Hello! My name is Rajiv and I moved to
New York from the great land of
India about five years ago. In order to make ends meet, I have taken a
job at a local coffee shop while the manager, Gunther, takes some time
off. This coffee shop has A LOT of regulars and I've become close with
many of them, and with six of them in particular.
There's
Monica and Chandler
who are married. Monica is a chef and a complete neat freak and
Chandler...well, nobody really knows what Chandler does. Ross and
Rachel used to date but now they are just "friends." I think they'll
end up together. Ross is a paleontology professor at NYU and Rachel
works at Ralph Lauren. Then there's Phoebe who has been on her own
since she was fifteen and works as a masseuse. And last but not least,
there's Joey, an actor whose only real job was on the soap opera Days
of
Our Lives.
I feel like
I have much wisdom
to pass on and find myself eavesdropping on them in order to do so. I
think they might find it strange that usually the advice I give is
within the context of an Indian Epic, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata,
but those are the stories I know and I think they are still very
applicable today.
Some of the
most interesting
stories from the epics involve the Demons, or as we call them in India,
Rakshasas. The Rakshasas are a very diverse group of evil spirits. Some
are better than others and some have acquired different gifts, or
boons, from the gods. There are so many demons in both the Ramayana and
the Mahabharata that the lessons I can teach are endless. The stories I
have included in this storybook are just a few of the stories that I
have found to be the most meaningful. The four Rakshasa stories I have
chosen to tell you about are from the Ramayana because there are many
more of them in that story. I selected conversations that I had with
the friends that I felt taught some of the best lessons.
The first
one is about the most well known and probably most evil of these
Rakshasas is Ravana,
the last chief of the Rakshasas and ruler of the land of Lanka. I'm
always
telling Joey Ravana's story because he just never seems to learn that
he needs to settle down with just one woman. Ravana is a prime example
of how coveting every beautiful woman can have quite the negative
effect on one's life.
Ravana has
an evil sister
named Surpanakha who got herself into some trouble with prince Rama.
She fell in love with him when he was already married and tried to tear
him away from his wonderful wife. That story came in handy when Monica
was worried Chandler could be cheating on her.
Then
there's Maricha's story.
You see, Maricha was able to assume the shape of different beings in
order to deceive those around him. I continually remind Rachel of this
story because she is very easily distracted by pretty things that end
up hurting her, or her bank account.
I was also
able to use
Vhiradha's story when Phoebe was asked out by this really sloppy man in
her building. Vhiradha was a Gandharva who was forced to live the
disgusting life of a demon. Underneath all of that he was actually a
very beautiful person!
Oh, sorry,
I've got to go.
Joey just walked in and he's always got drama in his life! I wonder
which Demon story I will need to tell him today!
Central Perk Source: Freewebs