February 8, 2018

Week 4 Story: The Love Letter

Undelivered Letter

Dear Sita,

While I know, there is no way for me to send you this letter I need to write down my thoughts. I miss you so much! I cannot believe I was so foolish to go chasing off after some golden deer. I just wanted to make you happy. We both should have listened to Lakshmana. He tried to warn both of us. How could I have been fooled by something so transparent? Golden deer do not exist. Lakshmana feels responsible for what happened, but I try to reassure him it was not his fault. I also do not blame you. I am supposed to be your husband who protects you and provides for you. I still feel bad for the life you are stuck living with me out in the forest for fourteen years. I know you chose to come with me, but I just want to do anything to make you happy and feel like the queen you indeed are. Sita, I wish I could talk with you. It did not feel so bad living in the forest with you by my side. I have Lakshmana with me, but he does not bring comfort to me as you do! I fear I will never find you. It is going to take some time, but know that I will find you! Thankfully we ran into some helpful monkeys Sugreeva and Hanuman. They saw Ravana carry you away and the jewelry you threw down has reassured my hope. They both have promised to help me find you. We must wait until the rainy months are through before we can begin our search. With my mighty bow and fellow friends, I will bring an army to rescue you. There is so much I wish I could have done to have saved you. I know that if we both make it through this ordeal that we can make it through everything. I want to tell you not to lose hope. I will find you and destroy Ravana for the harm he has caused you!

With all of my love,
Rama




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Author’s Note: This story is based off of the story The Ramayana by R.K. Narayan. In the story of The Ramayana, Rama wife, Sita, is taken by Ravana. Ravana can trick and separate Rama from Sita with a golden deer. Rama brother, Lakshmana, does not fall for the trick but unable to convince the other two tries to do his best to keep everyone safe. After Sita is gone, Rama tries to figure out where she is and finds two monkeys who saw which way Ravana took Sita. Rama knows of Ravana great power and armies and will need some help to defeat him to get Sita back. The monkeys agree to help, and after the rainy season, they plan to go looking for Sita. Before the rainy season is over Rama reaches a low point in his moral since he has left home to live in the forest. He longingly thinks about Sita. The book only describes one particular instance when Rama was missing Sita, but I am sure there where many times when she came to mind. I decided to create a letter that Rama would write to Sita about his thoughts and how much he is missing her during the time they are apart.  I hope you have enjoyed my story and would love to hear feedback!


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Image: Written letters. Source: pixabay by jarmoluk

4 comments:

  1. I love your idea to write this story as a love letter! It is nice to hear from Rama's perspective. This sounds like it could be a Nicholas Spark's novel. I really enjoyed it! I want to read more! It would have been interesting to have several undelivered letters by Rama. But, that is because I am selfish and want to read more. I look forward to reading your other material. I wonder what has been going on in Rama's life without Sita? I think that Rama killed the golden deer in the end. His letter sounds very loving and endearing. I wish I find a man like Rama. Fantastic job!

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  2. Hey Ashley! I like how you chose a love letter to explore Rama's emotions while Sita is gone from him. I wonder how Sita would have received this letter. Maybe his plans could have been in code so no one who got their hands on the letter could understand! That might have taken a lot more working outside the love letter but might have been fun!

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  3. Hi Ashley! I thought this was a really nice way to show Rama's love for Sita. After reading the end of the Ramayana (which I wasn't a huge fan of) I appreciate some good Rama Sita romance. I thought this letter did a good job of showing how Rama felt; we don't see his guilt often in the Ramayana, only his anger. It was a nice change of pace to read this!

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  4. Hey again Ashley. I think this way of writing suits Rama better. The ending of the Ramayana wasn't the greatest, and this is why. Your story shows his true feelings, rather than whatever the original was trying to portray. The format of a love letter is a pretty nice touch, and I can almost picture Rama moping under a tree in the rain writing letters to Sita.

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