That is it. I am done. I should NOT have to put up with this! I am Draupadi, the queen and wife of all five of the Pandavas. It is enough that I am forced to go by a fake name, serving a queen rather than being one myself. I will not accept this mistreatment any longer. Kichaka, the queen’s brother, has been harassing ever since my arrival here. What’s worse, the queen has done nothing to stop her brother’s advances! I do not know how she holds her head up high; I would feel such shame were my own family to act in such a disgraceful manner. Recently, Kichaka’s advances have increased in frequency and forcefulness. I worry what it will come to, if I don’t do something to scare him off soon. That is why I decided to discuss the matter with one of my husbands, Arjuna. I would have liked to seek out the protection of Bhima, but seeing as I would not have any husbands at all for protection if it were not for Arjuna, I felt it was only polite to ask for his assistance first.
“Draupadi, my wife, what is it? You know we are not supposed to see one another.”
“Yes, yes, I know. But, this is important. I need your help.”
“What is the matter?”
“Kichaka has been harassing me; I fear what will happen if his advances continue to progress sin the manner which they have so far. He recently tried to remove my sari as I walked down the hallway to my room! I don’t know what to do, Arjuna…”
“Did you discuss this matter with the queen, Kichaka is her brother, after all.”
“Yes, I tried to anyways. The queen would not even listen to me. She is always so jealous of me, this seemed to just add to her list of reasons for disliking me.”
“Well, what will you do?”
“Ugh! Well I had hoped my loving husband would find a way to protect me!”
“Oh, well… Uh… You know I do not like to cause unnecessary harm to anyone…”
“’Unnecessary?’ This is your wife’s honor we are talking about! What will people say if it gets out that I was exposed to another man?”
“You are married to five men, already, Draupadi… What difference does it make?”
“How could you!? Have you no sense of pride in your wife?”
And with that, the conversation between Arjuna and Draupadi was effectively ended. Having tried to go about things in the more polite manner, Draupadi now felt it was acceptable for her to request the help of Bhima. She would discuss matters with him tonight…
Author’s Note: I wrote this story because I wondered how the story would have been different had it been a different one of the Pandava’s helping Draupadi. However, I had a hard time imagining Arjuna actually handling things effectively, considering his commitment to avoiding cruelty. I knew that Arjuna was the one who won Draupadi’s hand in marriage in the first place, so it was logical from my point of view for her to feel an obligation to ask for his help first, despite her reluctance to do so. I like this story because it could easily be a small detail of the original, without actually changing how everything began or ended. I chose the
Bibliography:
Narayan, R. K. (1978). The Mahabharata.
(Image from Wikimedia)
Hello Val,
ReplyDeleteYou did a really good job with your story. I liked how you kept it mostly original by changing only a few details. Thank you for sharing your explanation of your story on why you chose Draupadi to seek help from Arjuna. It makes sense and it works out well.
Val,
ReplyDeletelet me just say YES. My storybook considers the mistreatment of women in Indian epics and I just finished my story on Draupadi. So I LOVE hearing another version of her trials. I liked how sassy you made her, that is how I saw her too. I focused on her disrobing and her previous life as Nalayuni, so it was lovely to read a tale of her in a later portion of her life. You did a really good job on this! I enjoyed the dialogue, I think it livened it up quite a bit.
Hey Val, I really like this story because it feels like it fits right in with the original! It certainly seems logical for Draupadi to seek Arjuna before anyone else, and it's a shame he reacted how he did! I didn't notice any mistakes in your writing and it flowed really well! I also like the image you chose to show Draupadi! Great job.
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