Week 7 Story: Meet the Parents

(Image: Rama breaks Shiva's Bow Source: New Indian Express)

Portfolio Story

(Author's Note: When I read through the Ramayana for the first time, I was especially impressed with the love story between Rama and Sita. The Ramayana is, at its core, a romance. I think that Rama and Sita's romance holds (and may have established) many hallmarks of the modern romantic story. I also think the fact that they both happen to be god-avatars is really amusing. I've decided to write a few stories about their romance in the lense of a romantic comedy. This particular story focuses on the bow breaking competition.)

Rama was exactly the type of guy you would want to bring home to your parents. He was the avatar of the god, Vishnu, who everyone agreed was the most chill god in the Hindu pantheon. He was the heir apparent to the kingdom of Ayodhya– his father dominated the social circles in the area. Not only was he a prince, but he was flush with cash and fame as well. Sita was convinced that her parents would find Rama polite, religious but not too religious (if there was such a thing), and just the right shade of blue. 

Sita was hopelessly in love with Rama because they had so many things in common. They both were inhabited by famed Indian deities (which was a fact that she never really knew how to bring up to potential suitors). They both had a proclivity towards bedazzled arm jewelry, and they were both poster children for dharmic living. And they'd known each other for almost a whole day– it was time to get married.  

Only one thing stood between Sita and Rama's eternal love: Sita's father was a bit of a traditionalist. He had this enormous bow that he kept on his mantlepiece. It belonged to the god Shiva, and it was a treasured family heirloom. Janaka, Sita's father, refused to let her marry any man too chicken to bend the bow of the "Supreme Destroyer of Evil." Sita had seen a menagerie of buff warriors and sultans try to bend the bow, but they'd all failed to win her hand. The bow itself was so big that it took an eight-wheeled chariot just to drag the thing into her father's throne room. Sita was starting to suspect that her father was trying to keep her from flying the coop with this impossible challenge. 

She was finally confident that her suitor would be able to bend the bow. Rama had arms like aircraft carriers; the bangles around his biceps were so big they were roughly the circumference of a chariot wheel. 

Her father called for the servants to bring out the bow. The bow itself stood taller than a man. It was garnet red, banded with gold, and incised with complex religious scrollwork. It was a beautiful creation, much treasured by her father. Rama lifted it up and strung it. Sita thought that he looked a little overconfident, almost smug. Rama finished stringing the bow, flashed a smile at Sita, then pulled. He yanked the thing pretty hard; Sita saw the bow bend into a great U shape, she looked away, and she heard the sound of a thunderclap as the bow broke in two. 

Sita was mortified. She'd dated this guy for 24 hours, and he'd already destroyed a priceless family artifact. She could see that Rama was embarrassed, his face trading blue for red. All eyes in the throne room turned to her father. Janaka's mouth was wide open, but he quickly gathered himself. Sita was sure that he would have his guards escort Rama from the throne room, but to her surprise, he began to slow clap dramatically. Eventually, everyone in the throne room was clapping and shouting. Her father was loudly giving Rama his blessing to marry her. 

Sita breathed a sigh of relief and stepped over the broken halves of Shiva's bow to stand with her husband-to-be. 

http://ouocblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/pde-ramayana-breaking-shivas-bow.html