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| Queen Kaikeyi and her servent Kooni |
Have you ever had a friend who is so beautiful but so daft? She is so pretty and has such a good heart that she does not see the knife aimed at her heart? That is my Queen Kaikeyi. She suffers from the affliction of beauty. You see she is King Dasaratha’s favorite wife. She is young enough to be his daughter, mind you. She saved the old sod and he granted her to requests, but I am getting ahead of myself. Let's start from the beginning.
My name is Kooni and unlike my beautiful queen, I am not. Around the palace I am called a freak because of my humpback. My nickname "Kooni" was given to me because of my humpback. People think that these people, these royals, are so noble and kind. They are wrong. Queen Kaikeyi, she was the only one to ever treat me as a human being and not some sort of freak. I was her favorite, you see. The favorite of the king's favorite. That had power.
I spent most of my days in Queen Kaikey's mansion. It was the only place I felt comfortable to be myself. I love looking out over her terrace and see the city. This particular day, I hobbled my way up to her terrace and looked over the city. I noticed there were lights being hung and flower garland chains being hung up. It wasn't a holiday or anything, not that I would be invited. Still, the queen had not said a word about any celebration and she was the king's favorite. She had the right to go.
It took me a good while to make it down to the city and even longer to find someone to tell me what was going on. There was a celebration for Rama. He was to be King Dasaratha's successor. Now that was troubling news. Remember how I told you the king was old enough to be Kaikeyi's father? In order for her father to agree to a marriage, the king told her father that he would make their son his successor. That means the Kaikeyi's son, Bharata, should be king, not Rama. No this would not do. I would not let the king swindle my queen out of her son's birthright. She would use her two wishes the king gave her to put Rama on the throne. I just have to find the right way to tell her.
Author's Note:
My story is about how Kooni convinces the king's favorite wife to use her two requests the king granted her (because she saved his life) to put her son on the throne. King Dasaratha had promised the father of Kaikeyi that he would put their son on the throne if he agreed to give her as his wife. When the king realizes that he is getting old, he decides to put Rama on the throne in his stead. He sends Bharata, the second eldest and son of Kaikey and Dasaratha, to see his grandfather. He tells his chief minister to basically invite everyone except for Kaikeyi's dad saying that their was no need to inform the relatives. Queen Kaikeyi is not aware of the deal the king made with her dad so when Kooni tells her the news, she is very happy. She sees Rama as her own son. Kooni poisons her mind, saying that Rama's mother would be all powerful and make her a handmaiden once Rama is king. Kaikeyi panics and asks Kooni what she should do. Kooni then reveals the deal the king made and tells her to use the two requests the king gave to send Rama into exile and put Bharata on the throne. I decided it would be fun to write the story on Kooni's point of view.
"Plans for Rama's Coronation" Narayan, R. K.. The Ramayana: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic web source
Hey Miriam! Woah, I love that you write your stories in first person! I've never thought of that and it makes it super interesting when you put it in first person because it gives a point of view that we have never seen before. I thought it was interesting that you used Kooni's point of view too, because we never saw what exactly was going through her mind while all this was happening. I wonder how Kooni ended up in the palace, like how did Kaikeyi pick her and why was she her favorite? Was it because she was really loyal or some other reason not mentioned? Also, I was thinking how the story would be different if told in someone else's point of view. Kaikeyi perhaps? Or what if Bharata was the one who first found out what was happening? Would Ram still have gone into exile / Would Kooni and Kaikeyi still be happy?
ReplyDeleteI really liked your story and the style of it!! Good luck on the rest :)
Hey Miriam!
ReplyDeleteI love your take on the story. It's awesome to read them from the point of view of a main character, instead of in 3rd person. It adds a touch of personalization and allows the reader to get invested into your character! Your writing style is easy to follow, concise, and to the point. Can't wait to read more of your stories through out the semester :)
Hi, Miriam! It is so nice to see a story in the first person. You do not see a lot of those kinds of stories in this class. I also like how you expanded on Kooni's personality in this story. It adds more to her than just the kind of grumpy, scheming person she was originally described as. Well done!
ReplyDeleteHi Miriam,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this story as well. Until I read your author's note I had completely forgotten who Kooni was. I like that you gave a her a voice and make her fiercely loyal in your story. If read in context with the original story it adds a lot of depth and layers to the situation. Great job!
-Elizabeth
Hi Miriam! I enjoyed this story because of your main character! You really developed the character well, and I feel writing this in her perspective was genius. I also enjoyed reading about the bond between kooni and the queen—this was different. My favorite part was the introduction when Kooni stops to talk about herself. This gave me an idea of who she really was. Great work!
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