Life is hard being a rakshasa. It is especially hard when you’re a girl.
My name is Hidimbi and I'm just your average rakshasa. All I’ve ever wanted is to be normal. None of the good men are rakshasa men! It’s honestly not fair at all. How am I ever supposed to find a man worthy of my love when all of the best ones want to kill me!?
They all wanted to kill me…or so I thought.
My perspective changed when one day I was on a mission to slay the Pandavas. They are all great men, but I would be in so much trouble if I didn’t comply. So I was going to do my thing and end them.
However, my plans were cut short when I was struck by the love god. This changed everything.
I knew from that moment that I was making a huge mistake. Bhima and I belonged together and I had the perfect opportunity! I knew what I needed to do. I approached Bhima, ready to profess my love and my plan for us to run away together.
…but then there was another change of plans.
They all wanted to kill me…or so I thought.
My perspective changed when one day I was on a mission to slay the Pandavas. They are all great men, but I would be in so much trouble if I didn’t comply. So I was going to do my thing and end them.
However, my plans were cut short when I was struck by the love god. This changed everything.
I knew from that moment that I was making a huge mistake. Bhima and I belonged together and I had the perfect opportunity! I knew what I needed to do. I approached Bhima, ready to profess my love and my plan for us to run away together.
…but then there was another change of plans.
My brother is the chieftain of the rakshasas. He’s a huge deal. We aren’t very close, but he always feels like he has to keep me in line. It’s kind of annoying, but I think the title just goes to his head.
Anyways.
My brother came out of nowhere and knocked Bhima to the ground.
“Go keep watch!” my brother yelled. I knew I had to obey.
Eventually the Pandavas came to where I was stationed. I explained my whole situation. They looked at me like I was crazy. I guess I can’t blame them…this situation wasn’t exactly ordinary.
I led them to the spot where my brother was fighting Bhima. I hated watching two men I loved engage in battle. I knew that either outcome would end in heartbreak for me.
Unfortunately, my brother was slain in this battle. I respect Bhima for the honorable fighter he is and I think of my brother often. His memory lives strong among the rakshasas.
With my brother slain, I didn’t want to return home. This only solidified my decision to commit to Bhima. Knowing what I had to do, I chased after him and his family. But Bhima turned and yelled at me, telling me to leave them alone.
Yeah, that hurt. But maybe he was right. How could a rakshasa girl like me expect to marry a man like him? Was I being crazy? Probably. But was I going to keep trying? Definitely.
Without giving myself time to talk myself out of it, I flung myself to the ground and wept at his mother’s feet. Using every ounce of adrenaline and insanity in my body, I told her why I deserved to be with Bhima and how I could benefit their family. Coming as a surprise to Kunti (and also myself), I made a pretty good argument.
That is when she knelt down and pat me on the head.
“Sweet child” she said, “my son would be most lucky to take your hand in marriage.”
I looked up to her sweet, smiling face. I absolutely couldn’t not believe my ears. I made her repeat herself and she chuckled at my dumbfounded face. I was a little embarrassed, but that was far outshined by the amount of joy in my heart.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how I got to marry my best friend. We have lived “happily ever after” and all that. I can’t imagine my life without him of our darling son.
Anyways.
My brother came out of nowhere and knocked Bhima to the ground.
“Go keep watch!” my brother yelled. I knew I had to obey.
Eventually the Pandavas came to where I was stationed. I explained my whole situation. They looked at me like I was crazy. I guess I can’t blame them…this situation wasn’t exactly ordinary.
I led them to the spot where my brother was fighting Bhima. I hated watching two men I loved engage in battle. I knew that either outcome would end in heartbreak for me.
Unfortunately, my brother was slain in this battle. I respect Bhima for the honorable fighter he is and I think of my brother often. His memory lives strong among the rakshasas.
With my brother slain, I didn’t want to return home. This only solidified my decision to commit to Bhima. Knowing what I had to do, I chased after him and his family. But Bhima turned and yelled at me, telling me to leave them alone.
Yeah, that hurt. But maybe he was right. How could a rakshasa girl like me expect to marry a man like him? Was I being crazy? Probably. But was I going to keep trying? Definitely.
Without giving myself time to talk myself out of it, I flung myself to the ground and wept at his mother’s feet. Using every ounce of adrenaline and insanity in my body, I told her why I deserved to be with Bhima and how I could benefit their family. Coming as a surprise to Kunti (and also myself), I made a pretty good argument.
That is when she knelt down and pat me on the head.
“Sweet child” she said, “my son would be most lucky to take your hand in marriage.”
I looked up to her sweet, smiling face. I absolutely couldn’t not believe my ears. I made her repeat herself and she chuckled at my dumbfounded face. I was a little embarrassed, but that was far outshined by the amount of joy in my heart.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how I got to marry my best friend. We have lived “happily ever after” and all that. I can’t imagine my life without him of our darling son.
Author's note: For this story, I used the scene "Bhima and Hidimbi" from the Public Domain Edition of The Mahabharata. The scene goes essentially the same way that I told it, only I changed it to be told from Hidimbi's point of view. I used this opportunity to make her character a little more stereotypically girly than she obviously would have been. Using the same storyline but changing the point of view was a fun challenge. It helped me think of the story from another view and it let me put some fun personality into it.
Bibliography: Bhima and Hidimbi
Wow! You are a really good writer! I was hooked! The very first sentence hooked me, and I didn't want to quit until I finished reading it. I loved how this was in the point-of-view of Hidimbi instead of Bhima, like we always hear or read of. The only thing I would like to add is that you should've written about Ghatotkacha, the son of Bhima and Hidimbi. It would've been interesting to read about because he is symbol of their love. Other than that, it was written very nicely. Good job!
ReplyDeleteI think you did a really good job on this story! I like how you decided to tell it from her point of view because sometimes I feel like we never see the other side as characters. We just see them as the enemy and commit to that idea. The only thing I was confused about was Hidimbi's relationship with her brother. It was said at first that she wasn't close to him but then later that she loved him. But other than that, I loved reading your story! Great job!
ReplyDeleteChanging the point of view is always a great way to get into a story! They say there are two sides to every story, but I'm pretty sure there's a side for everyone in the story right? The story made her seem like Rakshasha too. I really only have male Rakshashas to compare her to, and Shurpanakha. So, compared to them she definitely fit the mold the stories had been using.
ReplyDeleteThe brother sister relationship felt almost high-school like, in a funny way. I'm assuming that's what you were going for. He was very over protective and loud. She was really annoyed but she knew he was in charge.
All in all it was pretty good.
This is such a great story! I'm thrilled you used this portion of the epic to base your story around. Bhima was my favorite character so to read a story involving him is great. I thought your perspective choice was fantastic in this and you did such a great job in capturing my sympathy for a rakshasa. This was such a fun read.
ReplyDeleteHello Bentleigh! This was a very interesting story! I liked the change up from the original story to where you had Hibimbi tell it. I also liked that you changed the story were there was a little bit more of family ties than the brother threating to eat her after the fight with Bhima. I think that alone gave it a much better loving vibe to the story!
ReplyDeleteI love your take on this story! I hadn't actually read it because it wasn't in the Narayan version, so it was really nice to get to know a new story! The way you wrote it I was able to follow along without knowing the background which was nice! I also love the change in point of view to Hibimbi because I love getting to know characters that don't get a lot of voice in the original stories.
ReplyDeleteHi again Bentleigh! I really liked how you changed the perspective of this story to hers. We do not really get to see that in the original story so I enjoyed reading something different. It was really easy to follow and you made the story so cute. She would not stop fighting for her love and in the end she got what she deserved, Bhima.
ReplyDelete