Week 6 Story: The River that Ganga Formed

Here is the link to my Portfolio Story 

“Let us feast!” shouted King Satanu.

King Satanu was the ruler of an ancient kingdom in India many centuries ago. There have been no records of what Kingdom he ruled, yet oral stories and ancient writings provide limited details on the life of King Satanu.

King Satanu had just married this beautiful woman named Ganga. They were throwing a spectacular party in celebration for their marriage. King Satanu and Ganga were joyful that evening. However, this elderly lady came to the kingdom asking for food. She saw the beautiful Ganga and went to her first.

“Oh beautiful lady, will you spare me some food please?” asked the elderly lady.

“Oh! Let me talk to my husband,” said Ganga.

“My King, my husband, can we spare the lady some food,” asked Ganga.

“Oh my sweet Ganga, you are kind, but this old woman asks for food on the day of our celebration. What a selfish old lady. She can eat with the pigs if she really wants food,” shouted King Satanu.

Everyone at the feast heard this and laughed alongside the king, everyone except Ganga.

“The old woman embarrassed and angered then cursed them.

“Oh Ganga and King Satanu, you both just wed, but your offspring will not live, for every offspring you have will drown in the water, just as you drown in your gluttony and selfishness,” exclaimed the elderly woman.

That statement quite angered the king.

“How dare you threaten a King you foolish hag!” said the King. “Kill her immediately guards.”

The elderly lady was then put to death.

The curse scared Ganga for she did not know if it was real.

A few months later Ganga found out she was pregnant.

“Oh, I can not wait for my child. If it is a boy he will be a fearless warrior. If it is a girl I hope she learns the art of dancing, nor would I complain if she became a warrior either,” thought Ganga.

One day as Ganga was walking along a pond she felt pains in her stomach. As she crouched down from the pain in front of the pond, she saw an image of the elderly lady laughing.

“The baby will be mine, it shall drown and be mine,” said the elderly lady.

Ganga then got up and ran back inside to her husband.

Ganga stated to Satanu, “I am scared for the well-being of our baby. I believe the curse is real for I just saw the elderly lady in the pond. Why were you so heartless? You should have gave that elderly lady the food,” stated Ganga.

The King thought Satanu was being a foolish and scared woman. He did not believe that the curse was real.

A few months later, Ganga gave birth to a baby boy. He had brown skin with black, curly hair. She wanted to show the baby to her family; therefore, a few weeks after giving birth she began traveling to her family who lived a few days away. However, on the way to her family she alongside the soldiers were attacked by bandits. Ganga began running as fast as she could while the soldiers were fighting the bandits. Ganga ran with all the might for she wanted her baby to live. She ran through a forest but stopped for she was lost and thirsty. She reluctantly stopped by a lake to get a drink of water. She placed her baby down by the tree and walked to the lake. As she began collecting water she heard an evil laugh.

“I see you are here to give me what I am owed,” sneered the evil lady’s reflection in the lake.

Ganga pleaded, “Oh please, leave me and my child alone. I am a mother who loves my child and will do anything for him. I am sorry you were denied food, but that was out of my control.”

“I shall never forgive you,” screamed the elderly lady.

The reflection of the elderly lady arose from the lake and quickly took Ganga’s baby and took it into the lake.

“My baby, my poor baby! Please do not take my child from me. He deserves to live. He did not harm to anyone, please take my life instead,” shouted Ganga.

Ganga then sat by the lake and began crying. Tears rained down her face, she cried for days and days endlessly. The tears Ganga cried flowed down the forest through the mountains through the kingdom forming what is now known as the Ganges River. Ganga was never seen again. It is said she went into the Ganges River she formed from her tears and if you bring a baby to the river you can see her reflection.
                                                                         
This is a picture of the water from StaticFlickr

Author's Note: I was inspired by the reading from the Mahabharata by R. K. Narayan. In the first few pages of the reading I enjoyed reading about Ganga and her husband Santanu. I was completely thrown off as to why she would drown her babies; and it was interesting as I was further reading why she did. I wanted to change the aspect Ganga though. I wanted to create a character who felt pain, but through her pain and loss formed something beautiful such as the Ganges River. I know the story does not have exciting and cheery, but another aspect I wanted to portray through this story is that not everyone is going to have a happy ending, even those who do not do wrong. 

Bibliography: R. K. Narayan, "Mahabharata"

Comments

  1. Hey Carlo! While it was sad, your story was really entertaining to read. I like how you put together a creative backstory to explain the formation of the Ganges River. There were also lessons in the story, which is something that I personally enjoy looking for when I read a new piece. I also thought it was interesting that you chose to make the villain of the tale an old woman, as the stereotype for an old woman being fragile and maternal definitely made her character all the more unsuspecting.

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  2. I really like the twist you put on this story. I liked that Ganga was not looked at as a bad person/god but as a caring mother. In the original it seemed like she just used King Santanu so that she could have Devavrata. The old woman was an awesome piece of the story to add. She was very creepy and made the story almost like a horror film. It was full of suspense.

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  3. Hi Carlo, I really enjoyed reading your story, The River that Ganga Formed. I feel bad for Ganga as she lost her baby. If I were the character Ganga I would probably not have been too happy with the author for writing this in the story that my baby was going to get taken. I enjoyed the way you worded the end though. It is very descriptive and flows nicely just as though a real river would. Loved reading your story again and look forward to reading more!

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  4. Hi Carlo!

    Wow, I really enjoyed your story, and I actually prefer this version over the original. I was also confused when Ganga drowned her babies, so this depiction is definitely more appealing to me. I liked how you somewhat made Ganga into a victim because she was not the one that wanted to deny food to the old lady, and yet, she suffered the most out of everyone.

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  5. Hey Carlo!
    This was such a bittersweet retelling of Ganga's story, and I really enjoyed how you made it your own. It seems the idea that rivers are caused by a woman's weeping and her tears after a loss is common in many traditional stories, and I love how you incorporated into Ganga's original story here. I find she seems like a very distant and aloof character in many of the stories, but you made her relatable. Just wanted to let you know: in line 13, I don't know if you meant to add a quotation mark at the beginning but it seems as if it's there by accident. Also, if you perhaps added a comma after 'woman' and 'angered' the sentence may flow a little better. I hope I get to see more of your writing!

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