Peace Fallen
There sat a woman on the bank of a river looking up at the
sky. She was weeping uncontrollably as her hands held fistfuls of her clothes.
Draupadi wondered where her life went wrong to end up like this. What decisions
did she make that could have possibly led her to be destitute and so alone. She
was treated like a queen and now she was to live in the wild in exile. It was
all because of that stupid dice game that was played she thought. “Why was I
thrown into the bet as if I was a mere animal or piece of property? What’s
worse is the winners didn’t even play fair they cheated! And now I am to be
without a home and without all of my things living in these miserable
conditions on a farce of a game? What is the fairness in that! Curse the gods
for making this so, where those who do wrong get rewarded and those who are
good get punished. The worst thing of it all is the way I was treated in the
court room. To be taken in front of all those men and then having Duhshasana
try to strip me bare still gives me nightmares. To feel his meaty hands on my
body ripping at my clothing, trying his best to take it off still give me
chills down my spine. I wake up some nights grasping at my throat as if I’m being
strangled by the memory. As I sit here looking up at the moon cursing those who
did me wrong I wonder if my prayers will ever be heard and if I shall ever be
restored as I once was.” A few moments later a messenger ran up to Draupadi and
said, “I have news, I have news, Duhshasana has fallen in battle to the hands
of Bhima.” At this Draupadi released a sigh of relief as she let her body relax
to the earth. She let out a breath that she had been holding for a while as if
calm had come over her. A tear streaked down the side of her face as she said, “At
least now I know my prayers are being heard. Someday I shall return home and
finally have peace.”
Author's Notes: I decided to do a what would Draupadi be thinking as she was in the forest wandering. I knew she would be praying to be restored and have the things she used to, and I assumed she would want revenge. I then tied that into the death of Duhshasana the man who had tried to take her clothes off. I decided that his death would give her a bit of peace at last.
Author's Notes: I decided to do a what would Draupadi be thinking as she was in the forest wandering. I knew she would be praying to be restored and have the things she used to, and I assumed she would want revenge. I then tied that into the death of Duhshasana the man who had tried to take her clothes off. I decided that his death would give her a bit of peace at last.
Bibliography: Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie
Hi Dallas! I think taking the perspective of Draupadi and what her side of the whole story is something that I always wondered after reading the book. I feel like all through the book her side of things is never elaborated on so I'm glad to see that you wrote this about her.
ReplyDeleteI think as far as the structure of the story I would like to see some breaks in the text to give a little sense of pause and rest when reading. I feel like having the whole story in one chunk of text is feels like there is no time to rest while reading the story.
Hi Dallas! I think your story is really good and a really important way to think of the action of the Mahabharata. Though all the exciting battles rage at the end of the epic, we can't forget Draupadi! Also, I like how you used a monologue with Draupadi to convey her emotions and thoughts. Normally, a monologue would seem out of place since there are characters who would be interjecting or speaking, but considering Draupadi is alone awaiting the results of the battle, this stylistic choice makes a lot of sense.
ReplyDeleteHi Dallas!
ReplyDeleteI think it was a really clever way to tell this story through the perspective of Draupadi. The way you wrote this really conveys how she must have felt after those things were done to her. You could tell she felt scared, angry and humiliated. I think it’s great that you were able to tell this story in such a concise way.
Hey Dallas,
ReplyDeleteYour story was told in a way that most stories that I have read so far were not. You took a more dark and real approach to it and it worked out great. Your choices of words made it easy to imagine it in my head which I hated in a good way. I think a lot of the women in these stories have stories of their own that are not often elaborated on, so I think you did an awesome job of giving me more insight to her.
Dallas, I think you were right to assume that she would be thinking of these things whilst wandering in the woods after being humiliated as she was. I love stories like this that have a bit of speculation to create an original narrative and shine a light on a scene or character that enhances the epic. With Drupadi, she did indeed suffer injustices on account of others so it's good to see you give her a voice here. Your word usage is wonderful, very full of emotion which very much suits Draupadi in her condition!
ReplyDelete