Week 11: Storytelling "From the mind of Draupadi"

Lionel Richie

Entry Date: July 17th  

Time: 1:13 a.m. 

Dear Diary,   

Once, I had gotten married, I felt a certain type of security that my husband's would always be there to protect me. Not only was I married to the Pandava brothers, but I was also married to five worthy men of my love. To be married to five people that were my best friends, five men that were in tune with a different part of me, five men that I would potentially grow old with. I just knew that they had my best interest at heart and would never do anything to jeopardize my integrity or their name. That all changed last night when my husbands decided to play what I thought was a harmless game of dice. Last night tipped the Richter scale of intensity. I never knew that five men whose heartbeat matched mine would ever stoop down to such a level that was even beneath the devil himself. I never knew that I would think of my husbands in such a manner that was so low, it passed the graves of our ancestors. My husbands, who I looked at as being such men of distinction have shamed me as their wife and more importantly as a women. Although each one of my husbands were in on this trickery as a game of dice, my dearest husband Yudhishthira took it too far. Yudhishthira took it upon himself to offer me up as a payment of his debt because he had nothing else to lose. Oh the anger and humiliation that spurred throughout my flesh. The only thing I could think about was how my parents would react to this. I don’t know whether to scream or to remain silent as I ponder this. The most humiliating part is that I was stripped naked as if I was Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. In a room full of men, all I could hear were the snickering and laughter of the men who watched me as I was being unclothed. My husband’s just stood there helpless and ashamed as they could not do anything but stand there and watch. As I thought that this would be the end of my worries, I have now been advised that I am to pack my belongings and leave the place that I call home. I don’t know what I am to make of this. Apparently, my husbands have also bartered our home and we are sentenced to a life of destitute for twelve years. After all of this news, the only thing that I can think about is 'what would my father think of me now'. His own daughter, who was born of the fire, now a women destined for a life out in the forest. I do not know when I will be able to write again, so I shall write my last farewell. Farewell to the one thing that kept all of my secrets and never judge me, but was simply a place that I could express my inner thoughts. Farewell to the one thing that kept me sane in this crazy world I call home. Farewell Diary, Farewell!  

Sincerely,   

Draupadi (Girl on Fire) 

  

Author's Note:   

So this story might be a little familiar to you all because we read about it at the beginning of the semester. In the Palace of Illusions book, it talks about the dice game away everything that they have including their beloved wife Draupadi. I from the perspective of Draupadi. In the dice game, the Pandava brother gamble decided to continue with the diary style because I think that it is an easier and what she is dealing with. While I was reading the book, I felt that way to get across how Draupadi was feeling at the time. I think that by writing it as a diary entry, you can actually get a sense of who Draupadi is Draupadi was giving a very detailed reaction as to what was happening during the in real life or in a television show or a movie. Hope you enjoy the story dice game. I think that this was one of the few story's that were interesting to me because I could easily relate to something that would happen in real life. Also I feel that people have seen how bad a game of dice can get either because this is the last story for my portfolio for the semester.  

Bibliography:  

Book: Palace of Illusions   

Author: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni  

Link:  Palace of Illusions