“Brother, we need to make it obvious to the people that I am just a interim ruler. That I have no desire whatsoever to take the throne from Rama. I know that people who weren’t present will think that I will try and steal the throne. I will do all in my power to make sure the people know that I am but a servant of Rama till he has fulfilled our father’s command,” said Bharata.
“You are correct Bharata. There will be people who believe you want the power of the crown. All you can do is be the kind of man that Rama knows you to be. There will be many struggles in the time before Rama can return. We will meet these challenges head on. We will make Rama proud. No one will question our devotion to seeing Rama on the throne, where he should be. We shall place his shoes on the throne as soon as we arrive home. They will stay on the throne until Rama removes them himself. We will also bow to the throne as if Rama was there when we enter,” said Shatrughna.
“Yes, we will make the unbelievers see that we are servants of Rama. We need to also make sure that everyone in the kingdom knows that just because Rama isn’t here, our kingdom is still not to be taken lightly. We will defeat any threats. We must be prepared for any outside threats. I worry that other kingdoms will seek to undermine our authority, and they will try to conquer us. I hope that the kingdom will be strong enough to endure these challenges,” said Bharata.
“Brother, you worry too much. We will be fine. You don’t have faith in our people. Yes there will be some that think you want power, but that is a very insignificant portion. Everyone else knows that you are here to serve Rama. All the outsiders that think we are weaker because we have a interim ruler are in for a sad realization. We will crush any opposition that comes against us,” said Shatrughna.
“You are right brother. We will cross those bridges when the time comes. There is one thing that we must do above all else, we must have the kingdom in better shape from when Rama left. This shall be our number one priority,” said Bharata.
Author’s Note- I decided to make up a dialogue that Bharata and Shatrughna may have had when they were coming back home from visiting Rama in his banishment. I thought it was important to show that Bharata wanted nothing more than to try and honor Rama. I think that Bharata wants to make Rama proud.
Bibliography- Buck, William (1976). Ramayana: King Rama's Way.
Family Photo. Source
I really enjoyed your story! Seeing just how Bharata felt about serving in Rama’s place was great. It is clear that he has no wish at all to take the throne from his brother. Which is a rare trait, for most stories. It is also clear that Bharata is very proud of his brother. I wish you would write about a moment when Rama returns and he gets to speak with Bharata for the first time!! I think that could be an interesting story to follow this one with.
ReplyDeleteI never even thought of this! I found it interesting to hear what Bharata is thinking. I just assumed that the entire town saw Rama deny his return until his exile was over. However, if anybody was absent during this discussion, they may think that Bharata simply wants the thrown. Kaikeyi has set her own son up for failure. This was really good insight. When doing a dialogue, try to think of other descriptive words instead of only using "said." But other then that, this is great work!
ReplyDeleteHello Shane! I really enjoyed your story! You did a wonderful job with dialogue and conveying Bharata’s thoughts and his outstanding loyalty to his brother! I really like how you managed to get inside of Bharata’s head. I love Bharata’s character. I feel like it is extremely rare to find someone so kind and loyal, especially when dealing with ruling a kingdom. His loyalty is admirable. Great job on your story! I look forward to reading more!
ReplyDeleteI like that you told this story because it is one that is not much discussed in the readings, however I do wish you had started it with a little bit of a preamble such as, "Bharata and Shratrugna were returning home when Bharata made this observation about their circumstances:" I also saw several places where you should have had the word "an" instead of "a."
ReplyDelete