without much straying. The story changes was a defining characteristic of Wilson's version of Mahabharata because he does not have any supernatural aspects in the story and changes some plot lines in order to fit with a typical story of royal conflicts between regular, mortal people. For instance, in the original story, Draupadi is supposed to be a shared wife between the five Pandava brothers, but Wilson made it so she was only Yudhisthira's wife although it was Arjuna who won her in the first place.

For this week's storytelling, I was thinking about using the non-supernatural aspect of Wilson's story in retelling a specific part of Mahabharata. Here are some writing ideas:

• A continuation of my story last week --> The Night I Gambled My Life Away <-- except now I can discuss how the family felt and how "Dominic" is their jealous distant cousin
• Arjuna's perspective on how unfair it was that he won the contest yet Yudhisthira is the one who gets the girl (AKA Draupadi)
• A background story on Duryodhana's jealousy and furiousness of the Pandavas
• The perspective of Karna and Arjuna's mother on her two sons fighting without Arjuna knowing their blood relation

The Five Pandava Brothers & Draupadi

Bibliography: Richard Wilson's The Five Tall Sons of Pandu

Week 6 Storytelling: The Night I Gambled My Life Away

New York City, New York – 1987 – Mayfair Club

There was a comfort in the sounds of dice rolling, cards shuffling, and people whispering in the night. No one said more than a few words at a time. They simply focused on the task at hand in this dimly lit room. On a normal night, I would have enjoyed on my time here and gambled the night away with strangers; however, this was not a normal night. This was the night I gambled my entire life away.

My night started off like any other night. I waited until all the lights went out in the Pandava mansion and made sure my family was fast asleep before I snuck out. After taking the subway from the Upper East Side to Downtown, I weaved my way through the New York night life down an alleyway toward the secret entrance of the Mayfair Club – the largest and best underground casino known to man. Being a poker man myself, I naturally gravitated toward the table, playing the game strategically and growing a newfound fortune quickly.

As the night grew old, I felt stares and heard loud whispering in the corner of the room. The sources of the noise were Dominic Kaurava, owner of the club, and Santiago, the best craps player on the east coast. Not wanting to pay them any mind, I continued my poker game. That is, until I heard a loud booming voice.

YURIEL! I CHALLENGE YOU TO A GAME OF DICE!, said the one and only Santiago.

The entire club was silent. Not one word was spoken as everyone’s eyes waited in anticipation for my reaction. However, I am a Pandava; I am a noble man; I am a man who does not back down from a challenge. I stood from the table, and accepted the challenge with honor. Then, we began making our way to the craps table. Underground, we play street craps. Choosing our respective numbers and placing our bets. Round after round, I saw my life change before my eyes as each dice rolled.

First, I lost my fortune from the night’s poker table. Next, I lost my family’s trust fund, my golden Lamborghini, and my butlers and maids. Then, I lost my entire Pandava mansion except for some land. Nevertheless, I am still a man who does not back down from a challenge. No matter the cost, I will never taint the Pandava name and must prove my worth and win! Therefore, I ignored those around me, telling me to cease playing and forfeit the challenge.

I should have stopped. I should have never let my pride get in the way. I should have left. One by one, I bet and lost myself and all my brothers. I felt hopeless. But I could not quit now.

Given that you have nothing else to lose, Santiago said, I’ll give you one last chance. Let’s say, winner take all. If you win, you get back everything you’ve lost. If I win, your wife is mine. What do you say?

Letting my pride get the best of me, I accepted this one last challenge. And lost. Everyone in the club gasped and whispered amongst each other, laughing loudly at my disgrace. In the crowd, Dominic cheered the loudest for Santiago’s victory, smirking ever so widely at the perfect execution of his plan to ruin the Pandava household.

That night, I went back to the Pandava mansion with my head hung low. My gambling addiction will be the death of me... How would I tell my brothers and my wife when they wake?

Gambling Dice in Craps

Author's Note: This week I wanted to try a different type of storytelling that would make Mahabharata occur in an alternate universe, in this case in a New York underground club in 1987. This story was inspired by the gambling match in which Yudhishthira lost everything to Shakuni who was influenced by Durodhana and his hatred of the Pandava family. If you haven't figured out already, Yuriel is Yudhishthira, Santiago is Shakuni, and Dominic is Durodhana. I felt that these names sounded pretty cool and had more of an underground-club vibe to it. The reason why I decided to go with an underground club thing was to translate the ability of gambling your life away (because who does that in a real casino??) and also to give "Yuriel" a personality of a gambling addict who goes to these clubs to satisfy his gambling need.

Bibliography:

• PDE Mahabhrata
• Underground Clubs (Wikipedia)
• Dice Gambling Games (WikiHow)

Reading Notes: PDE Mahabharata (Part D)

This is my last reading note for PDE Mahabharata, finishing up the story with Part D. Most of this story consists of battles, deaths, and aftermath. I'm not really one for battles and gore so I might skip those parts during my brainstorming for story ideas. Here they are:

• Bhishma thought process as he falls in battle and decides he's going to officially die on the solstice. 
• Yudhisthira's afterlife journey in hell and then the heavens.
• A background story on how Ashwatthaman received a supernatural jewel on his forehead that protects him from danger.

Side Note: It was a little hard for me to figure out what I would want to write about in this section of Mahabharata. I didn't find much inspiration from the readings, so this week's story may be from my reading notes from Parts A-C! I had a lot more inspiration and motivation for story/character development so stick around for Week 6's Storytelling post!

Yudhisthira in Hell

Bibliography: PDE Mahabharata

Reading Notes: PDE Mahabharata (Part C)

Today, I finished reading Part C of Mahabarata, which including Draupadi and the five Pandava brothers finishing up their exile, meeting of interesting characters, trying to make peace to prevent an all-out war (but failing), and finally, ending with the beginning of the battle. This entire story seems to have a theme of being everywhere trying to include so many stories and situations. On the down side, the story isn't really too cohesive. On the plus side, it allows for great storytelling potentials! Here are some of mine:

• Hanuman (as my favorite character in Ramayana) was included in this section, which is absolutely fantastic. I could have a story in his perspectives about the similarities and/or differences between Arjuna and Rama! Or I can have him be a little tired of having to come across Arjuna. ("Oh no... Not another exiled prince...")
• Karna and Indra's trade was pretty interesting to me (because who trades golden armor/earrings that make you invincible for a single dart, which arguably is powerful but you are still vulnerable because of your lack of armor). I could elaborate on this interaction, but maybe create a modernized version where they are trading something else... Maybe Yu-Gi-Oh cards vs. Pokemon cards?
• The Riddles at the Lake was another chapter I really liked in Part C. All five brothers hear a disembodied voice telling them not to drink the water, and all but one died after drinking. Yudhisthira, the only sane one in the group, was left to answer the voice's riddles, completing them all and wishing his brothers back to life. I was thinking about writing this one in Dharma's point of view and reveal his thoughts as 1) the four brothers unheeded his warning regardless of seeing the other brothers' deaths and 2) Yudhisthira answered ALL of his riddles correctly and without hesitation even though he made it as hard as possible.

Karna & Indra's Trade

Bibliography: PDE Mahabharata

Week 5 Storytelling: The Legendary Rama

Let me tell you a story about the most heroic and just man in all of history. This is a story about a young boy who grew up to be a king, a man who became a legend.

ONCE UPON A TIME in the fair city of Ayodhya, the legendary tale of the brave and handsome prince Rama begun. Since the time of his birth, Rama was destined for great things, namely to defeat the all powerful demon king Ravana. As the first born son to King Dasharatha, Rama was soon to be the crowned king of Ayodhya. However, not all desired to be under Rama’s rule. Kaikeyi, wife of Dasharatha and mother of Bharata, wished for her son to be crowned king instead, and begun conspiring against this young prince. Under an unfortunate debt and a promise to Kaikeyi, King Dasharatha reluctantly exiled his beloved Rama to the forest for fourteen years, a request Rama accepted with loyalty to his father and without hesitation.

Refusing to be left alone in the treacherous forest, Rama’s loyal brother Lakshmana and his faithful wife Sita decided to joined him in his exile. Many days and nights passed as the trio walked aimlessly through the forest. As Rama and his brother proved their worth by defeating any and all rakshasas in their path, the royal brothers were only truly deceived by one. On this dark day, the great and malicious Ravana wished to steal Sita for himself. Whilst having Maricha transform into a golden deer to distract the young princes, the beautiful Sita was left alone and unguarded. At this chance, Ravana stole Sita away, bringing her upon his chariot toward Lanka. Upon their return, Rama and Lakshmana were soon to realize the deceit and vowed to do everything in their power to find her.

Searching high and low, and befriending monkeys and bears, the royal brothers found the lost princess on an island of Lanka, home of the demon king. And thus, the battle on Lanka commenced. Monkeys and bears, humans and rakshasas alike fought one another.  Blood was shed, warriors were wounded, but the valient Rama came out victorious. Ravana, the demon king invulnerable to gods, was defeated by the mighty mortal Rama. After fulfilling his destiny, Rama returned to the city of Ayodhya with his beloved wife Sita, as the terms of his exile was completed. There, his throne and his kingdom awaited. After fourteen years in exile, Rama is crowned the king of Ayodhya, and they all lived HAPPILY EVER AFTER.

And how do I know this, you may ask? Well, let’s just say the story of one’s father is something one never forgets.

-       L

Rama, Kusha, & Lava

Authors Note: This story is the product of my story planning from Week 4! I wanted to summarize Rama's story through a perspective of a third party, and I couldn't think of anything more suitable than have his own flesh and blood (AKA Lava). I could've had Kusha tell the story too, but I flipped a coin on who I wanted to sign the ending. Anyway, for this week I wanted to try a different writing style than normal, so I tried writing in the style of a classic fairytale with old English. However, the old English part was a little hard for me to write, but I did the best I could! Also, I decided draw the line in only summarizing Rama's exile, the golden deer scene, the battle of Lanka, and Rama's coronation because I thought those were the defining plots of the entire story, and I didn't want to simply retell an entire story.

Bibliography: "Rama & Sita" by W. D. Monro