Poor Sita
Sita was the most beautiful woman around. Every man admired her and every woman wanted to be her. Her beauty took the breath away from almost everyone that met her. Sita was blessed with her powerful, handsome husband Rama, and it's safe to say the two were the power couple of the century. They were always making everyone around them jealous with their passionate love for one another. Sita did not know it, but her perfect life was about to take a turn for the worse.
There was one man in particular that was desperate for the love of young Sita, and that was Ravana. Although Ravana had wives of his own, none of them compared to Sita. Ravana wanted the best of the best and it was clear that capturing Sita and making her his own, would be the only way to achieve this. Rama and Sita were on their usual Starbucks run, when Ravana came out of nowhere and whisked Sita into his Ferrari. Sita dropped her pumpkin spice latte as a sign to leave behind.
Ravana held her captive in his castle in the Hamptons, and Sita wept for her love, Rama. She was hidden in the basement, and the only way to cope with her blues was to sing. So, Sita sang "Where Are U Now," in hopes that Rama would hear her cry and find her.
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| Where Are U Now? (Wikipedia) |
Rama was anxious to find his beloved wife, so he sent his good pal Hanuman out on a journey to find her. Rama knew Hanuman would likely have better luck, and he would be much safer this way. It did not take long before Hanuman approached the Hamptons and heard the beat dropping in Ravana's basement. He then heard Sita's angelic voice crying out, "Where are you now that I need you, Rama?" Hanuman was too big of a wimp to go in the castle and fight Ravana and rescue Sita himself, so he leaf her there weeping and returned to Rama.
Hanuman came to Rama with the news of where his wife was and Rama was furious that he went all the way there and came back empty-handed. "What was the point of even sending you?" Rama asked him angrily. The Cowboys game had just started, and Rama was so not in the mood to go fight someone. Nevertheless, Rama got up and went to rescue his wife. Ravana had his castle guarded by flying monkeys. Rama pulled up to Ravana's castle in his brand-new Harley and he could hear Sita calling for him, "Where are you now, Rama?" He then got a rush of energy and effortlessly defeated all of Ravana's guard monkeys. He ran to the basement, Sita hopped on the back of his bike and they sped off back to the city.
The power couple finally returned home. Rama took one look at his wife and told her to get out. "You've been living with another man, Sita. You've obviously been unfaithful. You disgust me," Rama told his beautiful wife.
Sita looked at him and said, "You're kidding, right?" Rama told her he was over it and did not want a wife that wasn't pure and kicked her out. Sita crawled down the street crying and began to sing her blues again screaming, "Where are you now, Rama? I need you the most."
Sita looked at him and said, "You're kidding, right?" Rama told her he was over it and did not want a wife that wasn't pure and kicked her out. Sita crawled down the street crying and began to sing her blues again screaming, "Where are you now, Rama? I need you the most."
All but ten minutes later Rama realized that if he let Sita go, then she would quickly find another man and then he would no longer have the most beautiful wife in the world. He could not possibly let another man steal her from him, and it hit him that kicking Sita out was the stupidest idea he's ever had. He ran in the streets, calling out for Sita, begging for her forgiveness. Sita heard her distant husband, but decided to make him suffer a little before forgiving him completely. Sita hid and made Rama spend hours and hours searching for her before she finally came back home. Poor Sita had been through the woods for her man, so she had to make him work a little to win her love back.
Author's Note: This story was based off a section of the short film "Sita Sings the Blues" by Nina Paley. The film tells the story of the Ramayana, and I put a modern twist on the story to make it my own and appeal to my readers. I loved this film and thought it was such a funny, clever way to retell the ancient story of the Ramayana, so I knew I wanted to use it as a base for my own story. This section of the film tells the story of Sita and Rama. Sita was taken away by Ravana who hoped to make her his wife. Rama goes after her, but when he finally gets her back he shuns her because she had been living with another man. Rama eventually forgives Sita and all is well--at least for the time being. Throughout the film Sita showed her pain by "singing her blues," so I immediately knew I wanted to make her song a current pop song. I took important pieces from the story told and replaced them with similar things that made sense in popular culture. I made some slight changes to the plot such as the end where Sita makes Rama look for her everywhere. I also added a lot of detail to the story where I thought it was lacking in order to make the story more entertaining.
Sita Sings the Blues (Nina Paley)
Hi Taylor! I like your retelling of the love story in the Ramayana. You include excellent and funny details such as “power couple,” and watching the Cowboys game. This makes the story fit into its modern setting a little more. I also like how you incorporated the Justin Bieber song into it. I enjoyed reading your story. It was very creative.
ReplyDeleteI think the first paragraph itself was pretty descriptive of Sita’s character and love with Rama. The story was good because it describes the love triangle that is a common thing in today’s world. I think the song was a perfect addition to your story as well. It was a pretty humorous version of the original story and the twist worked very well! Good job!
ReplyDeleteHi Taylor! This was a really fun, modern version of the story! I really liked Sita Sings the Blues, so it’s really cool to me that you used all of the singing and musical elements within your story. You have a ton of little details that show how the two are really a power couple, and it really helps to create this image of all of the characters as wealthy jet-setters, which is a fun comparison to make with their royal status in the original. I think the most interesting change you made was in how Hanuman was characterized. He’s portrayed as so brash and reckless in the original, so it’s a huge shift to have him be so cowardly. Moreover, it was nice to see Sita get some revenge at the end by purposefully hiding from Rama to make him suffer. The only major thing that I would change is that the story can be a bit confusing when you switch between present and past tenses between paragraphs.
ReplyDeleteHi Taylor! I like your retelling of the love story in the Ramayana. You include excellent and funny details such as “power couple,” and watching the Cowboys game. This makes the story fit into its modern setting a little more. I watched “Sita and the Blues” as well. It was a cool way to really incorporate music into the Ramayana. You did the same by incorporating the Justin Bieber song into it. I like how in the end of the story you made Rama do a little extra work to find Sita and how the story had a happy ending. I remember reading this story from earlier in the year and will try to give you some suggestions. The main thing I would change in this story is that you switched between different tenses in the paragraphs. All together you had a great story that was really enjoyable to read.
ReplyDeleteHey Taylor! I some aspects of your story had me cheesin' hard! I couldn't help but laugh at the fact that, in true girly fashion, Sita had this Fall's most coveted accessory, a pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks! I had to sit here and really try to imagine Rama and Sita as a modern day couple, almost like Jay Z and Beyonce. But it was very very entertaining. I didn't see Sita Sings the Blues, but I can only imagine now how fun it must have been just based off your story. I had just heard that song by Justin Bieber not too long ago, maybe like a couple of weeks. Crazy right? It was fun to imagine Sita singing that, and in beat to the song. Some of my favorite parts were when Hanuman talked about there being a sick beat being dropped in Ravana's basement and the fact that Rama was mad because the Cowboys game had just started! That most definitely made me laugh! My boyfriend gets mad over games like that, even though it's not the Cowboys. He hates the Cowboys, ha! Again, you did an amazing job! It looks like you had a lot of fun writing this and keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteHi Taylor. Great story. This is one of the most important episodes of the Ramayana and I think you did a great job of retelling it. It was a really fun, modern twist. I'm not going to lie, I chuckled when I read the part about Sita dropping her pumpkin spice latte. You did a really good job of intertwining the popular culture stuff with the modern stuff. You could be reading about flying monkeys and Ferraris in the same sentence and it didn't seem weird or out of place at all. I didn't watch that short film, but I think that was a nice touch adding the modern song too. . The only error I saw was in the last sentence of the paragraph under the picture. It says "leaf her" instead of "left her". Overall it was a really good adaptation of the story and a good and easy read
ReplyDeleteI like the light-hearted tone of this story! The funny song she sang and other various pop culture references make the story a little less serious- which is a good thing! I actually wasn’t sure if this would be a modern interpretation of the story until the Starbucks reference, and then from there on out it was obvious that this story was taking place in a present-day setting. I like your brief explanation for why Hanuman didn’t just rescue her while he was there. I think this is a part of the plot that often-times confuses readers of the original epic. The fact that he was scared at least gives some clarity as to why he just left. The contrast between pieces from the Indian epic (like the flying monkeys) and modern circumstances (like watching NFL games) kept the reader on their toes and thoroughly entertained. Great work and I look forward to seeing how the rest of your portfolio is written!
ReplyDeleteThe modern setting of the story gave the story a nice refresh on an older tale. I liked how Ravana was driving a Ferrari to show his wealth. The Harley gave Rama a bad-boy feel which considering the rest of the story fit him. I like how initially Sita was kicked out by Rama and was accused of sleeping with Ravana. It gave the story more realism by saying he kicked her out because some people were talking about it. When he realizes that he had made a mistake it would have been nice at the beginning of the paragraph to tie into the previous paragraph where Sita is singing. When he realizes he made a mistake it is a nice touch to show that he still held doubts about Sita’s love for him by having him think that she will find another man. The ending of the story gave a happy conclusion were Sita gave a little punishment for doubting her and kicking her out.
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