Reading Diary B: Week 4

·       I don’t remember twelve years of marriage passing in the first version, maybe it mentioned it and maybe not but this book made it more interesting  I guess if I was surprised by this time lapse

·       Manthara is given more detail to her character as well as her image, which is apparently not so desirable. I thought it was interesting that Kaikeyi remembered a time when Rama was a child and accidentally hitting a play arrow at Manthara’s hump and contributed this to her ill will towards the crowning of Rama instead of the reasons Manthara gave at first

·       It still irks me that Kaikeyi thinks it is Dasartha that is trying to trap her into something awful and really she is being deceived with Manthara’s crazy talk

·       Dasartha seems so calm and easy going when he says to Kaikeyi he will grant her wishes – even after they are proclaimed only to get totally distraught later on – maybe because he did not actually think she would follow through with wanting those demands to be her wishes?

·       I found it interesting that more emphasis was put on Sumanthra’s sorrow for Rama’s exile and his declaration of hatred for Kaikeyi, and less emphasis on the king’s state of mind at this time

·       Where were the rains that came with Rama’s sadness?

·       The new character that is introduced to this epic, Guha, I found to be different. He told more of how death works and the process with the death god and dying through the retelling of his story, also we get to find out about the Kings gift of interpreting animal talk that Kaikeyi wanted to know the wisdom about and thus sent the king on a war within himself since he would die if he told a soul. (Also, we learn more of Jatayu and his friendship since he is the one who gave him this knowledge) I think Kaikeyi is the most selfish and deceiving of the queens and spoiled

·       The description of Chitrakuta Hill is very beautiful and made me think that I would choose living there instead of Ayodhya anyways, however I think anywhere that Rama is to stay is beautiful and equipped with all his needs..perhaps since he is a god? Also it is interesting that the city is barren of life and its splendor that it had once had when Rama was a resident as well

·       Sumanthra returns to the city and it has only been THREE days since Rama’s departure?? Seems like so much longer to me, time is really complicated in this story

·       I found it interesting that the king has gone blind after Rama left, and the parents of the boy he killed long ago were blind as well and the king contributes this incident as the reason for this crazy occurrence with Rama being taken from him.

·       I like it how Rama’s mother is still the true love of the king and he turns to her in counsel in his last night, instead of with another wife – mainly kaikeyi

·       Yama the death lord is a scary character, so sly and quick