It was almost closing time on
Friday,
when I noticed Rachel had come into the coffee shop. She had quite a
few
shopping bags in her hand, as she does almost every Friday because it's
payday. The next day, like every Saturday, she complained about how the
store windows had lured her in and she couldn't help but go in and
spend
money.
I can always tell she wants to stop, but just doesn't know how. I
thought
it was time for a story from the epics to scare her into quitting. :)
"Hey Rachel! How was your day?"
I
asked.
"Oh fine, I guess. I managed to
spend like half my paycheck at Barney's," Rachel said, sounding a bit
excited.
"That doesn't sound like
something
you should be happy about," I said, confused.
"I know, but it's all just so
pretty! Look at these boots! They're gorgeous!" Rachel exclaimed.
"Um, they cost more than I make
in
a month here," I said, checking the price tag.
"Yeah, I went a little crazy,
but
I just can't help it sometimes."
"Well you know, the pretty
clothes
are only that, pretty clothes. You spend so much money on all this
stuff that really doesn't mean anything. I think it's time you hear the
story of Maricha, the demon who uses his morphing ability to distract
the people around him."
"Oh Rajiv, really I'm fine. I
promise I'll stop shopping, or at least stop telling you about
it," she said the last part under her breath.
"I heard that, so you're
definitely hearing my story!" I cried.
"Okay, carry on," she said,
sounding very uninterested.
"Well, there was once a demon
named Maricha. He was related to the evil Ravana, who I told Joey
about."
"Oh, the womanizer that tried to
steal the hero's girl, right? Rachel asked.
"Yes. It actually ties into this
story. Anyway, Ravana asked Maricha, to use his ability to
morph into anything he wished to lure Rama away from Sita. Maricha was
actually reluctant at first, but Ravana was very convincing so he
finally caved. Maricha went out into the Dandaka forest in the form of
a beautiful golden deer. His ivory antlers were covered with sparkling
jewels and his eyes were violet amethyst. When Sita saw him, she begged
her husband Rama to go
and capture the deer for her to have. Rama didn't want to leave Sita.
His brother Lakshmana also feared
the deer was a Rakshasa in disguise. He noticed how the deer seemed to
shift shapes around the edges. Sita wouldn't leave him alone about
this magnificent, golden deer, so Rama ventured out into the woods to
bring the deer back for his
beloved wife. Maricha led Rama deep into the forest, causing him to be
gone for a while. When Rama finally caught up to Maricha, he was able
to see the shifter that Lakshmana referred to and shot the golden deer."
"Uh, okay. I'll be sure and
shoot
the next pair of Christian Louboutins I see," Rachel said, laughing.
"Very funny, Rachel, but there's
more to the story. In Maricha's dying breath he cried out for help
using Rama's voice. Hearing this, Sita told Rama's brother, Lakshmana,
to go and save her Rama from whomever was harming him. Lakshmana
believed that the cry couldn't have been Rama's voice, being the strong
warrior
that he was, and Lakshmana tried to convince Sita not to worry. This
failed and
Sita
forced Lakshmana to search for Rama, saying she would kill herself if
he
didn't. As soon as Lakshmana left Sita, Ravana appeared to her and
stole her away by carrying off the ground she was standing on."
"Wow, I really should be
watching
out for those deceptive trench coats that pretend to be something they
aren't," Rachel said sarcastically.
"Alright fine, make jokes. I'm
just trying to help you, Rachel," I explained.
"I know. Thanks Rajiv. If
anything, I will think of this story every time I'm window shopping and
if it stops me from shopping once or twice, you've been successful."
"That's all I ask."
Author's note: For this story, I
just took the characteristics of the character Rachel and applied them
to a story. She comes into the show as a very spoiled girl from Long
Island and although she learns to adjust, she still carries on some of
those traits. For example, shopping. She works in fashion, Ralph
Lauren, for most of the show. I decided to use Maricha's story because
I thought it fit the best out of all the demons. He made himself a
beautiful deer in order to lure Rama away - much like the pretty shoes
and dresses lure Rachel into stores where she ends up spending way too
much money. The first episode of the series even includes a part where
they make Rachel cut up all of her parents' credit cards she
continues to use to buy clothes after she moved to the city. I like to
have Rajiv as the somewhat irritating and nosy character in these
stories. The characters find him a little annoying with all his weird
stories, but deep down they really like learning about the epics and
take
some of what he has to say to heart. I also like to bring a little
comedy to the stories, so I hope I was able to do that in this one too.
Buck, William. Ramayana.
Berkeley:
University of California Press, 2000.
Narayan, R. K.. The Ramayana: A
Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic (Penguin Classics).
London: Penguin Classics, 2006.
Friends - The Complete Series
Collection. Dir. Bright KauffmanCrane. Perf. Jennifer Aniston, David
Schwimmer, Courtney Cox, Matthew Perry, Lisa Kudrow, Matthew LeBlanc.
DVD. Warner Home Video, 2004.
Image of Central Perk Source: My
own photo
