"Okay
children. Come sit down and I'll tell you a bedtime story." said the
Grandfather to his grandchildren.
“But
grandpa you always tell a story. I want to watch a movie. Let’s watch a movie
instead. I want to watch Mulan” said Priya.
“Back
in my day they didn’t have those fancy DVD players to watch Disney movies on all
day so we’re going to have a story instead of you rotting your brains out in
front of the TV.” the grandfather replied. The grandchildren groaned but still
listened as he started the story. “Now I will continue where I left off last
time with the story of how the Pandavas came into being. A long time ago there
was a kingdom with three brothers. The oldest was Dhristarshtra the king who
ruled in name only, the second son was Pandu the beloved son and the one who
ran the kingdom, and the third son was Vidura who helped Pandu rule the
kingdom. Now one day the Pandu decided to go on a hunting trip through the
forest with his two wives, and while there he accidently shot two people while
they were making babies.”
At
this point Samir interrupts and says, “Grandpa how are babies made?”
To
which the grandfather replied, “Ask you parents later.” Then he continued with
the story, “While dying the man cursed Pandu and said he would die while making
babies. This of course meant that Pandu could not make children himself, but he
was in luck his wife Kunti could summon any god she chose and make a baby with
him.”
Priya
interrupted and said, “In Mulan Mushu can summon the Great Stone Dragon.”
The
grandfather ignored her and went on, “Kunti first summoned the god Yama, and
birthed Yudhishthir who would become known for his virtue and patience.”
“Well
Mulan became known for kicking some Hun but.” Samir interrupted.
“The
second god Kunti summoned was Vayu Dev, and that son was named Bheem he became
known for being strong and fast.” said the grandfather.
Then
Priya said, “Yeah well Mulan is swift as a coursing river, with all the force
of a great typhoon, with all the strength of a raging fire, and she’s
mysterious like the dark side of the moon.”
The
grandfather glared at them and then continued on, “Indra was the thir god
summoned, and from him Arjun was born and he became known for being the
greatest warrior that the world had ever seen.”
Samir
promptly corrected, “No grandfather. Mulan is the greatest warrior the world
has ever seen. She almost single handedly defeated the Huns. She even got a
sword from the emperor so the world would know what she had done for China.”
The
grandfather sighed in exasperation and said, “Fine you win we’ll watch Mulan.”
The children cheered and ran to the TV to start
watching.
Author's Note:
In this story this is how the original plot line goes for the Mahabharata, and I just added some Mulan references in there. I chose to add all these Mulan references in there because I was watching Mulan right before I did, and I thought it would be fun to try and mix these two together.
Bibliography:
Mulan movie by Disney
Mulan defeating the huns
Hi Trishna!
ReplyDeleteI thought this was a really fun story! I think you perfectly captured the nature of small children's interactions with their grandparents. I also liked that you managed to have three stories going at once (the summary of Mulan, the summary of the Mahabharata, and the interaction between the children and the grandfather). Well done and I look forward to reading more in the future.
-Elizabeth
Interesting story! I think the addition of the kids was really cute, and it actually helped emphasize the similarities between the heroism of Mulan and the characters in the Mahabharata. I think in a way, you unknowingly melded stories from two different cultures, which is neat! I like how the story could be set in a modern time frame. There are a few strange grammatical errors, but nothing that takes away from understanding the story.
ReplyDeleteWow, Trishna! I found your story absolutely interesting. The fact that you included small children in the story made it much more light-hearted in nature, and made it very easy and relatable to read. The fact that you incorporated both Mulan and the Mahabharatha into this one story was very creative, as well - it helps the story reach out to people who may not have had as much exposure with the characters of the Mahabharatha. Overall, great work, and I look forward to reading more of your work!
ReplyDeleteHi Trishna! I really enjoyed this story! The idea of adding children to the tale is great and I think you did a very good job in doing so. I like that it is very light-hearted, I often try to do the same thing with my stories. This may be my favorite story that I have read this semester soley because you included Mulan. I absolutely love that movie and the quotes from the movie that you included had me laughing and now the songs are stuck in my head. Great story!
ReplyDeleteHi, Trishna!
ReplyDeleteOh, this story is so cute! I like the idea of some grandfather trying to tell a story, like the Mahabharata, to his uninterested grandchildren. This also highlights the similarities of heroes of many stories, and that even little kids can pick up on these things (albeit because they just want to watch Disney movies). Maybe with any luck when they get older, they will be more interested in hearing the story of the Mahabharata. Great story! Super cute!~
Hi Trishna!
ReplyDeleteThis story is adorable! Poor Grandpa, constantly getting interrupted. I love the way you threw in the 'how are babies made.' This story was really funny, and you did an excellent job of finding a Mulan reference to counteract anything the Grandpa could come up with. The whole story was just very charming, sweet, funny, and clever. Really excellent.