Storytelling Week 10: A Telling of Tales in Gryffindor Tower



"Lava and Kishu engage in battle with Lakshmana"
Image Source: Wikipedia

It was a snowy winter evening and everyone was returning to their respective common rooms after dinner. It was a tiring day for the Patil twins. They had spent their entire Saturday in the little town of Hogsmead which lies within walking distance from the castle. They made their way up to the Gryffindor common room and after changing their clothes for more comfortable pajamas they went to sit in the big red armchairs nearest the warm flame.

In the chairs across from them sat Harry and Ron. It seemed as though they were discussing children's tales from both the magical and non-magical world. This piqued their interest and both Padma and Parvati looked at each other with a small smile. They've had their fair share of epic stories told to them since they were small children.

"...But you must have heard about Babbitty Rabbity and her Cackling Stump! That one was one of my favorites from the Beedle and the Bard. Mum used to read that book every night. I mean when I was a little kid of course!" Ron blushed slightly at the last remark.

"I haven't heard of that story. Hardly any to be honest. Just whatever I heard in grade school. Muggles have this book of tales by the Grimm brothers. And of course my aunt and uncle weren't going to read me stories. They liked to pretend I didn't exist at all," Harry said with a smirk.

"I bet you boys have never heard about the sons of Rama, Luv and Kush," the twins interjected in unison.

"Who asked you, Patil! We were having a private conversation!" Ron huffed and looked away.

"Don't get your wand in a knot, Weasley. You were speaking loud enough that I'm sure that we could be heard up in the dormitories!" Padma rolled her eyes.

"Are these magical tales?" Harry asked with curiosity.

"No, these are just traditional Indian epics that play a huge part in our culture. Padma and I would listen to them since we were small. As a matter of fact, our Mum sent us a few books that contain a collection of the stories. Of course our favorite involves a pair of twin brothers for obvious reasons." Parvati smiled at Harry after shooting Ron an annoyed glance.

"Go on! Let's hear it then!" Ron muttered under his breath.

"Okay, well, there was a king named Rama, who ruled over the kingdom of Ayodhya. All his subjects were very happy and prosperous under his rule. He was a gracious king who always sought to fix problems that any one of his subjects may have. He had a lovely wife named Sita, who ruled at his side."

As Padma began the story more and more of the occupants in the room began to listen attentively, some even coming closer to the twins and sitting on the huge rug by the fireplace.

"One day one of Rama's men came to report something that he had heard while on patrol. He heard a man berate his wife and state that he could never be a fool like Rama and allow his wife to stay after she had lived with another man. This news troubled Rama. Did his subjects see him as a fool? Should he send his wife away into exile even though she was to give birth soon? He decided that it would be for the best interest of his subjects and sent his brother Laxmana to take Sita far away. Laxmana did as he was told with a heavy heart. Sita eventually found her way through the jungle to a hermitage occupied by a man named Maharshi Valmiki. He took her in and she lived peacefully. Here she gave birth to Rama's twin sons, Luv and Kush. Maharshi Valmiki educated them to the best of his ability. They grew up incredibly strong and healthy. Maharshi Valmiki told the twins of all the adventures of Rama since they could speak, of course without revealing that their mother Sita played a large role in many of these tales. Instead they replaced her name with 'Vaidehi' since Sita is from a place called Videha. After hearing that Rama sent his wife into exile only because of some town gossip, the twins grew sad and always wondered what happened to this poor woman.

One particular day, the twins captured a pristine white horse that belonged to Rama. This horse was to be used for the very important horse sacrifice that took place every year. Laxmana saw the horse and demanded the twins return it at once. After they argued back and forth, a group of Rama's men confronted the twins in battle and clearly Kush and Luv were the victors. Rama then sent Laxmana to personally battle them. Laxmana fell to Luv and Kush's bow and arrows. Eventually, filled with curiosity, Rama went to see for himself these children who could defeat so many men. Once the twins were in front of Rama he demanded to know who their parents were. Kush and Luv only spoke of their mother, Sita. Rama blanched at the name and asked the twins to lead them back to their mother. He could not believe it! Right in front of him was his wife. The wife he sent away because of mere gossip. Humbled, he realized that these incredible twin boys were his own sons. He begged Sita to forgive him, but she was overcome with humiliation and grief and pleaded with Mother Earth to take her back into the Earth from which she was born. Saddened yet pleased to have met his sons, Rama took them back with him to Ayodhya to take their place as princes of the land."

Everyone in the room looked as though they were hanging onto every word that came out of Padma's lips.

"Bloody hell, that was alright!" Ron said sheepishly.

Padma and Parvati were flocked with questions from the other students about all the tales they knew. It was a very good way to end their night to say the least.


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Author's Note:
Phew! I had been playing around with the idea of the Patil twins kind of being storytellers and decided to use a comic book to bring it together. Of course the tale of Rama's twin sons has a little more detail in it but in order to meet the word limit (I finished at 999 words!) I had to kind of make to where I didn't delve into a lot of detail. Some things in the original tale also had a lot of background information as we all know. It was very difficult for me to try to do the story they were telling any sort of justice all while keeping the integrity of the plot. There is a lot more dialogue between the characters which makes gives the story more depth. The comic is most definitely worth the read and will give you another look at what became of Rama's twin sons other than what told in the Ramayana. I personally read the condensed modern version by Narayan and it didn't go into very much detail pertaining to the twins after Sita's exile.  Or, I should say, as much as I would have liked.

I based this story of a comic book that can be found in the Bizzell!

The Sons of Rama: Luv and Kush -- The Invincible Twins (Volume 503) by Amar Chitra