Friday, February 21, 2020

Microfiction: Mahabharata Minis

6 Word Story


The Curse of Pandu
Here Lies Pandu
Loved to Death

(A Part 2)
Also Madri;
Couldn't Live Without Him

25 Word Story

Krishna Defends Draupadi's Dignity

Gambled away by her husband, Draupadi is dragged out and physically stripped in front of a crowd; by Krishna's power another sari appears on her.

Madri on Pandu's Pyre (Uncle Katha, link)

Author's Note:
I had a bunch of ideas for the 6 word story but the format really lent itself to an epitaph or tombstone. Thus, I abbreviated down the death of Pandu, who died making love to his wife Madri due to a curse placed on him by a celestial being, and then I included Madri's as well because she climbed onto his funeral pyre with him and died too. Tombstones don't really require a lot of detail, and the 6 word stories do not allow for much so I'm pleased with the way these turned out.

I was really thriving on the as-few-as-possible word count stories, so I next tried out the 25 word story. This was a very short version of Yudhishthira gambling away his brothers, himself, and finally their wife, who was indeed seized and stripped but prayed to Krishna to preserve her. This one was a little more difficult as I had to shuffle and adjust the words quite a few times to make a cohesive sentence but stay at 25 words.

Bibliography:
Narayan's Mahabharata Reading Guide, by Laura Gibbs (link)

2 comments:

  1. Hi Alana,
    I love that you made your six word story an epigraph. I would definitely do this on my next short story! I think it summed up well what happened. Pandu died making love , and Madri died because she loved Pandu and wanted to follow him.
    For your 25 word story, I think you made it work! For these stories, did they have to be one sentence because I think you could have split it up in two.
    Can't wait to see more of this!

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  2. Hey Alana,
    Super clever thinking with the epitaph idea for the micro-fiction, especially considering the story at hand. I really liked Pandu's, it had a perfect flow and terseness. I feel like Madri's might be able to be slightly reworded, I'm not a big fan of the contraction, and think the flow of language is a big factor in the power of micro-fictions.
    Looking forward to seeing more of your work!

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