Week 4 Story: Hanuman and Suvannamacha's Love Story
It all started when Rama was trying to cross the ocean to get to Lanka to rescue Sita from the evil hands of Ravana. The night when they were almost halfway through completing the bridge, sea monsters came up and destroyed the bridge. Rama told Hanuman that he would need to find out who was responsible for the attack. So, he told Hanuman to go to the underwater Kingdom of Nesha to speak to their mermaid queen, Queen Suvannamacha, to see if she has heard anything. Hanuman obeyed and left straight away. He stepped into the water and began to swim towards the bottom of the ocean where the castle sits. Later he would find out that as soon as he stepped into the water, Suvannamacha put a spell on the outside world. Hanuman finally reached the castle and found a merman guarding the entrance to the kingdom. Hanuman said, "I need to speak with Queen Suvannamacha." The merman obliged and took Hanuman to meet the queen. As soon as he gazed into Queen Suvannamacha's emerald, green eyes, he fell in love with her and knew that it was love at first sight.
He shrugged off his feelings and asked the queen if she knew who destroyed the bridge trying to reach Lanka. Suvannamacha guiltily said, "It was my people who destroyed the bridge. I had strict orders from Ravana, but since I like you so much, my people will help you rebuild. I only ask that you take a swim with me around the kingdom." "Of course. It would be no problem at all," explained Hanuman. "All right then. Let us be on our way," said Suvannamacha. The two of them took a swim around the kingdom, and Suvannamacha would point out some facts about her kingdom. On their swim, she confessed that she put a spell on the outside world which made all time stop. Hanuman was shocked and asked her why. She said, "Ever since you stepped foot into the water, I felt your presence and immediately fell in love with you and wanted you to become mine" Intrigued at what he had heard, Hanuman told Suvannamacha, "I felt the same way as soon as I saw your beautiful, emerald eyes." "Would you stay here and rule the kingdom beside me?" asked Suvannamacha. Hanuman contemplated but ultimately said, "I made a promise to help Rama rescue Sita." "You would not be breaking your promise because when you decide to leave, you can leave and time will resume as if you had never left," explained Suvannamacha. Hanuman agreed to stay, but he never forgot about Rama's mission.
Hanuman and Suvannamacha got married and ruled the Kingdom of Nesha together. Not long after, Suvannamacha became pregnant, and the whole kingdom threw a celebration. She gave birth to a beautiful baby boy and named him Macchanu. They enjoyed every moment together. Hanuman taught him how to shoot arrows and how to fight. Suvannamacha taught Macchanu all of the royal duties. All the while, Hanuman never forgot about the mission Rama sent him on. Years passed, and on the eve of Macchanu's 14th birthday, Hanuman and Suvannamacha sat down with Macchanu and told him of the mission Rama sent Hanuman on. Hanuman tells Macchanu that he has to go complete it tomorrow and that he would be leaving and may not come back for a long time. Macchanu was shocked. He then asked, "Can I come with you and help you on your mission?" Hanuman said, "You need to stay here and help your mother rule." Macchanu agreed, and the next day Hanuman and Suvannamacha's people left the kingdom to go back to Rama and help rebuild the bridge. Hanuman waved goodbye to his wife and son and swam to the surface along with Suvannamacha's people. Suvannamacha was devastated, but she was happy to have her son next to her. She and her son would rule the kingdom in his absence, all while hoping, that one day, Hanuman would return to her side once again.
Author's Note: This story originally started the same, but I wanted to change it into a love story. The storyline is relatively the same, but I added a lot of detail about what happened in the Kingdom of Nesha between Hanuman and Suvannamacha. I changed the duration of the story where Hanuman stayed in Nesha for about 15 years, while time stood still on the surface. Hanuman knew that his mission was important but since time was still, he decided to start a family. I left the ending kind of ambiguous, so that the readers are able to use their imagination to come up with an ending that they feel gives justice to the story. I hoped you liked my rendition of it.
Bibliography: Tiny Tales from the Ramayana, Laura Gibbs
Hi Krishna, I think you did a really great job with this story. The changes you made were well thought out and added a lot to the story. I enjoyed the way in which it is now a love story because I often find myself changing the stories I read into love stories as well. I think this would potentially make a really good storybook or portfolio thing.
ReplyDeleteHey Krishna, I think your story is really well told and I think the changes you made were very smart and creative. The details you included added a lot of depth to your version of the story. Overall, great job and I think this was very well thought out and your changes to the original were big enough to make this version definitively yours without impacting the original too much.
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