Week 5: Storytelling "The epics of the Game of Dice"

Preview to the Dice Game

Shakuni jumps up and down in excitement as a a light bulb idea pops up into his head. "I have the most clever idea. This idea has surpassed all of my other ideas." Duryodhana becomes fearful because he has been an accomplice in every single one of Shakuni's evil ideas. But Duryodhana knew that this idea could  potentially be the one to change someone's life. Duryodhana looks at Shakuni and hesitantly asks him what his master plan was. Shakuni puts his hand on Duryodhana's shoulder and tells him to take a deep breath and to prepare himself. "My master plan is to play a game of dice," says Shakuni. Duryodhana looks at him puzzled and a tad bit relieved that he just thought of a game of dice. Duryodhana was horrible at playing dice, so he figured that he could sit out on this round of ideas. But then once Duryodhana started to register in his mind what Shakuni just told him, he began to laugh in his face. "What on earth made you think of a game of dice, are you out of your mind," Duryodhana says. "Actually, I am in my right state of mind. I know exactly what I am doing. Everyone around town , knows that I am the master of the dice. I can't lose! I know I will be able to beat the Pandava's and in exchange for beating them, I want total control over the kingdom and also control over them." Duryodhana started to realize that the game of dice was a front for Shakuni to take over the kingdom. He knew that there was a rivalry between Shakuni and the Pandavas, but he never knew that he would make them gamble the kingdom in exchange for having complete power. "What exactly do you wish to accomplish by playing this game of dice. You know that the game is strictly based off of luck. If you are lucky enough to win, if you are dumb enough to continue to lose," implied Duryodhana. Before Duryodhana could continue, he was interrupted by Shakuni's devilish laugh. "The fact that you are questioning me, is absurd to me. I cannot believe that you would not just agree to my idea and ask questions later. This makes me question where your loyalty is with me. Can I trust you to not, speak about the intentions of my plan, or will I have to watch my back. Regardless, of if you like my plan or not. It will happen really soon!", Shakuni says and makes a dramatic exit after his speech.  

(To be continued)   

Author's Note: I wanted to start this weeks reading off with talking about the Dice Game. I think that the dice game plays an intricate part in the story, and it was also one of the most interesting parts of the book that I read. I think that I have heard a little bit about the dice game in a previous class,  but we didn’t really spend a lot of time talking about what it was and the reason behind the game. I think that for the weeks to come I can build more on the climax of the game which would hopefully keep my readers intrigued.  

Bibliography: 

Title: The Mahabharata: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic Author: R. K. Narayan Year: 1978