Week Eleven: Storytelling: The Great Escape

“Alright dear, it’s time for bed now.”

“Ah, but mom, I don’t want to go to sleep yet!”

“I’ll make you a deal. You go to bed without arguing and I’ll tell you a bedtime story, okay?”

“Oh, yay! Will you tell the one about the Great Escape?

“Sure, honey. Let’s get you tucked in first.”

“Alright, mama.”

“Now then, this story began a long, long time ago. Once upon a time, in our beautiful Indian homeland, two brothers began to build their families. One brother had one hundred sons, while the other had just five. However, these five sons went on to be exceptionally well trained in various battle techniques, while the one hundred brothers remained average in every way. The five brothers, who came to be known as the Pandavas, were staying in a guest house of their cousins when they discovered an evil plot being hatched against them! The Pandavas’s cousins, Duryodhana and Dushasana, had hired a treacherous man to build a fire trap underneath their guesthouse! The Pandavas were horrified at their cousins’ trickery and jealousy! Their cousins had always been envious of the Pandavas battle skills, but it wasn’t the Pandavas fault! Their father had hired a teacher for them and he had spent many months training them. The Pandavas didn’t feel it was fair to compete among family, either. After all, this can only lead to harsh feelings and one should always value love above pride—especially concerning your family!”

“Mama, what happened next? Did they get away from the fire?”

“Oh, sorry sweetheart. Yes, they did not get caught in the fire. They made a secret tunnel underneath the house so that they could escape when the time was right, with some help of course. Then, Bhima set fire to the house himself, while the man responsible for building the original fire trap was still inside. However, they had to find a way to ensure that their wretched cousins believed the Pandavas to have died in the house fire. In order to achieve this, the Pandavas placed six dead bodies—“

“Eww! That’s gross, mama!”

“Haha, I agree, honey. But it had to be done. There were six—one for each of the Pandavas and one for their wife, Draupadi, who had been staying with them in the guesthouse. The six of them escaped using the tunnel they had planned previously and went into hiding, each of them wishing they knew how to repair the hole is their hearts, left by their cousins’ lack of love. What did we learn from this story?”

“That jealousy is bad and I should be nice to my cousins.”

“Right, that’s a very important lesson, you know. Get some sleep, dear. Good night.”
“Good night, mama. I love you.”
“I love you, too.”

Author's Note: I chose to write this story because I thought it would be interesting to make the life lesson I found in it more clear, which you often see in bedtime stories. I liked the idea of a nurturing mother putting her child to bed with this story. I included the remark about their "Indian homeland" because I think it is important to continue honoring and practicing your culture, even if you move elsewhere, so the idea of the mother being from India and telling traditional Indian Hindu stories to her son was perfect for me. I did not change anything in the story. But I did leave out some unnecessary details, such as names of less important characters, why the Pandavas were staying in the guesthouse, and where they went after escaping. I felt taking out these details made the story more kid-friendly. My main goal was simply to try out the bedtime storytelling style and see if I could make this story a good children's story.

Image Information: DailyMail

Bibliography:Buck, William (1973). Mahabharata