Rama stepped down the steps off the jet, his brother Lakshmana chasing behind him and their guide in this city, Vishvamitra leading the way to the Limo. Rama had been sent by his father to help finalize a deal for Vishvamitra’s company. Vishvamitra had gone to Rama’s father to ask for help and since he knew Rama was quickly becoming well known in the business world, he beseeched Rama’s father to send his son to help. Rama’s father was hesitant at first and asked if he could send someone else but Vishvamitra insisted and so Rama’s father acquiesced after Rama himself told his father he was willing to go. This exchange was overheard by Rama’s brother, Lakshmana who asked if he could go as well to gain experience and both Rama and their father were fine with it.
The trio of the brothers and their current guide climbed into the limousine, which drove them deep into the center of the city of Mithila and parked in front of the skyscraper where their meeting was to take place. The brothers were led by Vishvamitra into the building and up the elevator to the 55th floor and into a conference room where the president of the other company, Janaka was waiting for them with two of his assistants.
The discussion started quickly with charts being presented and little details being debated, but Rama smiled through the whole exchange and Janaka grew fond of him very quickly. The two discussed the finer details of the aforementioned business deal and Rama was able to convince Janaka to accept the original terms that Vishvamitra had proposed. After the deal was finalized and the documents signed, Rama and Lakshmana asked Vishvamitra if they could wander around the city a bit and Vishvamitra said that would be no problem. He offered them his driver but the brothers insisted on just taking an Uber.
The brothers rode into the center of downtown and after getting out of their ride, they quickly made their way into the garden center, one of the town’s many popular tourist spots. Rama and his brother wandered around the glorious garden’s taking in and observing the many different colorful flowers and arrangements. As the brothers walked around, the others that observed them whispered amongst one another asking who these young men dressed in such expensive suits were.
While the brothers were looking at a collection of orchids, Rama overheard the voice of a young woman and he found himself almost instantly smitten with just her voice. He turned around and was met with the sight of a beautiful woman dressed in a flowing dress of many colors, accompanied by several other young women. He asked her for her name and she that it was “Sita.”
“Oh Sita, would you please let me take you out this very night,” Rama asked. Sita said that her father, Janaka had to approve of all her suitors before he would allow Sita to go out and so she gave Rama her number and the two separated. The brothers returned back to the hotel where they were to meet Vishvamitra. On the way there, though Rama received a phone call from Sita inviting him to her father’s house to meet him and share a meal. Rama asked if his brother and Vishvamitra could come along and Sita said that was fine. So Rama shared the news with his brother and Vishvamitra and the three of them set forth to visit Sita’s father. Though they did not know it yet, Sita’s father was the very Janaka they had spoken with earlier that day.
Author's note: I've been having fun with modern retellings and so I thought I'd stick with it some more. I took one of the first scenes we find in the Ramayana and tried to superimpose it over some modern events and culture. I left the names of people and places the same for stylistic effect but it kind of seems out of place looking back on it. Oh well. It sticks mostly to the original source material with only a few slight deviations.
Bibliography: Divine Archer, F.J. Gould
(The breaking of the Bow of Janaka, wikimedia commons)
I think this story works well when you consider how modernized India has become. A business trip/meeting is probably the closest one can get to the events of the Ramayana in modern times. I think you did a good job of integrating a modern setting and the events and characters of the original story. Perhaps Rama's father's company and the exact purpose of the trip could be given quick overviews.
ReplyDelete