Reading Notes, Tiny Tales from the Ramayana, Part B

     For the second reading of the week, I also read Tiny Tales from the Ramayana, by Laura Gibbs. The second part of the reading was mostly about Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana's exile and some information about other background characters that aid Rama in defeating Ravana. I felt like this part was a good example of rising action in a story so I focused more on the plotline for this note-taking.

(Rama and Sita, a picture created by schroederbear and posted on Deviant Art)

Part B - Tiny Tales from the Ramayana 

Exposition: 

All the readings from part A would be included in the exposition, as well as the end of part B. At the end of part B, they introduce Sugriva and Hanuman, who are important in helping defeat Ravana. 

Rising Action:

1. Kaikeyi demands her two boons from the king and uses them to exile Rama and put her son as king. Nobody wants this, and the king dies from sorrow, leaving Kaikeyi's son Bharata to rule. Bharata refuses, and only rules as regent until Rama returns from exile. 

2. Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana begin their exile. Lakshmana's wife ends up agreeing to sleep for him so he can protect his brother and brother's wife, so she sleeps day and night with Lakshmana is exiled. 

3. The exiles roam the forest learning from rishi, great yogis, or sages, along the way. 

4. Ravana's sister wants to marry Rama and tries to kill Sita to get him. Lakshmana mutilates her, which caused some of Ravana's heads to fall off, to defend Sita. Ravana learns of this and vows to take Rama's wife as his own for revenge. 

5. Ravana lures Rama and Lakshmana away and kidnaps Sita. 

6. Hanuman and Sugriva see Sita being kidnapped by Ravana and pick up one of the jewelry pieces Sita had dropped the create a trail. 

This was the end of part B, but one thing I especially liked about how this story was written was the small stories dispersed throughout the story that were either to provide background information or just to tell a story with a lesson attached. It added more to the lore of the Ramayana. 

Bibliography 

Gibbs, L. (2020). Tiny Tales from the Ramayana.