Week 6 Storytelling: Till Death Due Us Apart

One stormy night an angel came down from Heaven to visit 10 year old Bhishma. She was a beautiful little girl who had so much to offer. The angel told Bhishma that she was special, and therefore has the power to choose the moment she will die. However, there was an exception to this rule. Bhishma had until she was 16 to come up with the limits of when she will die. For example, Bhishma could say that she will die after she rules the world. Or after she hits 90.etc. The angel soon left her alone with her thoughts.

Bhishma took her time coming up with her limits. Every time she thought she knew when, something would happen and she would change her mind. Finally, one day when she was coming home from school and saw an old man sitting outside her apartment complex. He was dirty and smelled weird. He kept whimpering "so hungry, so hungry." Bhishma hurried upstairs and made him a peanut butter jelly sandwich. She grabbed an apple and a water bottle and ran back downstairs to the man. He was so surprised and touched by how friendly this little girl was, that he started to cry. He told her that she really made a difference in his life. And suddenly it hit her...

The Homeless Man Bhishma Helps

(Source: Wikimedia)

Bhishma decided that day, that she would die after she has completely changed someone's life for the better. This made Bhishma want to help others even more. She knew that all she ever wanted to do in her life is help others and to completely change someone else life would would make hers. Bhishma soon started started a non-profit organization at the age of 16 helping homeless people. Things were going really great until one day...

One afternoon Bhishma was passing out flyers in the halls to her classmates about her non-profit organization when she collided with the school's bully (Aryan). Aryan was known to prey on those kids who were so called "nerds." He believed he was better than them and was quite the troublemaker. He got suspended every now and then and his grades where the lowest in his class. When Bhishma collided with Aryan her flyers flew everywhere. Instead of apologizing to Aryan, which most people tend to do because they do not want to be on his bad side, she looked him dead in the eye and said, " Pick up my flyers and help me pass them out." He was in such shock that he actually listened to her!

This opened the door for their friendship to blossom. Bhishma and Aryan started hanging out quite frequently. They would go pass out clothes or food to the homeless, she helped him with his homework, and he stopped being mean to others. Bhishma had influenced Aryan in such a positive way. With each day that passed by Bhishma's feelings for him got stronger and stronger. By now she had completely forgotten about her power and was just focusing on the life she was living.

Now Bhishma and Aryan were 18 years old. Two years had passed by that they had been dating. Aryan had become a new person because of Bhishma. Twas the night after their graduation, and Aryan and Bhishma were laying out admiring the stars planning the future. When Aryan pulled out a ring, and Bhishma to marry him. He told her that he had never been happier and that if it was not for her he would've never gotten his life together. She was so fully of joy and had tears running down her cheek. Aryan uttered the words," you have completely changed my life for the better, will you please marry me?" And suddenly Bhishma had remembered the rule to her power and she fell to the ground.. and died.

Bibliography:

This story is based on the Mahabharata Reading Guide Part C and D

Author's Notes:

In the original story Bhishma is male and not female. Bhishma has fallen in battle against the Pandavas. However, he still does not die. Bhishma is granted the power to choose the moment in which he will die. He chooses to die after he has taught the rest of the survivors of the battle how to rule what is left of the world. He is then accompanied by rishis and Parashurama when he finally dies. I decided that I wanted to key in on the aspect of Bhishma having the gift of choosing when to die and turn it into a modern day tale. I change Bhishma's character to a girl as well to help compliment my story. 

Reading Notes: The Mahabharata Part D

In this part what surprised me is the fact that Duryodhana is hiding from the Pandavas brothers because he does not want to ask for mercy but instead continue the war. He hides in the lake until he is found. He is then confronted to come out of the water and fight. He said that he would only if he fights them one by one. This was quite hilarious to me. He did not want to ask for mercy yet he would not give up. Then he went into hiding. He seems like he is all talk but no show.

Something else that caught my eye was Bhishma fell in the battle but had the power to choose his moment of death. He stayed alive to tell the survivors how to rule what was left. This is a really small detail in all of part D, but is such an intriguing one. I feel like I can make a whole story just out of this. Having the power to control the moment in which you would die is absolutely insane. Would I ever want that power? Something to think about, considering there is always something that people want to do before they die. For this idea, I would have a girl who is given the power to choose the moment she wants to die. When she is first given this power she would go through the things she wants to accomplish before she dies. She would decide that she would die after she has made a great impact on someones life, because that way she will leave the world strong instead of with a downfall. However, she will end up falling in love along the way. Will she stick to her decision? Will it change because of her relationship status?

Bhishma on the Bed of Arrows

(Source: Wikimedia)

Bibliography:

The Mahabharata, link to Reading Guide Part D. 

Reading Notes: The Mahabharata Part C

I do believe the Mahabharata is harder to wrap my head around than the Ramayana. For this reason I have chose to focus in on the aspects of it that I enjoy reading.

What caught my eye is in the chapter is when Duryodhana encountered the Gandharvas's. Duryodhana was captured and taken as a prisoner. When news got to the Pandavas brothers they went and fought the Gandharvas's until they released the prisoners which included Duryodhana. Duryodhana was embarrassed and soon after wanted to end his life. I just thought this was a very dramatic scene. Duryodhana was taking a parade to go see the Pandavas in misery, and it turned out that they helped him greatly. I feel like I can write a story based of this. For my idea I would have it involve two families. In one family there would be a proud mother who is constantly bragging on her children. I would have this mother be the aunt to the kids in the other family. This aunt would constantly hate on these kids and think that they are nothing compared to her little angels. Until one day the aunt gets in horrible car crash and gets paralyzed. Then, instead of her own kids it would be her nieces and nephews that would help her. She would soon realize how at fault she is and feel so guilty that she would just want to commit suicide. That is just one idea.

Just as in the Ramayana, Jayadratha abducted Draupadi into his chariot when she was unguarded in the forest. Then what caught me off guard is that Jayadratha is already married to someone! Like where is his wife?? For this story idea I was thinking of basing it off of a movie called "Along Came Polly". This movie is about a guy catching his wife cheating on him on their honeymoon. I was thinking to reverse the roles. Meaning, I would have a guy go on a honeymoon with his new bride. However, while he is there he starts to fall in love with another woman. He is aware that this woman is also married but does not care. He makes the woman fall in love with him, and runs away with her. The woman's husband soon comes and find them and beats the man up. The man is left beaten and alone, and has nothing better than to run back to his wife.

The Mahabharata has a lot of room to come up with ideas which is what I really like about it. I am not sure if I will stick with either one of these idea but this is what I think I am going to do for now.

Jayadratha

(Source: Wikimedia)

Bibliography:

The Mahabharata, link to Reading Guide Part C