Week 7 Storytelling: Rama Wrecks the Puskpaka

Rama Wrecks the Pushpaka

Exhausted after fighting Ravana for days, Rama knew that he had to get back to Ayodhya before his exile was over so that he could save his brother Bharata’s life. As Rama and Sita began to search for a mode of transportation, Vibhishana swooped down in a pushpaka, which is kind of like a flying chariot.

“Here, Rama,” Vibhishana said, “take this and hurry back home!”

Excited because he had never been in a pushpaka before, Rama and Sita hopped in and Rama started playing with the gadgets and cool stuff within the pushpaka. While Sita was focused on getting home before the exile ended, Rama was having fun playing around in the pushpaka. There were no “flying chariot” police at the time, so Rama began to speed and do flips in the pushpaka. Sita was terrified, but Rama was on the edge of his seat.

“Slow down!” Sita yelled.

“Don’t be a back seat pushpaka driver!” said Rama as he pushed the pedal to the floor. “This is so much fun!”

Rama was speeding around curves, winding through dense wooded areas, and flipping over mountain ranges. Although Rama was having a good time with the pushpaka, he forgot the only rule to flying a pushpaka… fly on the right side of the sky. As Rama pushed the pushpaka to its limits, he ended up spinning out of control and went into the left side of the sky, where another pushpaka driver was. The two pushpakas crashed and fell out of the sky.

“Now look what you did, Rama!”, yelled Sita. “We are now stuck in the middle of nowhere!”

Both pushpaka drivers were not hurt, however, their pushpaka’s were pretty badly damaged. Rama knew he had to quickly repair the pushpaka and get back to Ayodhya as soon as possible. So he went out searching for help.

As he, Sita, and the other pushpaka driver ventured for help, Rama suddenly recognized where they were. They were near the same location where Jatayu was buried! Rama searched and found Jatayu’s grave, where he plead to Jatayu’s spirit to give him strength and knowledge to repair the pushpaka. Jatayu used to a professional pushpaka driver, so he knew a lot about pushpakas.

“Oh, Rama. How are you so wise, yet you still wrecked a pushpaka?” came a voice in the mountains. It was Jatayu’s spirit.

“You need to change out the alternator and flush the intake lines to get the pushpaka working again,” the spirit said. “And slow down!!”

Rama took the advice of Jatayu and repaired the pushpaka. He got both pushpaka’s up and working again, however, this time Sita would not let Rama drive, so Rama sat in the back and watched the in-flight entertainment all the way back to Ayodhya.

Authors note: I decided to tell the story of the journey back to Ayodhya on the pushpaka in a little more humorous fashion. 

Bibliography: Buck, William. The Ramayana: King Rama's Way (1976)

(Rama and Sita with Jatayu's Spirit Credit: http://www.harekrsna.de)

Week 6 Storytelling: Fat Cat Hanuman

        “I must catch this mouse!” Hanuman thought as he ran around the streets of Lanka. He had transformed into a cat in order to be incognito while in Lanka searching for Sita, however, it was now backfiring on him. Hanuman, although powerful, was having the natural, overpowering thoughts of a cat. All he wanted to do was eat, sleep, and chase mice. This proved to be a problem for Hanuman because he kept getting side tracked from the mission of determining the location where Ravana was keeping Sita hostage. Although, one day his cat-like instincts proved to be just what he needed to locate Sita....

            Exhausted from chasing a mouse around the town square of Lanka, Hanuman decided to take a long nap, however, he was brutality interrupted from his nap by a heavenly, appetizing smell. Was it steak? Was it fish? Hanuman had to investigate, so he got up and put his trusty nose and taste buds to work. Hanuman tracked the smell across the entire town of Lanka. He tracked it across rivers and streams until he tracked it to a large house on a hill just outside of the city. Licking his lips, Hanuman ran up to the door, eager to get his paws on whatever smelled so good. However, he was immediately stopped in his tracks when he saw the decorative sign on the front door that read “Welcome to Ravana’s House!” in fancy letters and coloring. Hanuman had ironically used his lazy, fat cat-like instincts to find Ravana’s house where Sita probably was! However, cats have a hidden side behind their lazy, fat exteriors… they are naturally sly animals. Hanuman went into stealth mode and slowly opened the door to Ravana’s house. Although the delectable smell of a prime rib was stronger than ever, he did not let this distract him from the task of finding Sita. As Hanuman made his way to the kitchen, he saw one of Ravana’s wives cooking but could not find any sign of Ravana or Sita. By this point, his fat cat-like instincts overpowered his slyness and Hanuman pounced on the prime rib she was cooking. Ravana’s wife was startled, as Hanuman ate the entire prime rib in one bite. However, instead of getting mad at Hanuman, she was impressed that he ate an entire prime rib in one, huge bite. Hanuman and Ravana’s wife conversed about the Ravana and Sita situation for a bit and eventually she told Hanuman to go check in the grove for Sita. Hanuman made his way out of the house and into the grove where he saw Sita across the way, however, the prime rib was starting to take a toll on him and before he could move any further, he flopped down on the ground and into a deep cat-nap.

(Hanuman and his counterpart, Garfield/Credit: Blogspot and Wikipedia)

Authors Note: I decided to add some humor to the part of Hanuman taking on the role of a cat disguise while in Lanka searching for Sita. 

William Buck: The Ramayana 

Week 5 Storytelling: Rama Evades Bharata

Ayodhya was in mourning.  King Dasaratha was dead and the kingdom was now in need of a leader. It was clear who Aydohya wanted to appoint king. However, there was one major problem; he had been in exile for years. It was clear in Aydohya that Rama was to take Dasaratha’s place on the throne. The kingdom begged that he come back, so Bharata set out to find Rama and bring him back to Aydohya. Bharata traveled a long distance before he came to a dense wooded area. Bharata was a man and was not scared of the woods, however, this forest was different. He pressed on for 3 days and 3 nights but remained lost. As he sat dejected sat in the forest, he heard a noise in the distance. “Food!” Bharata thought.

“Hello,” came a voice behind him that started Bharata. “I’m Valmiki! What’s your name?”

As Bharata and Valmiki began to converse, Bharata discovered that Valmiki had helped Sita find Rama in the wood a couple of years before. Bharata was so excited that he now had a lead to Rama’s whereabouts. Valmiki led Bharata out of the forest and pointed him in the direction that Sita traveled to find Rama. Bharata set out over the mountainous terrain in search of Rama.

However, news got to Rama that Dasaratha had died and that Bharata was looking for him. Rama was an honest man and did not want to disobey his father’s exile order, so he decided to hide from Bharata. If Bharata was to find him, he would have a hard time telling him that he was not coming back to Aydohya. As Bharata pressed on his journey to find Rama, Rama continued his hideout. Bharata searched for years for Rama but was unsuccessful in finding him. The moral of the story shows just how loyal Rama was to Dasaratha that he would evade someone who was trying to find him and bring him back to the Kingdom.

(Bharata in the forest. Credit: Richard Shaw Brown)

Author's Note: I thought it was interesting that Rama did not want to return to the kingdom even though Dasaratha had died. I wanted to add more to this, so I chose to add to Bharata's search for Rama and show Rama evading Bharata to remain loyal to Dasaratha.

Bibliography: Buck, William (1976) Ramayana: King Rama's Way

Week 4 Storytelling: Prideful Sita

“Go, Sita, you must leave the kingdom now!” exclaimed King Rama. Even though they had loved each other and were married, Rama was forced to send her into exile. Sita was scared. She thought about all the dangers that lurked outside the kingdom. How was she supposed to hunt, find shelter, and protect herself? Although these things lingered at the back of Sita’s mind, she was too proud as a woman to let them overtake her thoughts. As she pressed onwards, she diligently searched for any signs of shelter or food in a dense wooded area.

            Just then, Sita heard a loud noise behind her that startled her. “Why hello there!” shouted a short man with a high-pitched voice. Sita instantly started to run away from the man. As she ran, she heard the man scream, “I’m not going to hurt you! You just look lost!”. Sita, still on her toes, stopped running and walked back to the man.

            “My name is Valmiki! What is your name?” said the man.

            “I’m Sita”, she said in a confused voice.

            “Nice to meet you, Sita! What are you doing all alone in the forest?”

            Sita then explained to Valmiki that her husband had sent her into exile and that she was trying to find a new place to shelter and find food. Shocked that a beautiful woman was alone in the middle of the woods, Valmiki instinctively asked Sita if she needed any help. Initially, Sita was put off by Valmiki’s request.

 “I’m a strong woman,” she told Valmiki, “I can fend for myself in these woods.”

Valmiki chuckled to himself, knowing that she would not survive without his help.

“You are a very prideful woman,” Valmiki said, “but no amount of pride can conquer these dense, dangerous woods.”

Angry that Valmiki did not think she could survive, she stormed away. As she walked down the trail, a giant hawk swooped down and nearly attacked her. Frightened and now realizing that she actually was in danger, she ran back to find Valmiki. After a couple hundred yards, she saw Valmiki sitting on a stump with a snickering grin on his face.

“See, I told you that you wouldn’t survive on your own out here”, he said. “Let me show you the way to my village.”

Sita agreed and followed Valmiki to his village where she built her own home and gathered her own food. She was prideful of her new home, but she knew she wouldn’t have made it if it weren’t for Valmiki in the woods that day.

Authors Note: 

I chose to retell the story of Sita being sent into exile where she meets Valmiki. I wanted to give her a prideful attitude because it is hard to just walk away from your husband. I also added dialog to make Valmiki seem like a Hobbit in the woods. 

(Valmiki in the woods. Credit: Speakingtree.in)

Bibliography: Buck, William (1976). Ramayana: King Rama's Way

Week 2 Storytelling: The Love of Sita and Rama

Love at First Sight: Sita and Rama 

Once upon a time, a beautiful woman named Sita sat in a lush garden and began to dream about her future life. She was a single woman, but she still longed for a loving husband and beautiful children. She believed in love at first sight, however, she was unsure if that special moment would ever happen in her life. When she woke up from her dream, she saw a man across the garden. He was unlike any man she had seen before. He was very masculine with a gentle, compassionate look about him. The two made eye contact and Rama walked across the garden to talk to Sita. 

As Rama made his way over, Sita felt a strong, powerful feeling come over her. Was this her love at first sight moment? Sita wanted to make sure her feeling was real. She was not going to let Rama into her heart easy. The two conversed for hours, as Rama told tales of the beats he had killed. Rama had an instant connection with Sita and continued to swoon the beautiful coquette. 

After that day in the garden, Sita could not get Rama off her mind. As days past, she longed for Rama more and more. She knew Rama was to be her husband. She felt a connection to Rama, even when he was not around. One day while at the market, Sita caught a glimpse of Rama leaving the King’s palace. From across the market, the two lovers met eye to eye, and instantly knew fait had brought them together. 

The two continued to converse, this time about more intimate, personal details. Sita asked Rama about his ideal family. Rama wanted to have strong boys to continue to defend his honor and protect the community. He wanted to have beautiful girls who grew up to be queen. Most of all, he wanted to have a loving relationship built upon trust with Sita. He wanted to love Sita with all of his heart. Sita wanted his love as well. She began to blush and threw herself into the waiting arms of Rama. 


Although Sita played hard to get in the beginning, she knew that Rama was the love of her life. The two got married, and even though Rama had been exiled from the kingdom, the two continued to love and honor their marriage, even though they were miles apart. And they lived happily ever after. 

Authors Note: Although some creative details were added, I decided to give the story a Greek theme and incorporate aspects of Rama and Sita's love life into the story. My goal was to show that long distance relationships can work if love is foundation of the relationship. 

(Rama and Sita)

Bibliography: Narayan, R.K. (1972) The Ramayana